//------------------------------// // Episode Two: Life After The Party (Part 2) // Story: A Dash Of A Rarity // by LoveandEdify //------------------------------// Previously… on A Dash Of Rarity "Now; I was thinking that today, we make it all about you." Rainbow was confused. "Me?" she said, pointing to herself in verification. "Of course you, darling." Rarity responded. "I want to take you to wherever it is you want to go today. Movies, the park, bowling, or we can just have a quiet day in if you'd like. And don't worry about paying for anything, darling. It's all on me. I'm Team Rainbow Dash today." Rainbow was about to hesitate again but this time, her perspective changed. There were a few things that she knew that both of them would like and maybe a few things that would get her out of her comfort zone. After all, Rarity did say that she wanted to hang out, right? Just choose something they both would probably like and then, BINGO! Quality fun time for all. "So, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked. "What would you like to do today?" A Dash Of Rarity: Part 2 Rainbow then realized there was at least one thing she wanted to do with Rarity. “Well, I don’t  know how many more of these I’m going to have today,” Rainbow said, pausing for a brief  moment afterwards, “but I do have one fun idea.” “Ooooh, do tell.” Rarity responded, with  approval and excitement…  About 15 Minutes Later…  Ok, admittingly it was a little more far-fetched than Rainbow thought; but all things considered,  a Fun Park should be… fun. Right?!? (I guess that’s what having this as my lowest viewed  story can do to you. LOL)  Once the two got inside, Rainbow took Rarity to the center of the fun  park; which there was a giant holographic map. “Ok, so this is the map of the fun park. Each type of game or activity is zoned in different colors: Red is for more active, stimulating games  (like Virtual Reality, Laser-Tag, that sort of thing), Green is for the outside things (picnic tables,  batting cage, mini golf, go-kart racing), Blue is obviously for the things that are outside water  games and the pool, Purple’s the prize booth, and the yellow one’s just a hangout space for  when people are tired and want to take a break.” Rarity looked at the shades of colors of the  map as if her mind was cataloging them into a new colors selection list for her clothing.  “Wow, amazing…” Rarity said, aweing at the colors. “Pretty cool colors, right?” Rainbow  asked. “Oh yes, indeed. Sorry if I seemed a little distracted;” Rarity apologized,  “It’s just that  the colors are so inspiring.” “I’ll bet they are,” Rainbow replied, “So what game do you want to  play first?” she asked. At the pool…  Rarity thought that the pool would sound like a good place to go (if only she thought of  bringing her bathing suit); but thinking ahead, Rainbow Dash bought the duo swimsuits  anyway. Delighted, the two friends jumped in the pool and swam for a good while. After  getting dried off, she next lead them to the mini golf course. Although it took a while for Rarity  to get the hang of mini golf, she eventually caught onto the game and (even though she lost  by just 4 strokes to Rainbow) really enjoyed it. The two friends also enjoyed a game of  laser-tag, various arcade games, batting cages, and even an epic go-kart race. That was  where the two finally decided to end their fun-park portion of the day.  At the pizza place…  “So Rarity, did you enjoy the fun-park?” Rainbow asked. It was now around 11:20; Rainbow  decided to get a small cheese pizza slice and the both of them decided to get small salads  and iced waters as well. The pizza place aimed to be a small, New-York style place that was  its own room inside the arcade. “Oh, yes I did, of course;” Rarity replied, but then paused to  get a good look at Rainbow Dash. Her friends look, while looking happy, was actually  betraying her true feelings of the situation. Just then, the waiter came asking for  the payment for the order. Rarity was about to get her card out of her card, when Rainbow  clumsily tried to get her wallet from her purse, which made her knock into the waiter by  mistake, hence making him spill a drink he had for another customer onto the freshly-waxed floor. “Ooops, I’m terribly sorry about that…” Rainbow apologized as she hastily picked up  her belongings and paying the waiter, all while looking at the waiter beet red. The waiter  looked at her as if nothing had happened, inserted Rainbow’s card into his machine, gave her  the card back, and went on his way. Rainbow deeply breathed a sigh of relief. “Rainbow,” Rarity gently called out, breaking her thoughts, “What is all this?” she asked, intrigued.  