//------------------------------// // The Investigation // Story: Detectives and Dresses // by Mathew_The_Raridash_Fan //------------------------------// On a beautiful morning, a white unicorn skillfully guided lavender silk through a sewing machine. The dress she was making was for an important client. Every second counted because she was going to pick up her dress at noon. Rarity couldn’t afford to waste any time. The clock continued ticking as Rarity worked quickly but carefully. There was no room for mistakes. She finished the dress last night, but Sweetie Belle ruined it. There was no way to fix the giant stain, so she had to start all over. Her work kept her up all night, and she only had Opal to keep her company. She was interrupted by a knock on her door. She sighed in annoyance and walked down stairs to see who was there. She hoped wasn’t a customer. The shop wasn’t open, and she was too busy to take any requests. She opened the door and found Pinkie Pie bouncing in place. “Good morning, Rarity! Are you busy?” Pinkie asked with a wide grin on her face. “Yes. I am working on a dress for an important client,” Rarity informed her. She turned around to leave, but she ran into Pinkie Pie who somehow got into the Boutique. “I need you to make a dress for me before Friday.” Pinkie requested. Friday was four days away. Rarity agreed to Pinkie’s request. “Very well then. I am busy at the moment, so come here in an hour.” “Okidokiloki!” Pinkie exclaimed as she hopped away. Rarity returned to work on the dress. She only needed to sew the sleeves closed and attach the outer layer to the inner layer. Everything else was perfect. She had thirty minutes to spare. After she finally finished the dress, she washed them and waited until noon. That was when her client arrived to pick them up. Her work was done, so she decided to make something for lunch. She had to skip breakfast so that the dress would be finished in time. She was so hungry that she decided to make a simple cheese sandwich rather than take time to cook something. An hour past, and Pinkie Pie walked in the door. It was rude of her to not knock, but Rarity didn’t mind too much. She knew Pinkie was going to be there and knew that she wasn’t the most well mannered pony. “I came here like you said!” Pinkie announced. “Yes. I presume the dress is for the Ponyville Ball considering that it is on Friday. Am I correct?” Rarity asked. Pinkie nodded, “Yes indeedy.” Rarity asked, “What specifications do you want with the dress?” Pinkie shrugged, “I don’t know. Something that will catch the attention of a special pony.” That got Rarity’s attention. “Who is this special pony?” “It’s a secret,” Pinkie said with a huge grin. That wasn’t helpful. “Pinkie, I need to know what this pony likes.” Rarity knew Pinkie was pansexual, so she tried to keep everything gender neutral. “Ze has class,” Pinkie stated. Was the special somepony gender non-binary, or was Pinkie trying not to give away the gender without sounding polyamorous? The only instruction she had was to impress a classy pony. She wanted Pinkie Pie to enjoy her dance. She looked up and found that Pinkie left. She drew out a design that she thought would look impressive on Pinkie. They were classy, so Rarity decided the safest approach was to make a dress she thought Pinkie looked impressive in. The design of the dress wasn’t too hard, and she already had Pinkie’s measurements. Something else was on her mind, though. Who was the pony Pinkie was talking about? Was it somepony from Canterlot? Was it Persnickety? She never imagined Pinkie Pie being with him. There was only one thing a mare could do in a time like that. She had to investigate. The dress didn’t need to be finished until Friday, so she had plenty of time. She decided to find Twilight. Twilight was very observant and could tell her any clues. Perhaps she had clues as to who Pinkie’s secret admirer was. She found Twilight in the first place she looked, the library of the Friendship Kingdom Castle. She was busy reading on of the many books, though. Rarity waited patiently. She knew it was a waste of time to try to get Twilight’s attention while she was reading. Her patience paid off. Twilight looked up from her book to see Rarity. “Hi, Rarity. Can I help you?” “Yes. Have you noticed anything different with Pinkie Pie lately?” Rarity asked. Twilight thought for a moment. Now that she thought about it, Pinkie did act strangely. “She seems to suddenly love the color purple. She even uses it more than pink now.” Pinkie Pie always loved the color purple, but a sudden obsession with that color was strange. Perhaps Pinkie’s crush’s favorite color was purple. Rarity loved the color purple herself. That pony had great taste. No wonder Pinkie was fond of them. Plenty of ponies loved the color purple, so Rarity still had to search for clues. She told Twilight she was going to talk to Rainbow Dash and left. Rainbow Dash had photographic memory, so she would have noticed if Pinkie Pie suddenly changed her personality. Rainbow was harder to find than Twilight. That mare was all over the place. She asked around, but no one saw her. Was she still at her house? Rarity had no way of getting to Rainbow’s house, so she decided to find Applejack. Pinkie visited the farm frequently. Rarity assumed it was for ingredients since she was unaware that they were related. Rarity walked to Sweet Apple