//------------------------------//
// Good Intentions 
// Story: Twilight's List 
// by kits 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash smiled, feeling the thud of impact as her rear legs connected with a small cloud. A second later, white vapor and fragments flew past her, blasting her with cool dampness. Tiny beads of water formed on the hairs of her coat and vanes of her feathers. With a snap of her wings and a small shake of her legs, she kicked the droplets free, creating a short-lived rainbow halo around her.
 
Rather than letting it slowly fade, she laughed and pulled a loop-the-loop back through the middle of the halo, dispersing it in a violent cascade of colors. Adding a barrel roll for good measure, she pulled back up to cloud level and scanned the sky above Ponyville for any more clouds that dared challenge her decree of a sunny afternoon. The only ones left to drift over the town today were her home and a small cluster of extra fluffy, extra soft cumulus she had corralled over near Sweet Apple Acres.
 
A few ominous thunderheads were lurking out over the Everfree, but those hardly ever wandered into Ponyville, and nopony really cared what the weather over the forest did anyways.  Rainbow Dash shook her entire body, flinging any remaining moisture from her, and called it a day.
 
Normally, after a hard day of work clearing the skies, she’d practice her tricks or put on a show for her friends or fan club. Sometimes she’d bed down on one of her hoof-picked clouds or a comfy looking tree branch for a quick snack and a snooze under the warm sun. If she’d had an especially hard day, she would head over to see Pinkie and grab a cupcake or three.
 
Today she had a different goal in mind. She was going to see Twilight and make sure her girlfriend was alright. She shot off towards the library, a faint rainbow trailing behind her. When she wanted to, she could make it more solid or even look like fire, but she wasn’t showing off for anypony, so the streak remained a simple spectrum.
 
“Twilight Sparkle,” Dash mouthed her full name. She deviated from her direct route to the library to fly around the town hall, corkscrewing for the sheer joy of it. After a few dozen spins she leveled out on her back, slowly windmilling her forelegs in a pantomime of swimming.
 
“Oh, Rainbow dear,” somepony called from the ground.
 
Halting her backstroke, Dash zeroed in on the voice. “Darn,” she muttered under her breath. Rarity was waving at her; her smile was a match for Pinkie Pie’s on a pony’s birthday. Behind the over-exuberant unicorn was Dash’s oldest friend, Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus half raised a hoof and wiggled it back and forth in greeting. Her mouth moved, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t hear anything. With a final half twist and a somersault, she came in for a landing next to her friends.
 
“Oh, hey gals. What’s up?” She blew a stray lock of orange bangs out of her face.
 
Fluttershy opened her mouth, her face squared up to offer an apology, but Rarity answered for the both of them. “Oh, nothing much, Rainbow Dash.” The unicorn’s smile grew a little wider. “Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?”
 
“You’re welcome,” Rainbow preened, drawing herself up to her full height and allowing Rarity’s praise—and Fluttershy’s too, no doubt—to wash over her in waves of appreciation.
 
“It’s just, oh well, you know... Friendly banter and...” Rarity was sweating now, her smile growing even wider.
 
“Jeez, Rarity. Just spill it already.” Dash frowned as the unicorn took a half step back. “Come on, what did you want to ask me?” she pressed.
 
Rarity’s mouth cracked open as she lifted a hoof. She froze, no sound coming out. She closed her mouth and placed her hoof back on the ground. Inhaling, she started once more to speak, but couldn’t force the words out.
 
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Just say it, Rarity!” she exclaimed.
 
Fluttershy spoke up, her voice nearing normal conversation volumes. “Oh, um. We were wondering...” Fluttershy’s head turned away from her and addressed the grass. “I mean, we both wanted to know...” Fluttershy pawed at the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust. “If you didn’t mind telling us that is, um...” She trailed off into silence, hiding behind her long mane and crouching down, making herself as small as she could. Sound floated out from behind that pink curtain, but she couldn’t make out any of the words.
 
“Look, I like you guys and all, but I’d really don’t have time for games.” Irritation crept into Rainbow Dash’s voice. “So if you two could stop–”
 
“About last night!” Fluttershy’s wings flared and her voice became strained as she blurted out the end of her question. Had she not closed her eyes, she would’ve seen the smirk on Dash’s face.
 