Rainbow facepalmed in humiliation. Rarity must have picked up one of her things when she  wasn’t looking. The item in question happened to be a map of some sorts, that looked more  like that for a desert landscape than a route of any city either one of them were familiar with.  The path was an obvious red line with some twists and turns along the way, and some of the  key stopping points were marked with red scratch-drawn motorcycles. “Rainbow?!?” Rarity  asked both in curiosity and gratitude. “Did you plan this little road trip for us?” Rainbow  couldn’t think of a way to respond to her friend successfully guessing what the original plans  so she simply shrugged her shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me about this idea?!” Rarity asked,  worried that her friend wasn’t really having fun for some reason. Rainbow thought for a  moment and even though she wanted to say, “Well, I didn’t know that you would want to do  something like that.” what actually came out was, “Why are you being so nice to me?! Rarity  was taken aback slightly, “Whatever do you mean, darling? We’re friends, aren’t we? I  thought you wanted to have some fun together.” she said, with a happy yet slightly hurt crack  in her voice.  Rainbow immediately regretted what she said and how she said it; but at the same time, she  really wanted to know the answer. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that.” Rainbow  apologized, gaining a new look from Rarity. Not one of anger or shock, but concern. As if she actually knew what problems she was hiding through the thorns of her facade. Rarity wanted to do everything to ensure Rainbow that she was still as awesome as ever and that everything was great between them, but that would have to wait, as they both checked  the large LED clock the pizza place had hanging above their door. It was now 11:41. “I could remind you of how great a friend you  are all day; but I really really wanna get the Raricycle and go on that road trip now!!!” Rarity  exclaimed. Rainbow took a good look at Rarity’s enthusiasm, and it made her do a double-take to make sure Pinkie-Pie didn’t sneak in here somehow. “First off,” Rainbow replied in curiosity but keeping her optimism in check,  “what’s a Raricycle?” she asked. Knowing that “Raricycle” was a very grey term, it could  mean something like a mountain bike or a dainty ride-around-the-park bike or even a cycle as  in a prep-time until they left. Rainbow was lost in that thought until she felt Rarity softly  grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. “Yoo-hoo? Darling?” Rarity gently called out, she then pointed to the front door of the fun-park. Rainbow turned to see Rarity’s limo parked up  front. “Come along Dashie,” she called out, “We’re making a quick stop to get the Raricycle  for our trip.” Rainbow then facepalmed, annoyed that she still didn’t know what a Raricycle is. A few minutes later…  There wasn’t that much traffic on the way to where Rarity kept the Raricycle; so it was a short easy trip to get there. Once they got to where the Raricycle was  being kept on the other hand; well… “Wait! This is the repair shop I took my motorcycle.”  Rainbow realized. “Mhm.” Rarity confirmed, nodding. “You know how I despise getting all of that oily filth all over me? Well, I often hire your mechanic out for all my  routine vechicular repairs; and just got the Raricycle upgraded today.” It was way out of left field for Rainbow to see her friend as an energetic, bouncy girl; but it was as if  the baseball found its way to a bowling alley when she was now trying to picture Rarity as a  motorcycle owner. Sure enough, when the duo went inside; there it was. A beautiful, state of  the art, latest technology included motorcycle. “It’s in mint condition darling, I just wanted to save it for some special time like today.” Rarity informed. Rainbow took one look at  the motorcycle, then at Rarity, then at some tools lying there in plain sight. When Rarity saw where Rainbow-Dash was looking, she pretty much knew what was swirling inside her friend’s daredevil-may-care mind. “You sure you can handle this, Rarity?” Rainbow challenged. Rarity just brushed it off, knowing that her friend would’ve felt even more down if she declined. “Oh come on, Rainbow. Don’t you know who you’re talking to here? This is Rarity we’re  talking to, darling. I can handle anything.” “Ican’thandlethis, Ican’thandlethis, Ican’thandlethis, Ican’thandlethis, Ican’thandlethis…”  Rarity’s frantic screaming as the motorbike was going a whopping 10,000 mph, and the fact  that she was clutching herself around Rainbow Dash’s waist like she was magnetized to her,  proved that she infact could not handle it. “What’s that, Rarity?!?” Rainbow Dash called out as  the bike continued to zip and zoom at incredible speeds across the street. “Yeah, I know.  