In the weeks leading up to Nightmare Night, in a small, thatched cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest, two pegasi repeated the same argument over and over. One, holding high the Cloudsdale tradition of couples dressing in paired or matching costumes, argued that they should uphold the honour of their hometown. The other, owing to a certain social reticence, was arguing the case for the local convention, that of wearing a unique (and ideally convincing) disguise, so that nopony would know who she was. Nopony whatsoever.
Well, that wasn't her only reason. In truth, she also really didn't want to see her marefriend dressed up as Flank-n-Furter, which was her current best idea, and which she already owned about half the costume for. Nor did she particularly like the strange and uncomfortable-looking suits of any of the mad doctor's servants. And when Rainbow Dash had presented her with the pair of tight red underpants (with built-in bulge) she'd need to wear if she were to go as Jockey, she'd hidden under the bed in embarrassment.
In fact, now she thought about it, she realised she'd rather not think about it again. That had been one disturbing stage show.
So the argument had gone back and forth, with stubbornness and concessions on both sides (albeit not in equal measures). Couches and clouds had been slept on, toast had been burnt, and Angel had been employed as both threat and weapon. Eventually, though, a reluctant Fluttershy had agreed to play the part of Ahuitzotl to Dash's Daring-Do, mostly so that she could claim there was nothing romantic about it if anypony said anything.
A week before the event, they stood outside the door to the Carousel Boutique. Fluttershy looked up with wide eyes at the place, knowing full-well that if Rarity knew anything about the customs of Cloudsdale, she would guess in an instant what was going on. And then she wouldn't go to the spa with her, or want to talk to her, or be her friend at all. Then she would dislike her for keeping the secret from her for so long. There's only so generous a pony can be.
As it was, she was quite distracted making Spike a sharp deep-purple suit and hat for some diplomatic function that Twilight was to attend up in Canterlot. Even with that distraction - or perhaps because of it - Rainbow Dash still had to stand in the doorway to stop Fluttershy from fleeing as soon as she got the chance.
"I'm going as Daring-Do!" Dash declared, sending Spike into a fit of giggles. Then again, around Rarity, Spike tended to the giddy. It was adorable to watch, if a little strange.
"And... if it's not... too much..." Fluttershy began. She didn't get far before tears of stress pricked at her eyes. "But what if she knows?" she hid her face behind her mane to whisper to her marefriend.
"E-shay osen't-day," Rainbow Dash hissed back, resisting the urge to facehoof in frustration.
"I can't I can't I can't-"
"Fluttershy would like a Ahuitzotl costume, Rarity," the athletic pony said loudly, shooting her marefriend a sharp look. "I think she just feels silly. I'm trying to get her into the spirit of it!"
"Rainbow Dash, oh my, I can't believe-"
"Just go with it, Fluttershy, d'you wanna look suspicious?"
"Suspicious? Do you think she's suspicious?" Fluttershy whimpered and cast a baleful glance at Rarity, whose expression presently blended concern with bemusement.
"Darling?" Rarity said, arching a pencilled eyebrow and drifting her measuring tape over to Spike, who seemed more than content simply to do what she asked of him. "Is everything quite alright?"
"Aheh, no worse than usual!" Rainbow Dash grinned and quite unsubtly nudged the other pegasus with a back hoof. "So, uh, how's about that grey mane-dye? Does anypony actually make it?" she forced out through her unmoving grimace. "And how are we gonna do the weird monkey paw thing on the end of the tail? She's not really Ahuitzotl at all without that. D'you think we could make it pick up stuff if we put magic in it? Can magic even do that?" Fluttershy, meanwhile continued to inspect her fetlocks as if for ticks.
"Oh, Rainbow, not right now," the unicorn sighed and waved a hoof. "Yes, of course I can fit a couple of extra-"
"Couple?!" Fluttershy's head shot up, and she looked at Rarity with horror in pinpoint pupils. "Who said anything about couples?!"