Before her timid friend had recovered from her outburst, Rainbow Dash pulled her mouth into a frown and schooled her features. When Fluttershy’s eyes opened at last, she fixed her friend with a penetrating stare. “Last night? You wanna know about last night?” Her eyes narrowed.
 
Fluttershy let out a quiet “eep” and backed away from her. Her mouth pulled into a grimace and her ears flattened against her head.
 
“Well, let me tell you,” Rainbow began as she stalked towards Fluttershy. She had to detour around Rarity, whose gaze was now fixed on her mouth, as if she could glean a single nuance of extra meaning by watching her form the words. She took a step with every word, her voice low and scratchy. “Last. Night. Was.” She leapt up, her voice cracking and her eyes opening wide as she blurted out, “Awesome!”
 
Fluttershy blinked. Her ears came forward at the sudden change in Rainbow’s demeanor. After a moment she fully processed what Dash had said and a smile broke out on her face as tension flowed out of her. “Oh, it was? That’s great, Rainbow Dash!”
 
“Come dear, you really must tell us more! I–we are so very excited to hear how everything went, after all.” Rarity’s voice had recovered and she was now making up for her earlier inability to speak. “Oh, it’s just so romantic! So exciting! Where did you go?” The unicorn walked towards her as she spoke. “What did you do? Did she–?”
 
Rainbow Dash pressed a hoof against Rarity’s mouth, both to silence her and to maintain a small bubble of Dash-space. “Look, I’d love to go over the whole thing, but I’m kinda busy right now.” Dash tried to squeeze between her two friends, both of whom were frowning at her. Fluttershy wore a small concerned frown, but Rarity had a full-blown pout aimed squarely at her. “I’m gonna talk to Twilight,” she added, hoping the prospect of romance would remove those looks from their faces.
 
It did, but not the way she had expected. She had thought that Fluttershy might blush a bit, maybe tilt her mane over her face and paw at the ground. She had thought that Rarity would give her a knowing wink and an encouraging smile. The way their pupils shrank as they drew back from her was completely unexpected.
 
“Darling, surely you must be joking!” exclaimed Rarity.
 
“Oh, you really shouldn’t. Unless you– Well no, you just shouldn’t,” said Fluttershy. “Unless you really want to, that is.”
 
A number of responses flitted through Dash’s mind: from angrily demanding they step aside to deceptively agreeing and then making a break for it. She opened her mouth to convince them with the power of awesome. “Huh?” came out instead.
 
“Oh, Rainbow Dash, surely you know that you can’t make the next move?” Rarity tossed her head, sending her mane bouncing.
 
Dash didn’t know of any such thing. It must have shown on her face, because Fluttershy and Rarity gave each other a matching pair of worried glances.
 
“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy.
 
“What are you two talking about?” she demanded.
 
“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity began, resting a hoof on her shoulder, which Dash quickly shrugged off. “Twilight was the one who asked you out, and there are certain–” she paused, searching for a word–” obligations associated with the roles the two of you have assumed in your courtship.” Rarity pivoted around so that she was now alongside her, facing the same direction. “The asked party simply cannot express too much interest too early.” The unicorn placed a hoof carefully on Dash’s withers. “You’ll simply have to wait until Twilight makes another move or the appropriate amount of time has passed. Three days is the standard.”
 
“What?” Dash recoiled, slipping out from under Rarity’s leg. Her wings flared behind her; she was getting close to just dashing the rest of the way to see Twilight right now. Only her utter lack of experience with having a girlfriend kept her hooves planted on the ground. “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard!” She looked to Fluttershy for backup; surely this couldn’t be a rule.
 
Fluttershy was nodding. “Oh, yes! I mean no.” Fluttershy’s nervous half-smile said “I’m sorry” for her. “But it really is true.”
 
