//------------------------------// // Episode One: Life After The Party (Part 1) // Story: A Dash Of A Rarity // by LoveandEdify //------------------------------// A Dash Of a Rarity Episode 1: Life After The Party (Part 1) After the awkward hug Rarity graciously received from all of her friends; they broke the hug  and Rainbow Dash said, “Enough of this emotional stuff; let’s get this party GOIN’!!!” And got going it did. The party was something of a Mardi Gras-esque theme; except that it was more  suited around the fanciness of the decoration and traditions than anything else. There was  dress-up with various-colored beads, a version of charades where everyone had to guess  who someone was based off of pre-selected pieces of clothing and a celebrity they pulled out  of a hat, and a fancy purple velvet cake; among other things. All in all, it turned out to be one  of the happiest of surprises of all for Rarity; and if she really did have known about it; it would  have been ruined. Sure, she would have been “in the loop”, but if she didn’t show that blind  faith in her friends; she wouldn’t have had this “happy accident” in the first place. A few  minutes later, after all the presents were unwrapped and thank yous were said, the rest of the  Mane Seven went their separate ways. Well, almost all of them. “Au revoir, everyone. Thank you all so much for the surprise party.” cheered Rarity,  happy and grateful that she had great and caring friends that would throw her such a surprise.  As she stood out the front door to see her friends leave, she noticed that one of them was missing from the picture. “Ooooh, Rainbow Dash.” she said in realization. She went into her bedroom to find her friend laying down, almost as if she was sad and depressed about something. “What’s wrong, Rainbow? Didn’t you enjoy the party?” she asked out of concern for her friend. She didn’t hear a response or see any movement other than Rainbow’s left arm droop over the side of the bed. Rarity walked calmly over to her to flip her back on her back to see if she was alright.  Once she was turned over; Rainbow just shook herself loose and let her just droop onto the  side of the bed again. Rarity impatiently tried to get her back up. “Come on, Rainbow Dash. This is no way for you to be laying down on my bed.” she prodded, trying to at least get her back up in a better position so she could find out what was going on; but Rainbow still flopped on the side of the bed. Rarity sighed and was about to leave before finally hearing Rainbow get back up on the bed, but Rainbow lay down flat on her stomach and put Rarity’s pillow over her head. Hearing this, Rarity turned around. “Darling?” She asked sympathetically. She then heard some soft muffled phrase from Rainbow from underneath the pillow. “What was that, darling?” she asked, gently yanking the pillow from Rainbow’s hands. “Nothing,” Rainbow replied, not at all convincing her friend that it was nothing. “Can I ask you something though, Rarity?” Rainbow asked, which earned her a sympathetic nod from her friend. “Did you really know that it was a surprise party?” she asked. Rarity gasped, knowing full well what her friend was referring to. A few hours ago, right after school, Rarity invited Rainbow Dash over to her  place for a day of fun; but Rainbow passed due to “plans.” It left Rarity heartbroken to see  Rainbow have all of these other “plans” scheduled with the rest of their friends, but not invite  her. That is, until she was utterly shell-shocked to find that those “plans” were actually to get  the surprise party set up. Right before the party; Rainbow asked if Rarity thought if she and  their friends would let her celebrate her birthday alone, which Rarity sheepishly replied that  she knew something was up from the beginning. And it was just now that Rarity realized that Rainbow’s initial concern wasn’t just for making sure things were ok after a mistake for a party; but she still was in the fog as to why she would be so concerned about her. “Well, darling;” Rarity replied, “I knew that you must have had some reason for…” “ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!” Rainbow interrupted in response. Both of them were taken aback by Rainbow’s tone of voice. Rainbow laid back  down on the bed, but tucked in the covers and facing away from Rarity in shame. Rarity, on  the other hand, wondered if she should respond to Rainbow Dash with a truthful answer.  However, she knew that her friend deserved a truthful answer this time. “No darling, I didn’t know anything about the surprise party heading into it.” Rarity replied sympathetically, “But it was a wonderful surprise you and our friends put together for me. I never have felt more so honored in all my life.” Rainbow then sat herself back up, looking out the window; still looking rather glum for some reason. “Oh come on, please tell me what’s wrong, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity tried coaxing her friend, Rainbow then sighed out the window and finally turned her  depressed face towards Rarity. “Oh, nothing. I just feel terrible for ditching you today and  getting all those ‘plans’ done without you. Especially since you reallyfelt left out today.” Rarity  was confused. “How ever did you know I was feeling left out in the first place?” She asked.  “Well,” Rainbow responded, half-guilty-half-sheepishly, “I first noticed it when I saw some  black carpet thing sticking up from the taxi. At first I thought it was just a headrest problem, so  I just let it be. But when I asked you if you knew that, I knew something was up and I just  felt…” “terrible?” Rarity finished for her. Rainbow nodded dejectedly. Rarity then  sympathetically put her right arm over her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t be,” she encouraged her  friend, “that was the most thoughtful thing you or any of my friends could ever do for me.”  Rainbow teared up for a brief moment, then smiled. “Really?” she asked, still with happy tears in her eyes. Rarity nodded, “Yes, indeed; really.” she reaffirmed. She then offered a  suggestion, “But you know, if it would make you feel better; tomorrow’s Saturday, so we can  do some hanging out then.” Rainbow finally got back to her normal self after that. “You mean it?!” she asked, Rarity nodded but was then immediately hugged by Rainbow. “Oh thank you thank you thank you!!!” she cheered enthusiastically and gratefully. Rarity accepted the hug with the same awkwardness as when she found out about the party, but her expression then changed to a relieved one to see that her friend was finally happy. “I gotta get some stuff ready for tomorrow, so I’ll text you in the morning; ok? Ok, bye!!!” Rainbow said, happily bidding Rarity adieu for the night. “Oh wait, Rainbow Dash; you don’t have to…” but before Rarity could  finish, her friend already zipped through the door slamming it shut; which startled her.   “...worry about all that.” she sighed and finished anyway. She shrugged her shoulders and  smiled it off anyway. “Oh well. Don’t worry, Rarity,” she said, giving herself a small pep talk  before getting a few important things set up for the next day. “I’m sure that you two will have  the most fun little hangout ever. Plus, I did end up getting the hangout session I wanted after  all and just didn’t know it.” she cheerfully sang in her head. “This is the best, day, EVER!!!” Rarity cheerfully shrieked, in a pitch that was so Pinkie-Pie, even the pink party animal herself would’ve been caught off guard. Rarity happily sighed, then gently flopped onto the bed to plan out her day tomorrow. The Next Day…  It was about 8:30 in the morning, and Rainbow Dash was inside her garage at her house,  staring at her bike in disbelief.  She was planning to pick up Rarity on it in the afternoon for a fun (yet Rarity-friendly)  road-trip on her motorcycle to make up for how she seemed to have slighted her by picking up Twilight and giving her a ride to unintentionally slight Rarity. But now, as she abruptly discovered, her motorcycle stopped working and as much as she tried to diagnose the issue, it still wouldn’t  work so she would have to take it to the shop. She knew that the auto-shop she liked going to wouldn’t open until 9, and even then, who knows how long it would take for the shop to get the bike fixed. She knew that Rarity might get disappointed about the surprise, but she also  knew that in some situations; what had to be done had to be done. So she called the shop to  haul the motorcycle over to the shop. It was now 8:40 and Rainbow was now depressed  about having to mess up that part of the plan. “Might as well text Rarity the bad news about the motorbike.” she thought to herself, “At least she hopefully wouldn’t mind just hanging out here at my house.” She then texted Rarity. RD: Hey Rare. So, bad news; motorbike’s  in the shop today. But before Rainbow could text her friend offering to make it a chill day at her house, Rarity  then quickly texted back. RD: Hey Rare. So, bad news; motorbike’s  in the shop today. Good news; you’re friend Rarity is ready to both cheer and pick you up today. Rainbow stared at the text in confusion before she heard a horn honk right outside her garage  door. She turned in surprise to see a smaller luxury car, smaller than the limo she usually rode  in, parked right outside the door and Rarity waving out the driver seat window. “Yoo-hoo? Rainbow-Dash?” she happily called, “Ready to hang out now?”  This time, it was  Rainbow’s turn to be surprised. In a thrilled, new discovery about her friend sort of way. “Whoa.” She responded in surprise and happiness. “Like the car, Rainbow?” Rarity asked from the driver’s seat.. “Well yeah, it’s awesome!!!” Rainbow called out from the garage in approval. She was about to walk out, but then took a good look at herself and realized that  she and her clothes were a little oily from trying to work on the motorcycle. “Uh, I might need to get cleaned up first; if you don’t mind.” she asked, rather embarrassed at the situation.  “That’s quite alright, darling.” Rarity said, understandingly, “I have a towel on the passenger seat and I always pack some extra clothes just in case of emergencies. Now hop in here, you silly girl.” Rainbow  excitedly hopped into the car, and Rarity then drove the pair off into the city.  