The flight back down from Cloudsdale was largely silent. Of course, that was relative, as Pinkie Pie had never really stopped talking, but then again, Pinkie Pie never really stopped talking ever anyway. But Rarity was quiet, Twilight was deep in thought, and even the usually conversational Applejack was silent, and Rarity didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what the side-long glances she was getting meant.
She would need to apologise. Properly. She had been so supportive of Rainbow Dash, right up until her vanity had taken over her, and then she had turned into the worst kind of friend that she could imagine. Because, really, what other than a horrible friend went to support a dear friend in their home city at a competition that they had explicitly trained for and then tried to upstage them?
Rarity was still a whirl of thoughts when Twilight’s balloon touched down just on the outskirts of Ponyville. She bid her farewells to the others out of pure habit, and ingrained habit took her back home.
With a sigh, Rarity laid down on the couch in her showroom.
“My, what a mess I have made of myself,” she muttered, looking at the half-smeared makeup and torn dress that still draped off her. Rarity let herself wallow in her feelings for a while longer, then slid off the couch, and pulled the dress off her body.
She would likely never wear it again, and she would have loved to burn the terrible thing, but there were some interesting patterns in the dress that she would like to replicate at a later date, so it was safe for now. Dumping the dress on the floor, Rarity made her way upstairs to her bathroom so that she could wash off the excess makeup that she had applied for the Best Young Flier competition.
‘Tomorrow,’ thought Rarity, ‘I shall find Rainbow Dash tomorrow, and I shall apologise to her properly.’ With her mind made up on her course of action, Rarity settled down to sleep. The day had been long, after all, and she was tired, and she was sure that Rainbow Dash would be tired too, once she got back to Ponyville after spending a day with her idols. Yes, tomorrow would be good.
*****
As it turned out, tomorrow had not been a good day. Rarity could not find Rainbow Dash anywhere. She had checked with Fluttershy, but the poor dear hadn’t seen Rainbow since last night. Applejack hadn’t found Rainbow in any of her trees, Twilight Sparkle hadn’t seen her at all, and Rarity had even resorted to asking Pinkie Pie about Rainbow’s favourite training spots. That was what Rarity was currently checking, though only after dropping off the two kilograms of fudge that her friend had managed to sell her. How, in Celestia’s name, was Pinkie so persuasive when she was behind the counter?
Regardless, Rarity had checked most of Rainbow’s common training spots, and was now heading for the last, and most remote of them. And sure enough, Rarity could see a rainbow tail drooping out of a cloud that was hovering slightly higher than a pony could jump.
Rarity reached out with her magic, and gave the tail a sharp tug.
“Ow,” grumbled Rainbow Dash, sitting up on the cloud, “What gives? It’s my day off, and,” Rainbow trailed off when she saw who it was.
“Rainbow,” said Rarity, trying to phrase it as delicately as possible, “We should talk about yesterday.”
“Nah,” said Rainbow after a moment, “There’s nothing to talk about. You were being a prissy unicorn, I was awesome and saved you, you said sorry, and so we’re all good.”
“It is not that simple, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity, as Rainbow went to lie back down on her cloud, “I nearly ruined your routine. I came into an event that you had worked so hard for, and I ruined it for you.”
“Rarity,” said Rainbow, glaring at the unicorn from her cloud, “I won the competition. I saved you. Far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of it. You were being a bit of an idiot, but so was I, so we’re square.”
“You can’t just forgive ponies that easily! It’s not possible, not with something like this!” said Rarity.
“Sure I can,” said Rainbow, “I forgive you. I forgave you the second you were off my back in Cloudsdale, because I’m loyal to my friends. That means I stand by you, even if you’re being a prissy drama queen. The end.” Rainbow laid back down on her cloud, and in a few seconds, Rarity heard the rumbling and snorting of Rainbow Dash’s snores.
Rarity sighed, and began to make her way back to Ponyville. She may as well make a start on that fudge, even though she just knew it was going to ruin her figure. She missed how Rainbow Dash’s hoof slipped off the cloud in exactly the right way to break a piece of it and knock it towards Rarity.
She didn’t miss it when the piece of cloud hit her and discharged just enough lightning into her to make her mane frizz up, but when Rarity looked back, Rainbow was still fast asleep. Or at least, seemed to be. Rarity straightened her mane out to the best of her ability, and continued to walk back to Ponyville with a smile forming on her face.