Rarity blinked and stepped towards her terrified friend. "Fluttershy, darling, you look terrible! Are you quite well?" Her horn flickered as she picked up her favourite mane-brush, and she advanced with a friendly smile. The quickest way she knew to calm down a nervous Fluttershy was chai and a friendly brushing. "Now, you really must let me straighten out-"
"Straight?! The pegasus' voice reached into the higher registers of pony hearing, and Spike winced. "I'm totally straight!"
"Yeah! It's totally straight!" Rainbow Dash said quickly, A bead of sweat ran down her cheek. This wasn't going as she'd hoped, and the easiest solution, surely, would just be to do something reckless. But she'd promised not to do that. Ever. "C'mon, Fluttershy, calm down!" said her mouth, while everything else in her screamed KISS HER; OUT HER; END THIS FOREVER.
But she didn't. No kissing, no outing, no end. The secret, the tension, all the problems that went with it, would remain.
And then Rarity opened her mouth again to try to make things better, and Fluttershy lost her nerve.
Standing on the flattened door, which still bore the deep imprints of two delicate but panicked hooves, Spike shielded his eyes as he watched the two pegasi retreat swiftly into the distant sky. Rarity sighed as she unwrapped the measuring tape from around the hoof which had been fidgeting with it, and shook her head, and resolved to go and tell Twilight she'd been right to wonder what was wrong with Fluttershy.
-----
The streets of Ponyville were livening up a little, as ponies who had waited in for the morning accepted that they'd have to go about their business, even if it meant risking the rain. That movement didn't just bring the place to life; it brought it to colour, as ponies of all hues walked and shopped and chatted.
To Rainbow Dash, the grey cast that laid over the town no longer seemed like the way the world should be. Grey was the colour of empty despair, of monotone and monochrome, of endings and dust. When she woke, it had felt right, like the way the world should be out on the other side of her cold, cold fur and her cold, cold eyes. Now, though, she had felt again, thanks to Pinkie Pie; she had thought again, thanks to Twilight Sparkle, and she had wanted again, thanks to Applejack.
And now, trotting quietly through the streets towards the Carousel Boutique, all she could hope for was that she wouldn't bleed again, courtesy of a riled-up Rarity with a shop full of knitting-needles.
She could make it up to Pinkie Pie by giving over a couple of days to spend chilling out with her, or getting excited with her, or however it was that Pinkie was choosing to relax at that point in time; she could make it up to Twilight Sparkle by explaining, and apologising, and maybe returning all her overdue books; she didn't think she really needed to make it up to Applejack - but to do all of this, she had to avoid dying at the horn and magic of Fluttershy's best friend, armed with a shop full of sharp objects to fling with the full force of whatever period drama was playing out in her head.
The Carousel Boutique was still shut up, despite the cautious return of business to the streets of Ponyville. The curtains were drawn behind its round windows, and a sign hooked on the door read "Désolé". Reading it, Rainbow Dash shared a nervous glance with her orange-furred friend. This was the most sincere and serious of the Closed signs; Rarity only switched into Prench when she really meant it. Even more telling, though, was the occasional faint glimmer of blue-purple magic floating off the door like sparks from a fire. When Rarity wanted her privacy, maybe Applejack could have bucked the door down, but she'd have an easier time going through a wall.
"She doesn't want to see you!" the voice that came through the door was haughty, and rang out before the pegasus had even raised her hoof to knock. This wasn't the start that Rainbow Dash had been hoping for. "She is shocked and appalled and deeply upset by your disgraceful performance and most inappropriate slurs upon her name, her character, and everything which she considers dear in the world. We should consider it safe to say that you have sailed some distance from the sheltered harbour of her patience, and you should shortly find yourself cast upon the stormy seas of Rarity, should you linger too long!
"Too much?" Rarity added, as an aside. Presumably, the outsiders weren't meant to hear that.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash yelled angrily, "Let mfff-" Applejack's hoof didn't taste any better after a walk through the town, and the pegasus spat it out with an indignant whinny.
"Y'all never heard o' humility?"
"Isn't that the thing you have when you lose?"
Applejack looked at her friend in utter astonishment. "Dash, ya are losin'!"