Dash clenched her jaw shut and sneered. No silly little rules had ever kept her from what she wanted before. Her wings shot up and out, cupped for maximum speed. She would see Twilight even if–
 
Twilight was the smartest pony in Ponyville, maybe even all of Equestria. If there was one pony you could count on to know about small little details, it was Twilight Sparkle. If this really was a rule—and she knew that Rarity and Fluttershy would never play games like this with her—then Twilight would know about it. With a sigh, she lowered her wings. Twilight did like following the rules. She wouldn’t appreciate Rainbow Dash barging in if she was the pony who was supposed to make the next move. Dash slumped, ears drooping and wings lowering until they hung from her sides, dragging on the ground. “This sucks,” she said to nopony in particular.
 
“Oh, Rainbow,” Rarity chimed in. “Waiting is a very important part of this. You need some time to reflect on your date and decide how you really feel.”
 
“How I really feel?” Dash straightened, a dangerous spark flashed in her eyes. “I don’t need time to figure that out. I had fun, I like fun!” She pushed her nose into Rarity’s and stared the mare in the eyes. “Twilight was awesome and I totally want to do it again.” Dash backed off and snorted. “That’s how I feel. I just want to tell her that.”
 
“Rarity, maybe we should let her–”
 
“Nonsense,” Rarity cut Fluttershy off. “What we will do is escort Rainbow Dash to Sugar Cube Corner. There we shall have lunch and she can share with us every detail about last night.”
 
Dash rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said, “but you’re buying.”
 



 
“So, the cafe was closed...” Dash paused, pretending not to see Rarity and Fluttershy tense up at yet another interruption; it served them right. So far nothing out of Applejack, but two of four was pretty good. She took a bite of her muffin. “These are really good, Pinks,” Dash said, spilling crumbs out of her mouth.
 
“Thanks, Dashie!” chirped Pinkie as she bounded over to the table, another tray of pastries balanced on her back. “You should really thank Applejack here, too!” she said as she slid the tray down onto the small table they were all seated around. Dash reached out to claim a turnover of some kind as her next course. Nopony else made a move towards the food, so Dash took a cupcake too, ignoring the way Rarity’s eye twitched. She had done that every time Dash had paused her story.
 
She finished chewing and swallowed. “Anyway,” she started again. “Twilight was about to do that panicky thing she does when her plans don’t go right. And I told myself, ‘You need to cheer her up, quick’. So I did the only thing I could think of.” She punched the air with a hoof. “I took her for a pegasus ride!” Her wings shifted on her back, opening slightly then settling back down as she relived that memory.
 
“Ooh!” squealed Pinkie, hopping in place, some sort of hot-sauce chocolate muffin monstrosity balanced on her nose. “I bet that was super fun! I’ve always wanted to go flying!” she said before tossing the baked good a few inches into the air and swallowing it in one gulp.
 
Dash cocked an eyebrow as she stared at her friend. “Pinkie, don’t you have that crazy candy cane flying thing?” she asked. “And the balloons?”
 
“Uh huh!” chirped Pinkie, still bouncing in place.
 
“Well, darling,” Rarity interjected, dabbing a napkin against her muzzle to remove the single crumb her own croissant had left, “I can attest that it is a simply marvelous experience, one that I am glad to have been able to take part in.” She took a sip of her tea, dabbing her muzzle again before continuing. “I could do without the free fall though.” Rarity flipped her mane with a hoof. “Do you have any idea how long it took to fix my coiffure?”
 
It was Applejack’s turn to roll her eyes. “And I guess hitting the ground woulda been a mite tough on your froufrou outfit, right?” She took a bite of the apple fritter balanced on one hoof. Mouth half full, she pounded her chest with her free fore-hoof, saying, “This is one earth pony who’s keepin’ her hooves on the ground!”
 
“So, anyway,” Rainbow Dash said, drawing out the final word to shift attention back to where it belonged: herself. “I started off with a huge dive and then I did a flip followed by some corkscrews.” She used her hooves to describe the flight path from the previous night, resisting the urge to embellish some of her tricks. She’d already impressed the one pony who really mattered with them, as simple as they were. As she finished her tale, she drew herself up and closed her eyes, her mouth pulling itself up into a smile as she prepared for a torrent of compliments.
 
