Rainbow Dash stood at the corner of the hall, breathing heavily like she'd just run a mile in under five minutes. In truth her body wasn't very tired at all, certainly not enough for her to have her hand pressed against the corner as she leaned against it. And yet she stood as if too tired to keep moving.
She knew the real reason. Her target was finally in view. Down this short hall branched off the main one was a door. Inside was a fibers studio a certain fashion conscious young girl had petitioned for hard during her freshman year at Canterlot High.
Rainbow remembered that time. And what she remembered was how annoying she thought Rarity was back then. And yet how hard she had fought had impressed Rainbow despite that.
Rainbow groaned low. She could see shadows playing across the frosted glass window in the door so she couldn't be too loud. Once again her thoughts were on the fashionista just beyond that door. Although given the circumstances she supposed it was the logical thing for her to be thinking about.
This was why she was here. This was the one she was here to see. This was the one she had a very important question to ask. And yet she still hesitated.
'Thisiscrazythisiscrazythisiscrazy... Right?'
Rainbow groaned again, she was doing that a lot lately. Was that a sign? Were there others? Did she really have to ask to figure this out?
.....Yeah probably.
Her fists clenched. She was not use to being this unsure, or with trying to come up with excuses like this. But then again she'd never heard something quite that insane that some how made that much sense before.
She slowed her breathing and finally pushed off the wall. There was only maybe another twenty feet to the door, but that was far enough for her to remember what had happened not more then a few hours ago.
***
"Alright ladies, I want you all stretched out in ten minutes. Our first game is tomorrow and I want you to be able to do these drills in your sleep."
Coach Spitfire blew her whistle with a piercing shreek. Dutifully, a large group of girls previously loosely hanging around just outside the locker room doors moved at a brisk pace to just behind the soccer fields goal. Knowing the routines by heart at this point the girls all started the sequence of stretches at their own pace.
Even though the field wasn't going to be used for the game tomorrow being that it was an away game, it was being made ready for the season and the smells of the preparations were apparent. Rainbow Dash raised her arms high into the air, filling her lungs with as much of the familiar scents as she could. Exhaling slowly she began bending at the waist until she could look back behind herself through her own legs. And oddly enough there was actually something to see.
Rainbow noticed that for some reason two of her closest friends were on their way to the field. She continued her routine, shifting her stretch to the left side, as Rarity and Fluttershy drew closer. She was shifting to the right as they finally got over to her.
"Hey girls, what brings ya' all the way out here this late?" At that moment Rainbow noticed some out of place color on Rarity's cheeks that seemed odd. "You ok Rares?"
Rarity tilted her head in question. "Why yes, why wouldn't I be?" She asked in genuine confusion.
Rainbow shrugged as she stood up straight again, beginning a stretch that twisted her body to the side to address the girls from over her shoulder. "I don't know, you just looked a little..." She paused as she shifted the other way. "Eh, don't worry about it. I only got a few minutes, what's up?"
It was Fluttershy that answered. "Oh, Rarity was just walking with me. I actually just realized I had to come ask you something." Rainbow shifted into her next stretch by way of telling her to continue. "I just somehow forgot where your game was going to be tomorrow. I'm sorry, I know it's your season opener and it means a lot to you."
Fluttershy seemed to be going into one of her usual apology cycles, so Rainbow just cut her off with a chuckle. "No problem Shy. It's an away opener so no one's talking about it. It's Everfree high, so make sure to bring your seat cushion." The two friends shared a light laugh together as Rarity looked on in question.
Fluttershy decided to clarify. "Oh sorry Rarity, it's just something that happened last year. The bleachers they have there were so uncomfortable that Rainbow actually had to help me walk out of the stadium even though she got kicked in the head during the game."
Rarity suddenly had a stunned look on her face. "That actually wasn't what I was going to inquire about but," she looked down at Rainbow who was now sitting to stretch her legs in different ways. "Things like that really happen at your games?"
"They do when you play as aggressive as I do," Rainbow remarked as she leaned her head back to look at them again. She remembered hoping she was going to have time to finish the conversation. "What were you going to ask?"
A look of concern slowly vanished from Rarity's face as Rainbow leaned all the way back and lifted one leg from the ground and reached it the opposite way over her body. "I just wasn't aware Fluttershy was going to attend your game tomorrow. I didn't think she actually enjoyed soccer."
