Rainbooms and Royalty

by Trinary


Rarity

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“I’ll do your taxes! I’ll foalsit your sister!” Rainbow Dash struggled against Rarity’s grip as they entered the spa. “I’ll beat up your enemies! Just let me go!”

“Oh shush!” Rarity let Rainbow Dash drop on a massage table, giving a slight nod to the owners, a pair of pink and blue earth ponies. The twins came over and started gently massaging Rainbow’s back as Rarity finally released her telekinetic grip on her.

Rainbow Dash squirmed but as Rarity thought, the massage was sooo relaxing that she couldn’t make her muscles respond to her commands to jump up and leave…and soon, she didn’t even want to. “Aww, yeah….” Dash sighed, practically melting into the table. “This is the shtuff….” Her voice slurred as even her face seemed too relaxed to properly form her words.

Rarity tittered. “Now, darling was that worth all of that struggling?” Rainbow let out an inarticulate groan that could’ve meant anything or nothing. Beaming with pride, Rarity preened. “I thought as much. Oh, darling you are going to be a marvel once we’re finished! Why there won’t be a stallion or mare whose eye won’t be drawn to your bedazzling features. Who knows? Maybe you’ll catch the eye of that *magnificent* stallion from last night whom you’re so enamored of.” Dash’s response, while slurred, was utterly predictable.

“’m not….Shinin’ Armorrrr…”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Of course you’re not…” She said primly. “Still, he IS rather dashing…no pun intended darling.” She chuckled. “Shining Armor…such a well suited name for such a…well suited stallion.” The unicorn let out a noise somewhere between a purr and a squeal. “Did you see the size of his horn? It was tremendous!”

Aloe and Lotus, the twin spa attendants, shared a look and repressed a giggle. Rainbow Dash managed to raise her head and shoot Rarity a glare of pure concentrated anger and protectiveness that the unicorn in question actually felt her coat growing warm.

Rainbow Dash hovered in between a state of wakefulness and snoozing, dimly aware of Rarity wrapping herself up in an embroidered robe behind a screen and dipping her hooves into a warm pool of water. The pegasus sighed, actually feeling relaxed. This wasn’t too bad at that…

The next hour was a whirlwind, even for the fast flying pegasus. Steam rooms, mud masks, hot tubs, brushing, preening, cleaning, drying…she had practice sessions with the royal guard that weren’t this exhausting.

At the tail-end of their session Rarity was brushing Dash’s mane while the cyan pegaus lay on her belly. Rarity was finishing up some fashion story—Rainbow wasn’t listening—when she couldn’t help comment: “I never got what the big deal is with…fashion and stuff.” Rainbow Dash waggled her hoof vaguely. “It’s just not that important…to me.” She added at the last possible second in a belated attempt to prevent from ruffling Rarity’s feathers. It was too little too late though.

“Rainbow Dash, honestly!” The white unicorn exclaimed, not stopping from brushing Rainbow’s coat. “Being fashionable is of extreme importance! Why, the upper crust of Canterlot practically revolves around fashion! Anypony who’s anypony pays attention to the latest trends!”

“Ya huh. Even though Princess Celestia, the most important pony like, ever, walks around without clothes?” Rainbow raised a questioning eyebrow. “You can just tell how important SHE thinks it is.” Her sarcasm could’ve peeled paint.

Rarity flinched as if kicked. “Y-yes well, I’m sure the Princess is just busy and—and…” She coughed. “Anyway…it isn’t just about impressing ponies.”

“It’s not, huh?” Saying Dash was skeptical was a bit like saying the sun was warm.

But Rarity nodded. “Of course not! It’s about being able to show a pony’s true inner beauty to the world! Do you know what it’s like to see some poor little filly walking through town, her head hung low and feeling like everypony else in the world is special, but not her?” Rainbow Dash didn’t answer. “Well, I have.” Rarity continued. “But you’d be amazed how one’s attitude towards oneself can change after some time spent with a friend: shopping, doing make-overs, finding just the *perfect* outfit…to have them look in a mirror and not recognize themselves!”

“So you think ponies can be made happy by having them not be themselves?” Dash asked. “They should print that on Hallmare cards.”

Rarity hmphed. “That isn’t it at all. It’s about being able to see their eyes fill with tears as they see themselves looking at an image of themselves they didn’t know existed: couldn’t believe existed. It’s not about showing off, it’s about helping ponies find their own true inner beauty, by seeing just how special and amazing they can be. And then they realize that it isn’t the clothes that made them special, it was there inside them all along. THAT is what I want to bring out. It’s what I do and why I love doing it.”

