Beauty Lies Within
Chapter 9
BFF Talk
In their hotel room, the girls were sitting in the living room, dressing in sleepwear, laughing and eating some cookies that Pinkie had brought with her for their slumber party.
Twilight was wearing yellow pajamas with pink hearts on them. Applejack wore navy blue pajamas with light blue apples imprinted on them. Rainbow Dash was wearing a white T-shirt with her signature lightning bolt on it and denim blue yoga pants. Fluttershy was wearing a lime green nightgown with pink lace and butterflies. Pinkie Pie wore a blue nightgown with balloons on them. And Rarity wore a light blue nightgown with dark blue lace.
"So, how's training with the Wonderbolts been going along lately, Rainbow?" Twilight asked the girl in question as she remembered what happened earlier that day when she came to pick her up.
"It's been going great!" Dash replied, not noticing Twilight's intention of her asking. "We have been working on a new routine for our performance for the Gala."
Twilight then tried to suppress a smirk growing on her face as she innocently asked, "And what about Soarin'?"
Rainbow was then drinking from a small cup of punch when she almost spit out the drink in surprise at the supposedly innocent question. Luckily, she instead choked on it, and quickly swallowed the fruity liquid. "What about him?" She asked, looking away from her.
By now, the other girls had realized what Twilight was implying and grinned mischievously.
"Darling, it seems that the two of you have gotten close during your time as a Wonderbolt." Rarity pointed out.
"Well, he is my best friend on the team." Rainbow said, as if it was obvious. "He may be a goofball, but he's always there for me when I need him. He's pretty cool, he likes to have fun, and he doesn't care that I tend to be a little overconfident sometimes. He just likes hanging out with me as much as I do with him."
"Wow, Dashie." Fluttershy said, a little smile on her face as her words seemed to fit into what they were suspecting. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like him more than a friend."
Rainbow blushed bright pink, making the girls "ooh" in a teasing manner. "N-No I don't!" She stuttered. "We're, uh, we're just friends!"
"You were hanging out with him earlier when I went to get you." Twilight reminded. "What were you two doing?"
Dash felt her face grow warmer by the minute. What is going on with her? She, Rainbow Dash, the most awesome high-flying girl in Equestria, does not blush! And definitely not at the mention of a boy.
"He, uh, he just wanted to hang with me before we left, so I challenged him to a cloud busting race. I won, and then, we kind of got carried away. He tackled me into a big cloud and then..." She trailed off when familiar emerald green eyes appeared in her mind. Those eyes spoke words that she felt like only she could comprehend. When it comes to Soarin', she felt as if she could pretty much confide in him like she does with her best friends.
"Dashie's got it bad!" Pinkie said in a sing-songy voice, making the girls giggle again, seeing how quiet Rainbow had been for the past few seconds.
Rainbow finally suppressed her now red blush from her cheeks. "No, I do not. End of story." She said firmly. But the other girls didn't seem to buy it. Well, since they're on the subject, might as well see how things have been going on in their love lives.
Dash turned to Twilight. "Well, what about you, Twilight?" She asked. "We all know you still have the hots for a certain guard from the Crystal Empire."
The Princess of Friendship blushed red as she nervously played with her hair. "Well, I have been getting to know Flash better every time I visit." She admitted.
Rarity squealed with excitement. "So, when do you plan on asking him out?"
Twilight blushed even more. "I don't know." She said. "Besides, I'm not sure if it would work out. I mean, he's just a guard, while I'm a princess."
"Princess Cadence married your brother, didn't she?" Fluttershy reminded. "He was also a guard before they were wed and began ruling the Crystal Empire."
"She's right." Applejack added. "If that sort of love happened before, it can darn right happen again."
"Really?" Twilight asked. Her friends all nodded. Their approval seemed to make her feel a little more sure of herself. "Thanks, girls." She then turned to AJ. "What about you, Applejack? Someone has been on your mind?"
The cowgirl blushed red and hid under her hat. "Uh, well, um..." She stammered. "Well, I guess I do."
"Okay, this I gotta hear." Rainbow said.
"Well, who is he, darling?" Rarity asked.
"Is it someone we know?" Pinkie added to the question.
Applejack hid further behind her hat. "Yeah, we do know him. Pretty well, too. We see him almost every day." She shyly hinted.
The other girls thought about it for a couple of seconds. Then, the answer hit them. "Spike?!" They guessed with a shocked expression.
AJ's answer was an embarrassed nod of her head, her Stetson hat finally covering her whole face.
"When did this happen?" Fluttershy asked, removing the hat from Applejack's face and back on her head.
"Well, I sorta started getting a soft spot for him when he saved me from the Timberwolves a couple of years back." She explained, remembering that incident. "And I guess, during all this time, they got stronger."
"I'll say this, this was unexpected." Dash admitted.
"Well, I think that's adorable." Fluttershy said.
"Darling, I agree with Fluttershy." Rarity said. "And I think he might be falling for you as well."