"But she's treating this like it's a stupid book or something!"
The farmpony snorted in frustration and turned back to the door. "Rarity, it's Applejack," she sighed, "C'mon now, this ain't a game o' sides."
"Fluttershy, darling, extended metaphors are the only way to treat such a dire situation," Rarity said, still standing too close to the door. "Dearest Applejack, this is no game at all! Two star-crossed ponies swore the sweetest and severest vow that can pass anypony's lips - to love one another - now lie broken on the rocks of one's boorish intransigence. It's a wonder that Fluttershy made it so far without fainting or breaking down again, such is the state of her inconsolable distress! Rainbow Dash may have wanted her love; now she must fear her revenge!"
The pegasus and the earth pony looked to one another for any signs of comprehension, and found none. "Come again?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, for... Fluttershy is really rather upset!" Rarity shouted impatiently. "But, owing to her magnificent devotion and loyalty, she does wish to enter into negotiations vis-a-vis continued relations, which I would already be thankful for, if I were you! And rather than speak herself she has appointed... a spokespony!" There was the faintest sound of magic from behind the door, and something clattered to the floor.
"Rarity..." Rainbow Dash began, but there was no reply. "I just wanna talk..." The faintest glimmering of magic continued unabated for a while, finished off with the snipping of scissors. And as the time wore on, the sense of being watched grew stronger and stronger. Applejack deflected those she could with a warning glare, but this was a short-ranged tactic that couldn't deflect the eyes behind curtain-twitching hooves, nor those watching from behind books at the café down the street.
Biting her lip, turning to face the gently glowing white door, the pegasus turned to risk a knock. It might just make Rarity even angrier, but... well, Fluttershy wouldn't care...
The door burst open, and behind it, a sight that neither could have possibly seen coming. Rarity wore a white uniform with a sharp cut to it, gold-embroidered cuffs and collar, and a strange row of small, brightly-coloured ribbons hanging from her left shoulder. Her violet mane was immaculate, as ever, but topped with the same kind of severe peaked cap that Rainbow Dash had only ever seen before on the occasional picture of some important pony or other from Canterlot. A holster on her left hip held something rectangular, with a handle of dark-brown hardwood.
She took a step forward, and seemed to grow larger as she did. Rainbow Dash backed away, unsure whether to laugh or worry. Applejack's bulging cheeks, meanwhile, suggested she knew exactly which she wanted to do, and she was having trouble holding it back.
She took another step, and in her best impression of Princess Luna, proclaimed: "I am the Ambassador of Fluttershy!"
Applejack had been hard-pressed to hold back her hilarity since the door had opened. Now the dam burst, and laughter spilled out of her in torrents. Beside her, Rainbow Dash giggled, but managed to maintain composure, at least. But the orange pony, whose mental overlay for this scene had suddenly come to include mud-masks and cucumber slices and a frantic Twilight Sparkle, collapsed on the floor in uncontrollable giggles. Her front hooves flailed as she tried to point to everything she found ridiculous, and each gesture only renewed her gigging.
"Now really, Applejack, you're being terribly rude!" Rarity admonished, a move which only made matters worse. "Applejack! How dare you laugh at a time like this! There is serious business to be done by serious ponies. It is inconceivable that you would even consider..."
Behind her, through the open door, Rainbow Dash caught a glimpse of a soft pink mane, and by some synaesthetic spell of memory, felt it brush against her face. The wide blue-green eye behind it seemed to shiver as if joining in with Applejack's laughter - albeit with far more restraint, far more dignity, than the farmpony could ever muster.
Recounting the various mishaps of Ditzy Doo and the Crusader Mailmares (with her best impressions) one winter's day, while a sick Fluttershy lay in her bed with a fever, had brought out that same laugh. Neither cruel nor hurtful, it was a laugh of loving affection.
That was Fluttershy. That was so Fluttershy.
That was Fluttershy, behind that soft pink mane, freezing as she realised who was looking at her. In an instant she was gone, vanished out of the doorway with all haste.