She pursed her lips as she regarded her own flank. “I suppose that’s what my cutie mark is about. I loved making clothing and wonderful outfits! But an outfit just isn’t…special unless it’s being worn and if it doesn’t make the wearer look good. I remember back when I was making costumes for a school play…it wasn’t until I found some gemstones after an explosion of light that I found how I can make the outfits for the actors just ‘pop.’ I saw the awe that filled the crowd, even if it wasn’t for me per se…it was simply wonderful.” Her eyes grew dreamy. “That’s when my cutie mark appeared. It’s always been my dream to make everypony as happy and beautiful and fashionable as possible…who knows, one day I’ll even design an outfit worth of Princess Celestia herself!”

Rainbow Dash felt a flicker of appreciation for Rarity’s obvious drive and ambition…even if she really couldn’t get past just how lame it was. “Yeah, well, that’s…something I guess. Can I get up now?”

“Well, unless I could persuade you try on this lovely bit of make-up I—”

“No.”

“Just a little…?”

“NO.” Rainbow Dash glared at her. “I let you brush my mane and coat, I went in the hot tubs and steam rooms, but make up is where I draw the line! So unless you want me to dry your hair with a tornado, I suggest you back off.”

Rarity cleared her throat daintily. “Well! All you had to do was ask! Then yes, we’re done. Now…tell me what you think!” She held up a mirror for Rainbow to look into.

As much as she hated to admit it, it wasn’t that bad. Her mane felt silky and each strand fell straight and softly. Her wings had been massaged until they felt nice and springy and her coat practically shimmered a bright blue. She looked, well, awesome. Good looking without being frou-frou. “It looks…cool.” Rainbow allowed.

Beaming, Rarity dipped her head. “All in day’s work. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some inspired decorations to assemble! Ta ta! We must do this again some time!”

“Yeah…good luck with that.” Rainbow Dash added under her breath as she walked out of the spa.
Across the street was a cafe where she saw Twilight and Applejack waiting for her at an outside table.

“Well, howdy do!” AJ tipped her hat. “Look whose gotten all gussied up!” She grinned, inspecting Dash. “Durn. And here I thought Rarity would’ve made sure to put some of her purrrty make up on you.” Applejack teased. Rainbow Dash glowered, then a wicked smile.

“I convinced her to save it all up for when she takes you to the spa next week.”

“Y-you didn’t really…didja?” Rainbow Dash gave an enigmatic shrug and turned to Twilight.

“So, what’s next?”

“Let’s see…after catering, weather, decorations, the last thing is…musical accompaniment. It’s being taken care of by Fluttershy and—HEY!”

Rainbow Dash had grabbed the checklist out of Twilight’s hooves. “Fluttershy is performing? In front of the Princess? No way! She’d totally have a panic attack and freeze up!” She looked over at Applejack and Twilight. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s got a totally sweet singing voice, but there’s no chance she’d ever perform herself!”

Twilight looked panicked. “Oh no! If she won’t perform then the entire celebration will be ruined! The Princess will be offended, Shining Armor will be disappointed in me…they might even blame him and strip him of his rank! Oh no, it’ll be chaos! It’ll be CHAOS!” She started to hyperventilate slightly as Applejack and Rainbow Dash wore mirroring expressions of concern. As one, they traded glances with each other and gave a weary sigh.

“Sugarcube, you’re gettin’ all worked up over nothing.” Applejack said as she saddled up next to Twilight, draping a leg across her back. “We don’t even know that Fluttershy isn’t performing yet. And if she ain’t we’ll just find somepony else. So stay calm, take a deep breath…” She took one herself and waited until Twilight took a breath herself. “There we go, nice an’ easy…”

After a few deep breaths Twilight seemed more composed. “O-okay…I think I’m okay.” She said softly as she pushed some stray hairs back into place in her mane. Twilight looked at the ground, her face flushing. “I’m sorry…”

Rainbow Dash, feeling responsible for her freak out and remembering what Shining Armor asked her to do, made her way over and gave Twilight a small pat on the back. “Hey, it’s okay…it’s no big thing.”

Seeing the shy unicorn give a small smile, Rainbow Dash returned it with a bigger one as she gently nudged her ahead. “C’mon, let’s go see Fluttershy and find out what’s up.”

The three mares walked together in silence, Twilight flanked on either side by her worried companions. The long walk to Fluttershy’s cottage eventually made the silence an awkward one. And Rainbow Dash had never been big on contemplative silence.

“So, Twilight what’s up with what just happened?” She asked, ignoring the stinkeye Applejack was giving her, shaking her head and waving her hooves as if to say: Stop! Cease! Desist!

Twilight looked away and mumbled. “Nothing. I just like things to be…just so.”

“Sooo you’re one of those what do you call it…offensive comprehensive types?”