You’re probably thinking that this is so AWESOME!!! Getting some quality Rainbow time in,  breathing that beautiful air in, cruising around in your new-and-improved Raricycle that I fixed  in supersonic speed while you were yapping about how ok you were with everything!!!” she  rambled on, not even paying attention to a desparately clutching Rarity. After zooming across  a highway, she finally took a “shortcut” through a desert gulch. Now, the fact that they saw all  sorts of desert critters from jackals and coyotes to lizards and rattlesnakes was irrelevant  because they were going too fast to really see them all. What really mattered was that there  was this canyon and… well; you should know by now what Rainbow Dash + Canyon  + a whole load of adrenaline is gonna equal. “Don’t worry, Rarity!!! Just hold on tight and don’t look down!!!” Luckily for Rarity, those were the few words of Rainbow Dash’s that she was able to hear. Soon enough, Rainbow launched the motorcycle from one end of the 100-mile  canyon to the other. When the motorcycle was about 250 feet in the air, Rainbow said,  “Rarisawki, engage small plane mode.” Before Rarity could process what was going on, the  motorcycle began to shift into a small, fighter jet-esque plane of sorts. To Rarity’s delight,  Rainbow was, finally. flying at a normal speed. Well, normal for the average human, that is. “Good evening ladies and gents, this is your  captain speaking…” Rainbow gently called out to her friend, whose ears were paying  attention; but her eyes were taken another direction by the beautiful scenery of the desert  around her. It was so calming and relaxing, that within a matter of seconds of gazing, she  instantly calmed down from the adrenaline-powered adventure she was on earlier and let her  mind wander through the majestic scenery. “We’re gonna stop by an old friend of mine’s shop  real quick and then I’m gonna take you on a hike. Is that ok?” Rainbow asked. “Hm?” Rarity asked, as the plane hovered near a small corner store. She finally noticed that the plane was hovering over the shop. “Oh, sure darling. That sounds like a splendid idea.” she  affirmed, looking forward to what was going to happen next on their little adventure. About 20 minutes later…  After Rainbow finally landed the plane and the duo stopped into the shop for some extra  supplies, the two finally set out for their hike through the canyon hills. “Oh, come on, Rainbow Dash… you absolutely must tell me how you outright transformed the Raricycle into the fantastic and awesome… Rari-sawka-way’ah?” Rarity asked. “It’s Rarisawki,” Rainbow corrected, “And I don’t really wanna talk about it right now.” she told her.  “But you have to admit, you’ve never seen anything quite like that before in your life. Huh,  Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked, still excited from their exillerating adventure thus far. Rainbow simply snickered, “Ha-ha. I pull speed feats like that every day, Rarity. You, on the other hand, looked as sick as polar bear with a fever.” The two friends laughed in rememberance of the  wild ride, then resumed their hike down the rocky hill. While they continued to slowly descend  the trail, the two took plenty of time (and photos) of the vast and gorgeous scenery around  them. Packs of coyotes running around playfully ran past them along a grassy bluff, a flock of  pheasants flew right over their heads, a pagolin walking towards its burrow; as well as various  other natural beauties such as rare varieties of wildflower, towering cacti the size of small  apartment buildings, and even a flock of hummingbirds injesting the luscious nectar of  chuparosa. Rarity really seemed to soak in the natural scenery of it all. And yet, something was missing. She first noticed it when she went to the spa with Rainbow that her skittles-colored friend seemed off her game today. So hesitant, so insecure, so nervous, so... afraid. Yes, that’s what the word was. So very afraid for some reason. She knew that Rainbow was trying to make everything perfect for her today, but she’d never seen Rainbow act this way before. Even when the two of them were alone