"I really hope this ain't no inconvenience, Rares," Applejack said.
"Oh, none at all, darling!" Rarity squatted before her table and sewing machine, working on a piece of partially-knitted fabric. "I am always able and willing to work on all-important outfits for my friends!" she sing-song'd. "Or—in this case—active winter wear for my friend's sheep dog... ahem..." Her bifocal'd eyes darted briefly out the sunny window. "...months before the first flake of snow."
"Yup. Uh huh." Applejack leaned forward, tilting her hat back. "So you seen Rainbow Dash around at all lately?"
"Rainbow... Dash...?" Rarity suddenly went two shades paler. "Now... what... makes you think... that I've seen... our darling athletic companion... lately?"
Applejack raised an eyebrow at Rarity's awkwardly mechanical tone. "Isssssss there somethin' yer itchin' to tell me, Rarity?"
"Ahem. Whatever gives you that idea, fair Applejack?"
"Because you always stiffen up like a cow with rigor mortis whenever yer not-so-secretly dyin' to 'fess up somethang."
"Mmmmmmmmmm...!" Rarity bit her lip to contain a bursting smile. The fashionista looked right.
Applejack looked right.
Rarity looked left.
Applejack looked left.
At long last, Rarity swiveled around and motioned for Applejack to scoot closer.
So... Applejack scooted closer.
Rarity shimmied towards her. Once she was in whisper range, she cupped her fetlocks around a pair of marshmallow cheeks and wheezed: "I... have... reason... to... believe... that... our... beloved... Rainbow Dash... is... starting... a... brand... new... exciting... chapter... of... her... young... feminine... life...!"
"Y'all dun say?" Applejack marshmallow'd back. "Is she finally joinin' the Wankycoots or somethin'?"
"Nothing of the sort! Oh, Applejack, you just won't believe it!"
"Believe what?" Applejack groaned breathily. "Consarn it, Rarity. Enough with the melodrama already..."
"I have reason to believe..." Rarity's eyes sparkled. "...that Rainbow Dash has finally found the stallion of her dreams!"
"... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..." Applejack blinked. "... ... ... ...oh yeah?"
"Mmmmmmmmmm!" Rarity was nearly bouncing up and down. "Don't tell anypony. Buttttttttt..." She looked left and right for one final measure, then melodically squealed: "She had me fashion a dress for her! Rainbow Dash! Our Rainbow Dash! And I made her a most smashing ensemble that would absolutely throttle a respectable gentlecolt on his hooves!"
"Yer tryin' to tell me that our..." Applejack grimaced in mid-speech. "...that Rainbow Dash wanted a dress? And she wanted you to make her one?"
"Indeed! She even posed and modeled it for me! Such commitment! Such intense purpose! I'm telling you, Applejack, the moment has finally come! She's smitten!"
"... ... ... ... ...huh..." Applejack's eyes darted off into the pearlescent distance of the boutique. "That seems so... so..."
"Wonderful, isn't it!"
"Well..." Applejack gulped. "Reckon it is." Her eyes darted back to Rarity. "Assumin' she's happy and all."
"Well, you know Rainbow Dash..."
"Do I?"
"...always so frightened of embarrassment. Quick to deny the most basic of truths. Afraid of revealing her vulnerable side." Rarity laughed. "In so many ways, darling, she's the opposite of you!"
"Yeah..." Applejack straightened her hat. "R-Reckon so..."
"She wouldn't come out with the truth through her muzzle, but I can tell..." Rarity's eyelashes fluttered. "A true lady can always tell. Her heart has been seized by the love bug. And I haven't seen her since!"
"Haven't... seen her...?"
"Ever since I fashioned her that dress, she's been missing! I'm telling you, our beloved Rainbow Dash has eloped!"
"Eloped? You mean... like them William Flankspeare characters?"
"I mean like a happy young blooming mare throwing caution to the wind and embracing the passion and exuberance of a romantic life." Rarity sighed dreamily. "... ... ...but—that's Rainbow's business and not ours, hmm?" She winked as she returned to the sewing job. "Best not to spread rumors... but you and me, Applejack? We're friends. And there's no rumors between friends."
"Right." Applejack swallowed dryly. "No secrets either, I reckon."
"Whatever happens... when Rainbow Dash comes back... she deserves our love and support." Rarity's cheeks nevertheless puffed out as she smiled to the breaking point. "Mmmmmm! I can just imagine it right now! A candle-lit dinner! A dance beneath the stars! A kiss by the fireplace! Ohhhhhhhh I do hope Rainbow Dash opens up after this! Imagine the stories she has to tell!"
"Yeah, I..." Applejack gazed off some more. "...can almost picture it."
God.. dammit... Rarity...
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Seconded. Gossip horse gonna gossip though.
Also, that chapter title.
Thanks, Rarity.
I vaguely remember everyone telling Rainbow right after she got back from her Manehattan trip that Applejack had been in a bad mood for awhile.
This should be interesting to watch.
Oh yeah, Rainbow's visiting Childhood Trauma: The Household.
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Whichever it is, it's gonna involve staring. Now here's the thing - what if it's these things staring at ponies?
Gee, good job, Rarity!
10/10!
Best Secret Keeping Skillz evar.
Dash is racing to keep her secret, but AJ is catching up quickly. Will Dash make it, or will it be a Photo Finish.
You had the best intentions, Rarity... I think. After all, Applejack just compared you to a cow.
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A dead cow at that
no
NO
RARITY DON'T
This was the chapter I was waiting for.
It's probably one of the worst feelings in the whole world when you hear someone you have feelings for is with somebody else. Like taking a punch to the guts from Mike Tyson.
Funny. If only you could know how wrong you are. And how lady-like your behavior.
Also:
" The “masterpiece” was nothing more than a gigantic paper mache doppelganger of the shard that she and Lancie had just retrieved from Photo Finish's vault. But that wasn't all. Every single square inch of the “sculpture” was covered from top to bottom with copy upon copy upon copy of the same photograph: of the shard itself. ... there were no less than five hundred copies of the same photograph of the chaotic shard."
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Forgive her Phoenix, for she knows not what she does.
This would also explain why Applejack was so down in the dumps when Rainbow Dash returns from Manhattan. I thought it might be because she was pining over the supposed loss of Rainbow Dash.
What a strange chapter title