“Um, that’s obsessive compulsive.”

“Whatever. It means that you’re really ana—”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack cut her off angrily.

Twilight shook her head. “It—it’s okay Applejack. Anyway, I don’t *think* I am…I just like to be in control. Otherwise…” She trailed off.

“Otherwise what?” Applejack asked, her concern outweighing her desire to respect her privacy.

Twilight’s lip trembled slightly, prompting her to bite down on it. “When I lose control…I hurt ponies.” Her voice was so thick with emotion it looked like she was about to choke.

That’s when Rainbow Dash put two and two together. “You mean like what happened at your entrance exam?”

Twilight paled and she started quaking in her horseshoes. “Shining Armor told you about that?!” She wailed as she crouched down, covering her face with her hooves. “I didn’t mean to! It was an accident, I swear! I—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow crouched down next to her, tucking her wings beneath her, and putting a wing on Twilight’s back. “Take it easy! Remember what AJ said about deep breaths? Look at me. Hey, I said look at me!” Her demanding tone made Twilight timidly peek out at her from behind her hooves. “Now listen Twilight. Shining Armor has never said anything about you except for totally awesome things. He talks about how smart and clever you are, how much you study and how strong your magic is…he cares a lot about you, ya know?” Rainbow fidgeted, wishing Ditzy or Celestia were here. This was more their thing than hers. She looked at Applejack who had joined them on the ground, gently stroking Twilight’s mane but leaving the talking to Dash.

Rainbow took a breath. “All he told me was that something really freaked you out when you took your entrance exam to get into that fancy magic school. He didn’t talk about it with me because he said that you don’t like to talk about it and he would never go behind your back like that: his words.” Twilight hesitantly pulled her hooves away and looked up.

“Really?” She choked out, sniffling.

“Pegasi’s honor.” Rainbow Dash held up a hoof, her wings extended. “If you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s it.” Twilight sighed in relief. “But…” The purple unicorn cringed.

“But?” Twilight gulped.

Dash folded her wings back. “Shining Armor told me that he really wished that you could talk about it…and that maybe it’d help you get over it?” She gave a grin that she hoped was encouraging.

Instead Twilight looked like a trapped animal looking for an avenue of escape. “I—I don’t know…”

Applejack brushed Twilight’s mane out of her face. “Sugarcube I don’t rightly know much about magic an’ such, but it’s plain as the muzzle on yer face that something’s eaten you up mighty bad. Ah promise, whatever it is, we won’t judge you for it and we’ll do our best t’help.”

Twilight slowly lifted her head up, like a turtle poking out of its shell. “You…mean it?”

Applejack chuckled. “Honey, you might not have known me long, but trust me: Ah never say *anything* unless I mean it.”

“O-okay.” Twilight gulped. “I was taking this test to get into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I had to hatch this dragon egg and—”

“Wait a minute! You had to hatch a dragon egg?!” Rainbow blurted out. “That’s just nuts! Where’d they get a dragon egg? Why would that be a test for a filly?”

“I don’t know, okay?! It just was!” Twilight answered, clearly antsy. “I tried my hardest but I couldn’t do anything--not even the slightest bit of magic. I knew that this was important—that my whole FUTURE would be riding on the outcome of this one test…and I was blowing it!” She was almost hyperventilating again when Applejack pressed her side against Twilight’s and started taking deep easy breaths to calm her down. “There was this—I don’t know—this big explosion and this light and then my magic just went crazy!” Twilight was shaking like a leaf, even as her two companions pressed themselves against her on either side.

“It’s okay. Take it easy…” Applejack said softly. “You don’t have to continue…”

But the words were already spilling out of Twilight like a river that had burst through a dam. “I hatched the egg, but then I was making the examiners float in mid-air and my parents! I—I turned them into p-plants!” She wailed, tears streaming down her face. “The dragon became enormous and I couldn’t stop any of it! I was out of control…I was a m-monster!” She squeezed out, crying into Rainbow Dash’s neck.

The startled pegasus flapped her wings in surprise before settling them back against her sides. “H-hey! It’s okay Twilight, it’s okay!” She tilted her head down so she could look down at her. “It’s over now. Shining Armor’s talked about your parents before, so I know they turned out okay, right?”

“Y-yeah.” Twilight hiccupped. “But…”

“But nothing!” Rainbow Dash spoke over her. “So your magic acted up and you lost control. That doesn’t make you a bad pony for one little accident.”

“Yes it does!” Twilight clung to Rainbow Dash tightly, as if afraid to let go. “T-that’s when I got my cutie mark!”

Rainbow Dash felt her brain slam on the breaks and careen into the side of her skull. “…what?”