Fluttershy's face became bashful as she looked away with a blush. "Well... Soccer is ok, but really I just go to support Rainbow."
Rainbow laughed as she rolled her hips the opposite direction. "Yup, Fluttershy is my own personal cheering section. She hasn't missed a game since middle School."
Rarity suddenly gave a smile that almost looked too big to Rainbow. By now she had finished her stretches and stood, shaking out her joints as she turned to see that smiling face. "That... Sounds absolutely wonderful. The two of you certainly are a model of friendship to live by." Rainbow and Fluttershy just exchanged a look as Rainbow rolled her eyes. Rainbow could almost find it cute how excited that news seemed to make her. "Might there be room for one more on your cheer squad Rainbow dear?"
Rainbow Dash seemed to remember a slightly uncharacteristic smile cross Fluttershy's lips for a brief moment, but at the time she wasn't focused on that. She stepped up close to the fashionista with a smug and dismissive smile to counter the enthusiastic one presented to her. "I don't know. Fluttershy over here has gotten pretty good at cheering over the years. I'm not sure a rookie like you could manage. Do you really think you got what it takes to hang?" Rainbow was not sure just how teasing her smile ended up being, but it had apparently done the trick.
Rarity's excited smile vanished quickly as she stood up straight and proper. With an extra haughty tone she responded. "Not only do I believe I can keep up, I believe I can add my own skills to the mix and turn your cheering section into one that will be envied by all."
Rainbow responded with snark. "Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do? Embroider signs."
Rarity's haughty tone remained as she continued. "That would be absolutely ridiculous Rainbow Dash." Though she was dismissive her hand had raised to her chin in thought. She snapped her fingers as an excited smile returned to her again. "But I think in the time I have I could probably manage to put together a Rainbow themed cheering outfit."
"Oh, now that I gotta see. Miss refined incarnate herself shaking pompoms."
"Do you honestly believe I couldn't pull it off?" Rainbow only now realized that as the challenge had grown between them they had been getting closer and closer. At this point their noses were nearly touching.
With a laugh Rainbow finally stepped away. "Well in the end I guess it's up to the head of my cheering section." Rainbow turned back to look at Fluttershy. She thought she noticed her oldest friends face quickly shifting back to her usual timid smile. "What do you think Shy, is she worthy?"
She seemed slightly above her usual baseline nervousness as she responded. "Umm well, I don't have any problem with it. It might be fun to have someone else to cheer with while you play." She smiled suspiciously wide, enough that it even looked like she was blushing a bit. Once again this seemed odd to Rainbow but she brushed it off as she turned back to her latest cheerleader.
"Well, looks like you have the seal of approval. But you'd better come ready to..." A piercing whistle broke the moment as Rainbow instinctively began to backpedal in it's direction. "Dang it, gotta go. See you tomorrow." She vaguely heard farewells as she turned to jog towards her coach.
***
"Alright, get water and take a breather. Fifteen minutes and we'll start working on defensive drills." Spitfire blew two short bursts from her whistle to signal break. Groups of girls started vaguely wandering in the direction of a few water coolers set up along the side of the field.
Rainbow Dash kept her own water bottle which was next to one of the coolers. The day was unseasonably hot and for whatever reason Rainbow had been feeling like pushing herself harder that day. As such she was taking a particularly long drink when one of those groups of girls began talking near her.
"Why does our opener have to be an away game? I was really hoping to show off for some people we actually know."
"Yeah, it sucks. Everfree is a little too far to expect anyone going here to actually show up." This girl let out a heavy sigh. "And our new uniforms look so good too. I really wanted people to see them before they got all messed up."
A third came and cut between them as Rainbow was considering the pros and cons of potentially water-logging herself before the second half of practice. "And just who are you two trying to impress, huh?"
Rainbow had a brief thought in the back of her head that Rarity must really be rubbing off on her as she actually looked over to pay attention. The two girls she now noticed were Lily and Rose blushed as Flitter gave them a sly smile.
"N, no one in particular," Lily replied while looking away.
"Yeah... Just, you know, maybe someone. And it's not just that. It's just more fun to play when someo..., People are cheering for you. "
Flitter reached out to pat both girls on the shoulders with exaggerated understanding. "I know. Not all of us can be lucky enough to get our own personal cheering sections."