on several occasions; Rainbow was never indecisive about being the confident, cocky, brave, outgoing friend that she was. And sure, Rainbow tended to be calm, chill and collected most of the time (making one assume she was downright lazy); but when it came down to it, Rainbow was actually the most passionate, committed, loyal and caring friends that she had ever met. Despite their differences in interest and personality, Rarity truly loved Rainbow-Dash what had to be one of the most amazing sights she had ever seen had to be  when an antelope (a nonantropomorphic one), right out of the blue, strode right over to the  pair of friends on a nearby, downhill trail. “Oh look Rarity, I think you found a new friend.”  Rainbow whispered happily to Rarity as the creature strode its way towards her. “Oh, me?!?” Rarity nervously responded as the antelope inched closer. “Well, I, I, I…” she stammered,  nervously taking a few steps back towards Rainbow. “Come on, Rarity.” Rainbow encouraged. “I think he wants you to pet him.” Rarity was still nervous; but hearing Rainbow’s encouragement lead her to walk a few steps closer towards the beast. She calmly put her hand on the antelope’s head and stroked it gently; like she would with her cat, Opal, back home. The antelope responded by giving a friendly nuzzle against Rarity, while being careful not to pierce  her with its horns. “Well, you do seem to be a kind, gentle… ow!!!” Rarity ceased her soothing as one of the antelope’s horns scratched Rarity’s right cheek. “Rarity, are you alright?!?” Rainbow asked. Rarity quickly turned towards her friend in alarm, then quickly turned to the antelope; who now bolted at Rainbow’s surprise scream for help, then back to Rainbow. “Yes, of course I’m fine. Just a flesh wound is all, darling. The poor little fellow didn’t mean to scratch me, of course. I really wish that you didn’t scare him away.” Rarity consoled, both for Rainbow’s sake, and her own sanity. Rainbow was about to interject, when they both saw the antelope slowly and repentantly come back, as if to say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Can we be friends again?” Rarity offered the creature a welcoming smile as he came back and nuzzled Rarity once again, while she was stroking him like rubbing and gently stroking a dog. “Oh phew. Sorry, Rares. I guess I saw him get ya and ‘kinda’ overreacted.” Dash apologized, as Rarity continued to pet and give gentle pats to her new antelope pal, while still intently hearing what her friend was saying. She gave one last nuzzle on her animal friend’s side before seeing him off and turned, sighing towards her human friend. “Alright Rainbow-Dash, I don’t know what it is that’s been going on today but something’s been seeming extremely off about you today, and I want to know now!!!” Rarity ordered sternly, looking for some kind of reaction out of Rainbow to see how dire the situation was. Instead of making up some weird excuse, telling Rarity that she was fine or even shunting it like it was no big deal; she, the brave, cool, radical and awesome Rainbow Danger Dash, flinched back with her whole gaze frozen in fear. Fear, and what seemed like anxiety and self-loathing mixed in. Knowing now that Rainbow-Dash wasn’t feeling up to giving her an answer for her this time, she felt her own countenance go from concern to straight-up empathy. She fought the urge to cry herself, knowing that it wasn’t the right time to let all of her emotion out just yet. “How does Sunset Shimmer do this empathy thing so well? It’s almost as if it’s her element or something.” She briefly pondered, as she saw Rainbow now being the one on the verge of tears, and crumpled onto the ground. “Rainbow darling, you don’t have to tell me everything that’s going on right now; but if there’s anything I can do to make you feel better, then please tell me so. Ok?” Rarity sincerely beckoned. Rarity knew from experience that when some people asked how they could help, they mostly did it to get the issue off their back, move on and have a nice rest of their day. But not Rarity. When she wanted to fix a problem; she wanted to go through every detail thoroughly so that no, not so she could fix the problem, check a good deed off the list and call it a day, but so she could heal her friend so that they would know that there is no need for the trauma or a need to go through life alone ever again. Not because she merely wanted to help a friend, but that’s who she would be, even if she and Rainbow were complete strangers. “Rainbow, I... ooof” Rarity gasped as she felt