There was only silence. Dash cracked an eye to make sure some creepy wizard hadn’t teleported her friends into his smelly old dungeon or anything like that. Eight eyes stared back at her, each the size of a dinner plate. “Um, what?”
 
Fluttershy spoke first. She had slipped down under her table so that her eyes were peeking out just over the top of her cocoa mug. “D- did you really do all of that? Oh, poor Twilight must have been so scared.” The pegasus shivered.
 
“What?” Dash nearly shouted, recoiling from that accusation. She was not scary; she was cool. Her tricks made ponies smile, not scream. As she met Rarity’s and then Applejack’s gazes in turn, she saw the same pity reflected in their eyes. Pinkie’s were rolled up and she was rubbing her chin with a hoof, tongue stuck out the side of her mouth in thought.
 
“Well, Rainbow. I have to say that it would give me the willies to go through all that, seeing as I don’t have wings an’ all. Fallin’ out of trees is bad enough.”
 
“No way! I’d never drop a pony.” Her hoof thumped against the table and her wings shot into the air. “And I totally asked her if she was cool with it first.” She relaxed her wings as she thought back to that flight again.
 
“Well, I know your capacity for aerial rescue better than anypony, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity’s voice had a slight tremor as she spoke. “And I’m sure you would never put Twilight in any real danger, but don’t you think all of that was a bit much?” Rarity gave her a forced grin. “She isn’t exactly the most experienced pony. While she has seen your flying before, I doubt she was quite ready for something like that.”
 
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, gals,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice like the fresh glaze from Pinkie’s tart. She made sure each of them got a good glare before she continued. “Twilight was totally fine. After the first dive and loop, she started laughing.” Dash ate the rest of her muffin in a single bite. “I was going to keep it simple at first, just a flip or two, but she seemed to really enjoy it.”
 
“I thought it sounded super fun!” Pinkie said. She zipped around the cafe making whooshing noises. The pink pony somehow balanced on only her rear legs with her front ones held out to either side, like a gliding pegasus’s wings. “Zoom, whoosh, zip!” She finally stumbled over an errant chair leg, crashed to the floor, and rolled to a stop by Dash. Lying on her back, Pinkie looked up at her, produced a perfectly normal looking cupcake, and held it up towards her. “Cupcake?” she asked.
 
Dash blinked and took the proffered treat, staring at it. It certainly looked like a normal cupcake with normal frosting that wasn’t made out of cement. “Pinkie, how–?” she began.
 
The pink pony sprung upright, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth as a hoof shot into her mane and rooted around. Dash watched her friend dig through her mess of curls in shock. Just when she was going to question Pinkie again, the earth pony pulled a plastic muffin tray out. Two of the four spots were empty.
 
“What–?” she began.
 
Applejack’s laugh drew her attention. “Well it seems you picked up some of Twilight’s habits too, sugar cube. You know better’n to ask Pinkie ‘how’.”
 
“Hush, you two,” Rarity scolded. “Let Rainbow Dash continue. I’m just dying to hear more.” Fluttershy nodded and smiled softly at Rainbow.
 
“Okay, okay,” Dash said, sitting back down and placing the perfectly ordinary and not at all creepily pristine cupcake on the table. “I was just about to tell you guys about the part where she kissed me.” Dash flashed her signature grin at the group, waiting for the responses.
 
Each pony reacted differently. Applejack’s eyes opened wide and her brows shot up. Fluttershy clapped her hooves and smiled. Her wings flapping, she rose several inches into the air. Pinkie gasped and tripped. Frozen in the act of falling over, the earth pony somehow managed to balance on one front leg while inhaling far more than anypony had a right to. Rarity quivered and bounced a little in her chair, her eyes growing wide. She brought her hooves to her mouth, trying to stifle the high-pitched giggles that were escaping as one long, continuous squeal.
 
Applejack was the first to recover, blinking twice and then shaking her head. “Really?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. “Our Twilight? Kissed you on the first date?”
 
“Yeah, she did.” Rainbow leaned back, placing her forehooves behind her head. Her wings beat slowly, allowing her to remain in her lounging posture without the support other, less awesome ponies needed. “Right here.” She tilted her chin up, exposing the side of her neck.
 