Their gazes darted over to Rainbow, looks of sarcastic scorn on each face. Figuring she knew where this was going Rainbow only smiled confidently and posed as she took a deceptively small drink from her bottle.
Lily continued and broke the idea Rainbow had of what they were getting at. "Yeah, wouldn't it be nice to even have a certain special someone willing to come and support you wherever you go?"
Rainbow set her water down and let out a scoff and a very deep roll of her eyes. "Really? That's what your going with? I honestly thought I was done dealing with this freshman year." Vaguely Rainbow noticed the threes looks become confused, but she continued. "I mean, it was a lot worse in middle School, but I honestly don't know where people ever got the idea in the first place that me and Shy were together. She's practically my sister."
Rainbow suddenly stopped as the looks across from her had become that of udder bewilderment. "That's... not what we were talking about," Rose clarified.
"..... What?"
"Why would we think Fluttershy was your girlfriend?" All three girls made a face like they smelled something bad and laughed just a little.
"Yeah, that would be just, really weird."
Rainbow stared. "..... Soooooo?"
"Your girlfriend Rarity." Flitter said it like she was explaining something really complicated to somebody who was really slow.
Rainbow noticed herself blink a few times, though she remembered being reduced to automatic reactions for most things for an undetermined amount of time. Though as she noticed the looks being directed at her turn to concern she finally found a thought process to latch on to.
Rainbow laughed boisterously as she doubled over. "Oh man, you guys almost got me there. That's a good one." She managed to just barely get this out through her heavy laughter. It started to taper off as she noticed the looks of bewilderment on her teammates faces had returned.
"... So your saying you two aren't official yet?" Rose finally asked.
"Of course they are. We just got all the stuff in from the prom photographer." Rainbow vaguely remembered Lily was on one of those random student committees that would handle stuff like that. "They were one of the best couples at the prom."
"We didn't go to the prom together. Well we did, but not together together. The rest of the girls were there. I was just cheering her up."
"I saw you two on a date at the mall just a few days ago." Rose again.
"We were meeting the other girls. We were only together like that for like, a few hours."
"Buuuuut... you were dressed up like you were on a date."
Rainbow realized the tone of her voice had changed somewhat. For whatever reason it sounded like it was getting frantic. "It was... Kinda like I lost a bet, but not really. It was something I kinda promised her when we were..." She cut herself off before finishing that particular story.
The looks directed at her were now a mixture of concern and confusion. Glances passed between the girls before Flitter looked back to Rainbow. "Fluttershy told me you two were working on a love ballad duet together."
"Yeah, Sunset told us the same."
"That!....., ....." Her word had come out particularly frantic sounding, enough that the girls leaned back a little. But she could not continue as the events of that day, and night, played through her head. She stood staring blankly, waiting for one of the girls to break and start laughing at whatever joke they were playing.
That opportunity never came as a whistle sounded. Her teammates reflexes were still working as they turned to follow the sound, looking back briefly with faces that now only showed concern. Rainbow only watched, her body and mind not use to this level of confusion.
"RAINBOW DASH, MOVE!!!!!"
***
Rainbows fingers hovered over the handle to the door. Her breathing was quiet as she was now close enough she could hear pleasant humming from the other side.
Rainbow could kind of, maybe, partially, at least sort of see how they had come to that conclusion. But it still was totally crazy.
Rainbow shook her head hard as she noticed herself drifting off listening to the surprisingly soothing sound from the other side of the door.
She could admit things had gotten... interesting between them. But she could say for sure that it hadn't gotten that... interesting. And besides that there was still one, unequivocal fact that proved just how crazy this whole thing was. Rarity was a girl, and so was Rainbow. And as far as she knew neither of them liked other girls. Rainbow herself could most definitely say she didn't, that was for sure.
Rainbow took a deep breath as in her own mind she was starting to sound like she did earlier. She could be calm, all she had to do to confirm the truth was right in front of her. Push the handle. Right now.
Her hand held as steady as a trained gunman. She internally groaned.
'Come on, you're Rainbow Dash. You don't hesitate.'
Her hand still didn't move. Even with her resolve confirmed she was for some reason not finding the strength to move her own hand.
"And perfect. Rainbow Dash is going to love this."
Rainbow Dash vaguely noticed the edges of her own lips curling up at the muffled singsong voice just beyond the door. At that same moment she noticed her fingers resting on the door handle.