the athletic, muscular body of her friend tackle her to the ground, sobbing as she landed on top of her. “Please don’t hate me, Rarity.” Rainbow practically pleaded, but because her head was buried into Rarity’s shirt; the fashionista could only make out muffled sobs. “Oh you poor Darling.” Rarity sympathetically uttered, as she hugged Rainbow’s prone form and massaged Dash’s back. She pressed firmly yet gently into her friend’s deltoids and circularly rubbed around them as Dash continued to let the pain and suffering fall in the form of her tears. Rarity felt heartbroken, but not for herself or that her day was ruined; but rather, out of empathy for one of her closest friends. Clichely enough however, it started to thunder and lightning and pour down rain at the very moment. But Rarity didn’t notice. That is, until she felt drops of rain cascading onto her hands as she was still massaging Rainbow. “Oh dear, you’ll catch cold. Don’t worry, Rainbow-Dash, we’ll get you home safe and sound.” she determined. The duo then got up, Rarity slightly quicker than Rainbow. Rarity was about to make a mad-dash to the store, when she was stopped by Dash tightly grabbing her wrist. Rarity then turned to see Rainbow messing with what looked like a touchscreen-watch of sorts. “Rarisawki, sending you coordinates. Pick us up, then drop us off at...” While Rainbow-Dash gave more details to the watch, Rarity listened in shock as to how smart her friend actually was. And not just with the Raricycle makeover. She knew that there were times where Rainbow-Dash proved herself to be more than what she seemed to be. There were times where she was the most sensitive and emotional of the bunch; even though she usually came off as brash and cocky. She saw her come in 3rd in the Academic Olympics to Twilight and Sunset. Not as high as she knew Rainbow wanted to push herself for day after day (at least when it came to sports); but she did pretty well for a “total dumb jock.” “Come on Rare, hop on! Er, I mean, Rarity. Because I know you don’t like...” Rainbow awkwardly stumbled over her words as she and Rarity hopped on the motorcycle. Some time later... Although the Rarisawki was made to go over supersonic speeds, Rainbow-Dash still programmed the motorcycle to check itself for mechanical issues along the way. And the issue this time... the motorcycle ran out of gas. But other than that, the ride went fairly smoothly. Really, Rainbow didn’t even have the Rarisawki go into supersonic mode this time. Or any type of his-speed mode. It was comfortable. Comfortable for Rarity. Except, not this time. Not when she knew that Dash was being a shell of who she really was. “Rainbow darling? I meant what I said earlier. If you feel like anything’s bothering you, you have every right to tell me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide away from me. While your confidence and your ability to remain poised and resilient during challenging times is something I truly love and appreciate about you, that doesn’t mean you should have to handle it on your own. That’s what your friends are for, darling. That’s what I am for.” Rarity let her feelings pour down over the now-covered jet, as Rainbow not only made the Rarisawki a high-speed, luxury-performance, state of the art piece of machinery; but also made it into a convertible jet, with a retractable roof for any and all weather purposes. Rarity sighed at that thought. “I really wish I’m as awesome as you are, Rainbow-Dash.” Rarity thought out loud. Her voice was now breaking however, as she reflected on everything she knew over the years about her friend. “I wish I had the ability to be bold and go after everything with nothing standing in my way. I wish that I could call something out as it is without being afraid of what anyone thought of me like you can. I even wish that I had half the selfless loyalty and commitment you have towards your friends.” She sighed sadly before pausing to let Dash reflect on everything that had happened. “I could never hate you, Dash. Not when you mean the most to me.” When Rarity finished her little speech, the gas-pump’s clicker went off, indicating that the tank in the Rarisawki was now full. Rarity turned her gaze from the ground to turn and hopefully find Rainbow smiling or crying or something, really. Instead, she saw her friend apathetically stride over to the mini-mart with cash in hand to pay for the fuel. Rarity’s heart was still shattered. Her friend was broken, and she didn’t know if there was a way to put their friendship back together again.