“I don’t see anything,” Pinkie said from under her chin.
 
Dash’s legs slipped from behind her head and her wings seized. She windmilled all four legs, trying to catch her balance. In a last ditch effort to avoid the hard, unforgiving floor, she lunged at Pinkie, grabbing a hold of her.
 
“Silly Dashie, I’m not Twilight!” chirped Pinkie.
 
“Be careful, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity admonished, now at Dash’s side as well. She pushed Pinkie away from Dash while supporting the pegasus with her magic. Dash had recovered by now, and she used her wings to lift herself back onto her chair.
 
“Thanks, Rarity.” It didn’t hurt to thank her friends, even if she could have handled it. Rarity was staring at her chest or maybe her neck. The unicorn’s eyes had narrowed and seemed to almost be boring a hole in her. “Hello? Equestria to Rarity?” She waved a hoof in front of Rarity’s face, startling the mare.
 
“Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. Her lips set in a pout, she turned to walk back to her seat, head held low.
 
“Well, what’s gotten into you?” Applejack demanded.
 
Rarity sighed, resting her chin on the table and pouting as Dash stared at her incomprehensible friend. “It’s just that… Well, I didn’t see anything either.”
 
“Oh, Rarity.” Fluttershy patted the dejected unicorn’s withers. “I don’t think Twilight’s the kind to wear lipstick anyway. Even if she had, I’m sure it would have washed off when Dash was clearing the sky earlier.”
 
“I never saw the point in that nonsense myself,” quipped AJ. Her eyes drifted upwards and she smiled as her lids drooped a bit. “Unless you flavor it.”
 
“Ooh! Maybe they could make a cupcake flavored lipstick!” Pinkie bounded onto the table and pressed the top of one of her treats to her muzzle. She reached down and grabbed Applejack. Ignoring the snort of protest and the gasps from Fluttershy and Rarity, she yanked her fellow earth pony up onto the table. “Let’s test!” she chirped excitedly as she drove her muzzle towards Applejack’s.
 
“Whoa!” Applejack held the pink pony at bay with a single hoof placed squarely on her forehead. She rolled her eyes. “You’re gonna be wantin’ to buy me dinner first, Pinkie.”
 
“Aw. I guess I should have used an apple fritter.” Pinkie dropped AJ, leaving Rarity and Fluttershy to catch her as she licked the frosting off of her lips.
 
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “We’re supposed to be talking about me and Twilight here,” she said, giving the whole group of them another annoyed glower as Applejack righted herself. Fluttershy and Rarity quickly settled back down, the former blushing a bit and the latter focusing all of her attention back where it belonged.
 
“Okie doki.” Pinkie cheerfully let Dash’s glare slide right past her, bounced once more and then plopped down between Rarity and AJ. The pony barely fit, and Rarity was nearly knocked off of her chair. She scooted over a few inches, giving Pinkie enough room to stand, if not much else.
 
“Right, anyway,” Dash said, leaning forward, “I haven’t got to the best part yet.” Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s eyes were positively radiating. Pinkie’s lips were pursed and she reined in her hopping to a slight bobbing. Applejack did her best to seem bored, yawning and closing her eyes. The way her ears twitched and swiveled to zero in on Dash revealed the act for what it was.
 
Rainbow told them about the dinner, skipping the jelly clouds. That was going to be a surprise for Pinkie’s next birthday. She spent several minutes describing the mustache and how awesome it had been. Pinkie tried to give herself a cotton candy one, but halfway through sculpting it, she accidentally ate it.
 
Rarity had wanted every detail about her teleportation experience. The unicorn couldn’t cast such a powerful spell herself and had never found the occasion to have even a short range one enacted upon her. After telling Rarity she’d fill her in later, Rainbow finished her tale with her delivery of the sleeping unicorn to her own bed.
 
“Oh, how simply marvelous!” Rarity said, clapping her forehooves together. “Such chivalry and thoughtfulness. If only I could find a pony half so caring.” Rarity’s eyes focused on something far away for a moment before she blinked. “But aren’t you worried at all about how that looks? I know you would never do anything untoward, but being in a lady’s room, alone, at night. Well, it could start a major scandal.”
 