Surreality returned, as a few feet away, Rarity turned her back deliberately on Rainbow Dash to tower over Applejack. "Do you really think this is helping?" The farmpony was, at least, now back on her feet, though still standing in a crouch. She giggled occasionally, mostly whenever she met Rarity's angry blue eyes. "I warn you, I am carrying my heaviest mane-brush and I know how to use it."
"Is... is that supposed to be a threat?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Applejack, you must inform your party that all negotiation is done only through ourselves, as ambassadors-in-extraordinary. Neither of you may speak with Fluttershy; nor may I speak with Rainbow Dash. These are the rules of engagement."
The pegasus' jaw gaped. "You can't be serious!"
"Deadly," Rarity replied with a toss of her head, but without looking at her.
Applejack snickered at the pale unicorn. "What?" Rarity demanded. "What are you laughing at now?"
"Y'all're just tryna set stupid rules, an' then ya broke 'em in seconds. Y'all talked to Dash!"
"I... I did not!" Rarity's cheeks flushed. "I was referring to my... prowess with the brush."
"Sure thing, 'Ambassador'."
"Are you laughing at me?!"
Meanwhile, the cogs were turning beneath a certain rainbow mane. Hilarious as this entire sideshow was, it wasn't bucking any clouds. If Rarity was going to stand in the doorway, that was one thing, but maybe...
Rainbow Dash strode around the outside of the Carousel Boutique, inspecting its windows. Neither unicorn nor earth pony seemed to have noticed her disappearing. In fact, their argument seemed to have collapsed into "Are-Not" vs. "Are-Too", that favourite of stubborn mares everywhere. Inwardly, Dash sighed. If it took all night to make it up with her marefriend - if it took a week or longer to make it up - there was still every chance that unless somepony got in their way, Applejack and Rarity would still be at it.
Well, that was alright for her, busy checking the Carousel Boutique's anti-pegasus security. Rarity wasn't stupid, in spite of the scene she was currently making at her own front door. She'd have shut the windows if her foe for the day was a pegasus - but had she shut them tight, or just enough to prevent Rainbow Dash's usual high-speed entry?
In fact, after a couple of minutes' comprehensive testing, only one room didn't have its curtains drawn behind latched windows. An upstairs room; the unicorn's bedroom, if she remembered properly. Hovering, Dash tested the window with a hoof.
The moment her hoof tapped the window, a lot of things happened very fast. There was a loud squeak from inside, and a miniature scarlet blur disappeared across the room and under the bed, pulling the blanket down with it as it vanished. Behind it trailed a ball of yarn, which caught on the base of a clothes-horse, which toppled, spilling both the unfinished gown it bore and the box of gems balanced atop it. Confused, Dash backed away from the window, but just caught a glimpse of two pale-green eyes peeking out from beneath the bed.
Huh?
Then the door inside opened, and Fluttershy walked in. Rainbow Dash gave a yelp and ducked back to one side, first cursing Rarity for not owning a balcony, and then her wings for preventing her from pressing an ear against the window. No matter. She was always working on her stunt flying, and a trick like that would be worthy of a Wonderbolt. She'd just have to work on it once... once this was all over and done with.
Something moved behind the window. As Dash peeked around the curtain, the scarlet form resolved into a familiar-looking unicorn filly with a curly mane and a bandaged horn; Sweetie Belle, looking like she'd been dipped in paint. Looks like her magic must still be all messed up. Fluttershy, smiling gently, gave her a hug, and Sweetie Belle pointed to the window with wide and worried eyes.
Okay. You've got a choice here, Rainbow Dash. Show yourself or run away.
One way lay a confrontation which she wanted but feared; the other way lay uncertainty, distance, and the need to work up the courage again.
Well, to hay with that!
So, smiling sheepishly, her violet eyes a mix of hope and trepidation, Rainbow Dash stuck her head into the window. The blur squeaked and disappeared back beneath the bed, and Fluttershy's wings flared for a moment in shock.
At first, she looked surprised.
Then she looked annoyed.
Then she sighed, hard, and gritted her teeth.
And then she opened the window.