And pushing.
Holy. Freaking..... Cats.
Rainbow froze when she realized what she was looking at. Especially when she realized that she was not just looking. And with that her resolve was shattered, because Rarity was hot, and Rainbow knew it.
She luckily managed to pry her eyes away from the show just as the bent over girl looked back across her own body. "Oh Rainbow Dash. I was just thinking about you. I'm just putting the final touches on this little number, what do you think?"
Rarity gave her hips a shake by way of apparently showing off the flutteryness of the rather short skirt. Rainbow was very aware that she did not manage to fully stand during the action until mid way through. Rainbow did manage to take in the outfit, what of it there was to take in. A simple skirt and a high cut tank top which combined to show a fair amount of alabaster skin of her midriff. Both were blue, close to her own complexion, with Rainbow patterned frills along the bottom of the skirt. Oh, and she had managed to make her own pompoms which she had been waving around this whole time, apparently.
Rarity's enthusiasm seemed to fade as Rainbow realized her expression was probably staying fairly blank at that moment.
"It looks great Rares," Rainbow quickly got out, suddenly realizing her mouth felt dry.
Rarity didn't seem convinced as she stepped forward with concern. "Are you sure dear. You seem a little..."
Rainbow cut her off. "Yeah Rarity. You look great in that and I'm fine. I just... have something I need to ask you. And it's gonna sound really crazy, but I want you to really think about it."
Rarity seemed even more concerned, but nodded slowly for Rainbow to continue.
"Rarity..., ..... Are we dating?"
A breath was cut off as Rarity froze with a look of complete shock on her face. Rainbow realized she was breathing heavily again as she waited for some response. What came was expected, but unwanted.
Rarity suddenly smiled and gave a coy laugh. "Oh dear Rainbow, you had me going there for a second. Who put you up to this one?"
"It was something some of the girls from the team said. But not as a joke." Rarity looked concerned again as she detected no humor in the response. "Rarity please, think about it."
Rarity once again gave a laugh hoping to once again brush it off as a joke, but she did put her hand to her chin which was what Rainbow had been hoping for. Rainbow had become close enough to her that she could see the thought process play out on her face. Disinterest slowly started leading into mild confusion, then much heavier confusion. Her head started to tilt as she thought harder, and harder still. Shock became heavier as her jaw seemed to slacken.
It seemed to be unconscious, but her hand raised up as if reaching for Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow," the word came out as barely a croak, "are we dating?"
"So you see it to?"
Rarity's expression suddenly became much more intense as she actually turned to Rainbow, grabbing her by her shirt at her shoulders. "Rainbow Dash! How did this happen?! When did this happen!!!???" Her expression suddenly went blank and her voice croaked again as she rolled the fabric of the shirt between her fingers. "Is this one of the ones I made for you?"
Rainbow nodded.
Rarity released and stepped away, humming to herself in thought. "Ok, let's look at this rationally. It's not like we're actually dating. I mean, that's absurd. We're just... particularly close friends. Yes that's right. And that's only happened because we've been ending up alone together a lot lately. Yes. Right?"
"Rarity?" Rarity looked over suddenly, her expression becoming frantic. "Did you roll over onto me in your sleep, or did you fall asleep like that."
Rarity's expression fell a little. "It.. It was cold. It was cold and I didn't bring any blankets in. And I was afraid if I moved too much I'd wake you. And.. And..."
"I woke up after the movie ended. And I think, I think I cuddled closer."
Rarity had literally stopped with a finger in the air and her mouth open ready to start shouting. Said finger slowly retracted as the mouth closed. Rainbow now knew this was getting serious as Rarity suddenly raised her hands to her head and raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. She then hastily straightened the damage she had caused before responding.
"Ok, ok, ok... We've gotten closer, and maybe you've... We've been a little, flirty. But..." After another pause her eyes lit up in some kind of epiphany. "Oh right. We're not gay. Neither of us is even attracted to girls."
The laughing that followed bordered on manic. Unfortunately it was boisterous enough that it made two rather generously sized parts of her body shake in a way Rainbow suddenly noticed was very pleasing. Apparently Rarity noticed her wandering eyes.