Dash rolled her eyes and snorted. “We weren’t alone, Spike was there.”
 
Applejack cleared her throat, forestalling Rarity’s next argument. “Well Rainbow, it seems you had a mighty fine time,” she said. “I guess I don’t rightly know why you’re here with us when you could be spending time with Twilight.”
 
Pinkie’s mane kept Applejack from seeing the glance that Fluttershy and Rarity shared. Dash had, but she ignored it. Finally! A pony who was making sense. “Exactly!” She banged her hooves on the table rattling the cups and dishes. “I was on my way to hang out with her when these two–” she pointed towards Rarity and Fluttershy– “stopped me. They said something about having to wait three days or something.” She snorted and rolled her eyes as she slumped forward onto the table. “No offense gals, but I would really rather be at Twilight’s right now.”
 
Applejack’s ears twitched. “Three days?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed as she glared at Rarity. “Is this another one of your fancy courtin’ things that nopony in these parts ever heard of?”
 
“Oh no, Applejack, don’t be mad.” Fluttershy leaned out onto the table to make eye contact with Applejack. “It really is true. All the books I’ve read say so, and well,” she looked down at the table and then back at Rainbow Dash, “I’m sor–”
 
“A party!” Pinkie shouted, springing up into the air again. Her deafening exclamation left Dash’s ears ringing. Her other friends were rubbing their ears and wincing as well.
 
“Yeah, Pinkie, I’m not sure how that’s going to help,” Dash began.
 
“Oh nonono!” Pinkie interrupted. “See, if you and Twilight are invited to an open social event using separate invitations and totally not as a couple then it’s totally okay for you to talk to each other.” She leaped up onto the table, scattering half eaten pastries all over the floor, and placed a hoof over both Fluttershy’s and Rarity’s mouths, silencing their protests. “As long as there is always at least one other pony present at the party, then it’s an exemption from the standard no-contact time span as covered under section seven of the Modern Filly’s Guide to Romance.”
 
Rarity managed to remove Pinkie’s hoof using a combination of magic and sheer strength. “Pinkie Pie, where could you have possibly learned that?” she asked, struggling to keep from being muted once more.
 
“Silly Rarity!” Pinkie withdrew her hooves forcing Rarity and Fluttershy to cling to one another or fall over. The earth pony pressed her nose into Rarity’s. “I know everything there is to know about parties!” she said, beaming.
 
“But–” stammered Rarity.
 
“Um–” questioned Fluttershy.
 
“Oh, a muffin!” said Pinkie as she scooped up the half eaten treat and popped it into her mouth.
 
The cafe was quiet as she chewed then swallowed the muffin. Licking the last crumbs off of her muzzle, she turned to Rainbow Dash. “So, party?” she asked.
 
Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and Rarity, her eyebrows rising. Could it really be that simple? The two ponies turned around, their backs to the other three. Wrapping a leg over each other’s withers, they began to whisper back and forth. For nearly a minute, she could only make out the occasional word as the two conversed in privacy.
 
Finally, they turned around, both of their faces severe with mouths set with tight frowns and brows pulled together. “We have conferred,” announced Rarity, Fluttershy nodding along, “And decided that a social situation such as a party when both Twilight and Rainbow Dash are invited separately is indeed an exception to the three-days-rule.”
 
“But, um, there has to have a reason for the party,” Fluttershy softly said. “Sorry.” She hunched over and tried to hide behind her mane again.
 
“Yes,” Rarity agreed, reaching out a hoof to comfort Fluttershy. “It must have a real reason beyond simply allowing the circumvention of standard dating protocol. Furthermore...”
 
As Rarity continued to lecture Pinkie on the various requirements she and Fluttershy had worked out, Applejack leaned towards Rainbow Dash. “I’m so lost,” hissed Applejack, using a hoof to hide her speech from Rarity.
 
“Me too,” Dash replied in kind.
 
“Why are you puttin’ up with all this?” Applejack whispered.
 