"Really?" Applejack asked.
The prim and proper girl nodded. "Ever since that incident, I noticed that he would be sticking close to you instead of me."
"Wait, you knew all along?" The cowgirl demanded.
Rarity nodded again, a little ashamed of herself. "It was pretty much obvious. But, I didn't know how to break that to him without breaking his heart. But, as I tried to figure out the words, I saw that he doesn't seem to swoon over me anymore. Instead, he seems to be the happiest I ever seen him, and it's because of you, Applejack."
AJ thought about it for a few seconds. "Ya really think so?" She asked, rubbing the back of her head.
Her fashionista friend nodded a third time, making her smile at the possibility of Spike liking her back. But then, her soft grin turned mischievous. "How about you, Rarity? How have things been in Canterlot?" She asked.
"Oh, well, business in Canterlot Carousel has been progressing wonderfully. After the Gala, I plan to start a new line in the boutique." Rarity said. "And Fancy Pants-" She stopped when she remembered their conversation earlier.
"What about Fancy Pants?" Fluttershy asked.
"Eh, well..." Rarity trailed off again. "Um, earlier today, before I left, he seemed to ask me if I was available for the afternoon." The girls gasped happily. "But, I'm not sure if he was trying to ask me out. It might be possible, since he had just gotten out of his courtship with Fleur-de-lis. But, still."
"Hey, the minute you get to Canterlot, you go find him and see if that was what he tried to do." Rainbow said.
"Or better yet, you might encounter him at the Gala." Twilight added.
"Well, we did talk about meeting again at the Gala." Rarity said. "We have to wait and see."
Pinkie finally started to speak. "Oh, I almost forgotten!" She exclaimed. "Guess who I ran into before we left?" The girls gave her confused looks. "Cheese Sandwich!" They all began cheering. "He came back to Ponyville today, which was such terrific timing, since there are a couple of parties I can't host while being here. So, he said that he can handle them while I'm gone!"
"Well, that was sweet of him." Fluttershy said.
"Indeed, darling." Rarity agreed. "It really was impeccable timing on his half."
"Yeah." Pinkie then lost her cheeriness and it turned into shyness. "Um, girls? Recently, I couldn't seem to get Cheese out of my mind." She pulled out her photo collection, the overload of little pictures flowing out. "Every time I would see his picture, I would wish that he was here with me. And when I saw him earlier today, I felt like I could jump up and touch the moon. Inside of me, that was how happy I was to see him."
Rarity grinned, her smile almost reaching from ear to ear. "Well, this is certainly quite the conversation about love." She said, the other girls giving random agreements, except Pinkie, who was confused. "I think you have feelings for him, Pinkie!"
The hyperactive girl, for the first time in maybe forever, blushed bright red. "What?!" She shouted. "N-no I don't!" The girls gave her looks, telling her that they didn't buy it, making her blush deepen. "A-At least, I-I don't think so."
The other girls decided to drop their teasing and turned to the last girl whose love life they haven't discussed.
"What about you, Flutters?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Anyone special caught your eye yet?"
Fluttershy blushed pink at the thought of it. "Oh, um, well-" She then began playing with the long hair caressing the side of her face. "Even I did find a boy I really liked, how can I even begin to try and get to know him? You all know that dates are not something I'm comfortable with."
Twilight patted her shoulder. "Hey, none of us are on the comfortable side of the idea either." She assured. "So, you're not alone." The girls gave out their agreements, making the shy girl feel a little better.
Applejack suddenly gave out a yawn. "Well, girls. We all best get some shuteye."
"Here, here." Rarity agreed, yawning herself. "We have a whole day ahead of us. After breakfast, we'll head down to the salon to get our hair done, we have the whole afternoon free, and then, we have a reservation at the Far-Afield Tavern."
She then paused when she remembered something. "And to think we could've done all this together the last we were here if I wasn't so hard on all of you because someone took advantage of my generosity."
Memories of Fashion Week three years ago came back. "Hey, but you learned your lesson." Rainbow said. "Besides, it will take more than a cheating, stuck-up fashion designer to bring you down."
"That's right!" Pinkie agreed, making Rarity smile.
This time, two yawns were released from Twilight and Fluttershy.
"All right, y'all." Applejack said as she stood up and began clearing away the little table. "Let's get this cleaned up and hit the hay."
Everyone nodded, and helped clean up the living room and prepared themselves to get some sleep.
In her room, Chrysalis watched her mirror reflect the sleeping girls in their beds in their suite. A malicious grin spread across her face, and her bug-like eyes gleamed.
"Rest for now, my enemies, and the fairest in the land." She cooed with a false sense of genuity. "For soon, all of your happy days will come to an end."
A changeling came to her. "My Queen, our spies are now in Ponyville, waiting for your orders."
"Good." She said. "For now, tell them to wait until their return. When they find out the truth, it will already be too late for them."