Her own gaze drifted down to her own body, and how much of it was showing. Her voice had lost the manic tone again, going almost somber. "When you came in, were you...?" Rainbow nodded her head with certainty. Rarity fiddled with the edges of her skirt. "... And was I...,..."
"Shaking it like you wanted me to look?" Rarity paused, but nodded just slightly. "Oh yeah."
A blush came to Rarity's cheeks, just enough to add to her still slightly frazzled hair and make her look extra cute. "And you, really think... I'm attractive?" Her voice was mostly even, but if she was trying to she couldn't keep the smallest bit of hope from creeping into her voice.
"I don't think I could actually say I was into girls until that exact moment." The blush grew more intense. "You," Rainbow let out a shuddering breath as her gaze traced Rarity's current look again, "well, let's just say you're so hot you converted me in a second."
Though the blush remained and the ghost of a smile could still be seen in her eyes, Rarity's face was blank as she seemed to loose strength in her legs. Gently she lowered herself to her knees before even that gave out and she was all the way down, sitting on her rear on the floor with her legs splayed to either side.
Rainbow didn't have to resist the urge to look down, even she could feel how serious this moment was. Rarity looked up as Rainbow dropped to her knees in front of her. "I... I think I was checking you out while you were stretching. You have such a perfect athletic body, but I don't think I was looking for that reason." She paused for a moment, her gaze drifting over to a nearby desk. "All the designs I've been coming up with lately have had one very specific body type in mind. I have more then a few, extra, anatomically correct drawings of you I was going to be using for future designs. They're a little... A lot more detailed then they need to be."
Both girls sat in silence for a while. It wasn't awkward, just a silence that felt like it needed to be there. Rainbow could tell Rarity's mind was doing the same thing hers had her whole trip up to this room.
"Rainbow, is this real?"
"I guess it is, but I'm just as stumped as you about what to do."
"I know. I mean, what will people think about this?"
"Apparently they already know."
"I'm not talking about random gossips who read too much into things. What about our friends, people we care about?" Rarity's eyes opened as if suddenly realizing something. "Sunset drove her bike to school without a problem the very next day."
Rainbows thoughts drifted to the same day. "It wasn't just a cleaning. They were setting up for the big adoption drive next week. Fluttershy must have been swamped at the shelter."
"They know, and they're playing matchmaker with us."
"I think Shy is masterminding it."
Their eyes met and Rainbow could see that Rarity was blushing again. Her hair had also seemed to fall back into it's natural elegant style. Rainbow could tell her own cheeks were hot.
"She really is such a good friend, isn't she?"
"Yeah, the best. All of them really."
Rarity's smile widened just a little. "Apple Jack is gonna make fun of us."
"We're way to good together for that to matter." They shared a smile that only just bordered on devious.
Rarity's blush deepened as some unknown thought passed through her mind. Her smile became bashful and she looked away from Rainbow.
"Just so you know, this is going to take a little bit of time for me. This is a rather major change after all. I never thought it would ever happen for me like this. There are still some things about myself I think I need to come to terms with. You understand right..."
Rarity was taken off guard as she turned back towards Rainbow. Rainbow knew Rarity was still doing the same thing she had done her whole trip here, she was trying to rationalize. But Rainbow already knew what she wanted, and she knew Rarity could be just as spontaneous as she was.
That's why she knew it would be ok to lean forward, take Rarity's face in her hands, and kiss her hard.
She hadn't expected the kiss to be very deep, or last nearly as long as it did, but neither girls lips seemed to want to relent. When they finally separated Rainbow was breathing heavily. Rarity's breath seemed to have caught in her throat, but as she finally took a breath it seemed shaky as it came out as her entire body let out a shudder.
"That, was the single most romantic thing that's ever happened to me." Rarity seemed to literally swoon as her body became completely relaxed and she began to fall backward.
Following completely chivalrous instincts, Rainbow followed her down, even catching the back of her head to ensure it didn't land too hard. In the process she ended up on top of the barely dressed girl, their faces nearly touching.
For the first time in hours Rainbow felt her usual confidence returned. She gave a cocky smile with a lot more smolder then she would normally give. "Are you still coming to terms?"
Rainbow felt an arm wrap around the back of her neck in a very unladylike way as the small distance was closed again.
At that moment neither knew how long they had left until the school closed, but that thought was far from their minds. They might not have known how or when they had made it to this point, but they knew they wanted to see where it would go.