Twilight shuddered again. “I got my cutie mark for being an out of control freak! That’s what my s-special talent is.” She sobbed. “Hurting the ponies I l-love!”

“…That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” Dash shouted, ignoring the furious look Applejack shot her. “You didn’t get your cutie mark for hurting ponies!”

“But I did!” Protested the distraught Twilight.

Rainbow Dash facehooved. “For an egghead you sure aren’t being very smart. You got your cutie mark because you’re full of magic! I’ve never heard of a unicorn doing anything like that—and I’ve watched those students and they’ve never done anything as awesome as making a giant dragon!”

“But…my parents…” Twilight whimpered, her eyes red and teary.

Rainbow gently knocked Twilight on the head, as if checking to see if anypony was home. “It was an accident and they turned out okay. So what’s the big deal?”

“Rainbow Dash….” Applejack said warningly shooting her best ‘you’re not helping’ look at her. The pegasus sighed and looked down.

“Okay, okay…I’m gonna tell you two something and I’m not repeating myself, so listen up.” Confident that she had their attention, Rainbow continued. “When I got my cutie mark…well, I won’t go into the details right now though rest assured, it was awesome.” She winked and was rewarded with a tiny giggle from Twilight. “But it was during this race when I accidentally knocked a friend of mine off a cloud.”

“A pegasus friend right?” AJ questioned.

“Yeah, but she couldn’t fly well.” She looked away. “I was so caught up in winning the race and beating these two jerks that were making fun of her that I didn’t even notice. It was only after…well, after that I even noticed. I wanted to find her to show her my cutie mark but that’s when I realized that I hadn’t seen her in a while.” She swallowed the big lump of emotions in her throat that threatened to choke her.

Twilight hugged her fiercely and Applejack put a comforting hoof on her withers. “Sugarcube…”

Rainbow Dash put on a big, cheesy grin. “H-hey she was okay! Better than okay in fact, she’d gotten her own cutie mark while she was on the ground and she didn’t even have a scratch on her. It’s all good.” Her smile cracked. “But I still felt like a real mule.” She sighed. “And I get to be reminded of that every time I tell somepony about my cutie mark story.” She looked down for a moment. “That’s not what my cutie mark is about though. Just like having some weird magical…stuff happening to your folks isn’t what yours means either.”

Applejack nodded. “That’s exactly right. Ah got my cutie mark after I followed a rainbow home…that meant leaving my aunt and uncle in Manehattan behind. They agreed to take me in and it was only by leaving ‘em that I got my cutie mark. That don’t mean ah don’t love ‘em any less than the rest of my kin and it don’t mean my cutie mark’s about leaving them behind. It’s about who I am, that’s all.” She paused. “Do you think we’re bad folk Twilight?”

“What? No!” Twilight shook her head. “Of course not!”

“Then why do you think you are?” AJ pressed. “Dash’s right, your cutie mark is about you being a humdinger of a unicorn, not about hurtin’ ponies.”

Twilight closed her eyes as she exhaled. “…thank you.” She whispered as she hugged them both tightly. “Thank you.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack hugged her back. “No need to thank us…we’re just doing what friends do.” The farm pony rubbed Twilight’s back. “It’s okay, sugarcube.”

Dash nodded. “Besides, from what Shining’s told me you WERE accepted, right? So it turned out to be a good thing, in the end.”

“I-I guess so.” Twilight admitted. “But it was so hard…it only stopped once I used up all my magic. I was asleep for DAYS! And my parents told me that the staff wanted me to be a student because….because they thought it’d be dangerous if I wasn’t taught how to control my magic.” She looked down. “So I studied and studied and I worked so hard…I never want to lose control like that again. Never.”

If Rainbow Dash were of a more literary nature she might’ve appreciate the irony in the fact that she got her cutie mark after doing something extraordinary that she wishes she could repeat but Twilight Sparkle got hers for doing something she hoped never to do again.

Instead, Rainbow nudged her. “Take it easy Twi. Shining Armor never doubts you, and who are you to doubt him not doubting you?” Before she could properly straighten out that convoluted thought, Dash rubbed Twilight’s head. “Now, enough of this soppy stuff. You can watch me kick Applejack’s flank in a race!”

“Pff. Dream on sugarcube, you’ll be eating mah dust!” The cowpony returned easily.

“Not a chance! You’re too bulky; generates too much drag.”

“Are you callin’ me fat?!” AJ glowered.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Well, if the horseshoe fits…AMPLEflank.” She immediately leaped out of the way and started running.

“Why I oughta—get back here and take your whoopin’ like a pony!” Applejack shouted as she ran after her.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Why is it that I always end up chasing after you two?” She giggled as she started a brisk trot.

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