Acres and found Applejack and Rainbow Dash playing what looked like a variation of basket ball. Both ponies tried to throw the bruised apples into buckets. Rarity was pleased to find two ponies she was looking for in the same place. That made things much easier. Applejack noticed Rarity watching and said, “Howdy! Rainbow Dash here is helping me with my chores. Care to lend a hoof?” They were doing chores? Rarity shook her head, “No thank you. I need to ask you something.” Rainbow stopped throwing apples and looked over at Rarity, “What do you need to ask us?” Rarity got both their attentions and asked, “Have you noticed anything different about Pinkie Pie lately?” “Pinkie has been acting fancy lately,” Applejack recalled, “I’m not sure if she’s on a diet or anything, but she’s been eating high society food.” Pinkie’s lover loves the color purple, and they are fancy? If Pinkie successfully impresses them, Pinkie would have a pony Rarity would love.A classy pony who loved the color purple and fancy food was a pony Rarity dreamt of having. Still, while that narrowed her search, she needed more clues. She stared at Rainbow waiting for her to speak. “I noticed that Pinkie grew a sudden fascination with gems lately. I mean I get that gems are pretty, but Pinkie never went out of her way to look for them.” Rainbow explained. That clue definitely narrowed everything down, but she still had a few ponies. She wanted to be certain about everything. Rarity became jealous of Pinkie, but Pinkie was still her friend. She was going to help her impress the lucky pony by making her a beautiful dress. She wanted to know who the pony was, though. Perhaps Fluttershy knew something. She left Applejack and Rainbow Dash to their chores and walked to Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy was feeding her animals when Rarity got there. It was a quick task, so Rarity didn’t need to wait too long. Fluttershy was startled when she saw her friend and almost dropped Angel’s salad. Luckily, she was able to catch it. “Oh goodness!” she exclaimed, “I didn’t see you there.” “I am sorry for startling you like that,” Rarity apologized. “I want to ask if you noticed anything different about Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy’s head shot up. That got her attention. “I have. I mean Pinkie is a very sweet pony. She usually does things for other ponies. She has been extra giving, though. I mean it’s great that she’s starting to be more generous, but I don’t know why she’s suddenly acting like that. I really like it, though.” “Pinkie has a crush on somepony, and I want to find out who it is,” Rarity told Fluttershy. “Now I can’t think of anypony who fits the description.” “I hope Pinkie gets whoever she has a crush on,” Fluttershy told her. “So do I,” Rarity agreed. She wanted to have Pinkie’s crush for herself, but she knew it was wrong of her to do that. She thanked Fluttershy for her help and went back to the Carousel Boutique. Her investigation was a fail, but she still had another task. She had plenty of time to make Pinkie’s dress, though. She intended to make Pinkie look fabulous. Finally, it was Friday morning. Rarity finished with Pinkie’s dress and washed it. She waited for Pinkie Pie and even prepared breakfast for her. Pinkie was going to pick up the dress soon. Rarity finished cooking breakfast when she saw heard the door open. She turned and saw Pinkie Pie. “That smells delicious!” Pinkie complimented. “I’m glad you love the smell,” Rarity said. “I made breakfast for you. You can try on the dress after you eat.” “Thank you so much!” Pinkie said gratefully. “I forgot to eat breakfast because I really wanted to see what the dress looks like.” Rarity smiled. “I assure you that whoever sees you will be impressed.” Pinkie giggled. “I think she will.” So Pinkie had a crush on a girl. The gender was finally revealed. Both ponies ate breakfast together. When they finished, Pinkie tried on the dress. It looked amazing on her, even better than what Rarity imagined. There wasn’t even any need to style her mane. “Are you impressed?” Pinkie asked. Rarity nodded, “I am. I think any pony would love to be your date to the ball.” She wanted to tell Pinkie how jealous she was, but she wasn’t sure if it was a great idea. Pinkie grinned. “Even you?” Rarity looked at Pinkie in shock. Was she serious? “Yes. Even me. You look amazing!” “Will you go the the ball with me?” Pinkie asked. She was serious. Rarity couldn’t contain her excitement. “Yes!” Rarity realized something. She was busy trying to figure out who Pinkie’s lover was that she didn’t even consider that she was Pinkie’s lover. She was classy, her favorite color was purple, she loved fancy stuff, she loved gems, and she was generous. All the signs pointed to her. Rarity and Pinkie arrived at the dance. Rarity wore one of her favorite dresses. They danced to their favorite songs and ate snacks during the songs they weren’t fond of. It was a beautiful night. They decided to go outside alone. Pinkie didn’t suddenly develop a crush on Rarity. She loved her for a long time. She put a lot of trust in Rarity, even more than she did with anyone else. She didn’t want to say anything because she didn’t want to hurt Spike’s feelings though. Luckily, Spike was in Canterlot for awhile. It was the perfect time to ask Rarity out. Even if it was for only one night. She loved every second of it, though.