“I don’t want to screw this up,” Dash said, waving a hoof in the general direction of the library. “Twilight... Well, she likes her lists and rules. Besides,” Dash smiled, “she’s worth it.”
 
“Aw, little Rainbow’s growing up.” AJ stuck her lips out in a pout and fluttered her eyelids.
 
“H-hey!” Dash protested, struggling to keep her voice low.
 
Applejack smirked at her friend. “Does she call you ‘Dashie’ too?”
 
“No way!” hissed Rainbow, red showing on her cheeks. Attempting to regain the upper hoof in the conversation, she stuck her tongue out at Applejack. She opened her mouth to counter her chief rival’s last comment when Pinkie’s giggle drew her attention back to her other friends.
 
“It’s simple!” chirped the bouncing pink pony. “We have a party to celebrate the creation of my new toff-taff-overs!”
 
“Um, Pinkie?” mumbled Fluttershy. “What’s a toff-taff-over?”
 
“They’re a delicious combination of toffee, taffy, and turnovers!” Pinkie stood on her rear legs as she made this announcement. From somewhere in the shop a fanfare played, confetti and streamers shooting out from behind her.
 
Rainbow Dash ignored all of this; something far more important had been decided. She was pretty used to having to figure out what other ponies were talking about from half heard conversations. She couldn’t help it if they sometimes were too boring to pay attention too. “Wait a minute,” she said, her mind turning over the half heard words. “Does this mean I can talk to Twilight sooner?” she asked. Her wings were slowly unfurling as she dared get her hopes up.
 
“Yes darling, it does,” Rarity answered, smiling.
 
With a shout Dash jumped into the air. “Yes!” she cried before proceeding to perform flips and twirls within the tight confines of Sugar Cube Corner. She zipped around the room, narrowly avoiding beams, columns, and her friends. Once her excitement was finally under control, she came to a stop, hovering over the table and looking down at her friends. “So when’re we doing this?” the words tumbled out of her mouth as she looked to each of her friends in turn.
 
Pinkie planted her rump onto the table, knocking the remaining dishes to the ground. The earth pony whipped out a pair of reading glasses and a black planner. Her face grew serious as she flipped through the book. “Let’s see,” she chirped. “How about Monday?”
 
“That would be awesome!” Dash replied. Only two days of waiting? That beat three any way around it.
 
“Oh, but... um.” Fluttershy began fidgeting. “Never mind,” she whispered.
 
“Now Fluttershy,” Rarity began, “you don’t have to be nervous around us, dear.”
 
The yellow pegasus inhaled and closed her eyes, gathering what courage she had. “It’s just, well... Rainbow said she’d go watch the butterfly migration with me.” She wrung her hooves together, and then glanced up at Dash. “But don’t worry about it, it’s ok.”
 
“No way, Fluttershy,” Dash said. “I kinda forgot about it, but no way would I leave you hanging.” She turned towards Pinkie and asked, “Maybe we could do it tomorrow?”
 
Pinkie licked her hoof and began to flip through her black booklet. “Hmm,” she said, tapping a hoof against her chin. “Tomorrow is no good, I have to fold my sprinkles.”
 
“What?” Rainbow asked. Her friends mirrored her sentiment.
 
“Huh?” asked Pinkie.
 
“Whatever. I can’t do it Sunday, that big storm is gonna take all day to clean up after.” Dash let out a scream of frustration. “This’ll never work!” she wailed, causing Fluttershy to fold her ears back against her head.
 
“Well dear, I know it’s short notice, but is there anything wrong with having our little soiree tonight?” Rarity looked at each one of them as she spoke.
 
“I reckon some of the work on the farm can wait until tomorrow,” Applejack allowed.
 
“I just need to check on some of the new bunnies. They have tummy aches, but I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” agreed Fluttershy.
 
“And I already know how I’m going to make my toff-taff-overs!” cried Pinkie.
 
Rarity turned towards Dash. “And you, Rainbow Dash? Is tonight good for you?”
 
Her grin pulled up on the left half of her face, turning her customary smirk into a wide grin. “Tonight is gonna be so awesome!”