A Few Minutes Later…  The ride over to the spa was a quick one because it was nearby, so nothing too eventful ended up happening while they were in the car. (Unless you can count Rainbow pondering what Rarity meant by “some” extra clothes as eventful.) Once Rarity parked at the spa, the two hopped out and went into the  spa. “The spa here has a rinse-and-soak, Rainbow, So you  can go ahead and get washed up before the treatment if you want to.” Rarity informed her friend, Rainbow was still trying to soak in the environment (no pun intended) so she was a little surprised when she felt a paper touch her hand. She quickly looked and saw that Rarity handed her a map of the place. “I’ll meet you back in the main lobby. Ta-ta.” she heard Rarity call, in a cheery, song-like tone as  she went to her spa room. “Thanks Rarity!” she called back. Rainbow studied the map if it were a playbook because this spa was way bigger than Rainbow expected. Think shopping  supermall, covered in precious jewels and basically the wholesome and healing aroma that  would radiate through the spa, the water, the oils and the customer service that would just  flow both within and outside the premise that would drain them of their burdens and alleviate  them with healing and a renewed sense of mind and spirit. She stressed for a bit, but  saw that this particular map already had a route drawn for her to follow. She sighed in relief, grateful for both Rarity always having her back and for finallybeing able to find out where she needed to go in the spa. She was about to walk to the rinse-and-soak when she realized that the line was ridiculously long.  ”A line?!? This day’s ALREADY AMAZING!!!” -- (from Sunset’s Backstage Pass) Sorry, I had to add that in there. Because, Rainbow’s literally in line right now. 15 minutes later…  Rainbow was still in line when Rarity finally walked outside the spa room she was in. It could  be because that Rainbow never saw Rarity immediately right after she got out of a spa, but  she smelled fresh as a daisy and sparkling like a diamond. Rainbow didn’t know how to react  because she was still looking like a bit of a mess. “Whoa-ho-ho!!! You look tres magnifique.” she said, complimenting in  awe of how beautiful she looked. Rarity was about to return the compliment when she noticed  that the line had barely made any progress at all. “Hmph, those snobs who run the place!!!” she shouted in disgust, she then called a number on her phone to speed-dial and shouted, “IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT THIS IS THE MOST POPULAR SPA RESORT IN EQUESTRIA!!! YOU’VE LET THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS DOWN WITH YOUR DOWNRIGHT SHODDY CUSTOMER SERVICE AND LENGTHY DELAYS!!! ESPECIALLY WITH ONE OF MY BUSINESSES!!! YOU ARE TO START PACKING ANY PERSONAL BELONGINGS OF YOURS AT ONCE BECAUSE YOU ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO SET FOOT ANYWHERE NEAR MY ESTABLISHMENTS, PERSONAL OR PRIVATE!!! YOU... ARE... SO... FIRED!!!” “Come on Rainbow-Dash, let’s get out of here!!!” she said, practically  dragging her friend outside the building. Rainbow was confused yet again, “Wait, why are we leaving now?” she asked. Rarity just stayed quiet as she furiously marched the two out to the car.  “Auto-Pilot, On!!!” she shouted into her phone. The phone connected to the car and started  the car. “Whoa, cool.” Rainbow said, “But aren’t you going to tell me what’s going on he--”  “Auto-Pilot, start recording Episode 25 of Season 2 of Rarity Raves on Fashion!!!” Rarity  interrupted, “Right away, Rarity” the car responded, “Recording… now” Rarity then calmed down and cleared her throat. “Hello darlings, and welcome to another fabulous episode of Rarity Raves on Fashion.” she started in a much calmer voice now, as the car started to drive on the road. “We’ve just left my top chain spa, Sweet, Petite and You-Nique; and I’ll bet they’ll be very surprised to find out that they either need an extensive upgrade to their customer service, a more efficient line service, a change of management or perhaps possibly all 3. Here with me today to talk about her experience is an amazing friend who happened to be caught victim of one of these utterly impolite crises. Head of the popular band, the Rainbooms, Rainbow-Dash.” Rainbow didn’t know what to say, she was caught off guard by her whole experience so she just offered a Fluttershy-esque, “Uh, hi everyone. Really happy to be here.” Rarity just then continued on,  “Now then, check this out; I go inside my spa, which is attracting customers like always…”  A few minutes later... Rarity ranted on about how terrible the service her business was for her friend and how some  people were being treated better than others in the shop until the duo finally arrived back at Rarity’s  house. It was now 9:15 when the two finally hopped out of the car and walked back into  Rarity’s house. She then walked Rainbow to her bathroom. “You should know where the body wash and shampoo is. I’m not rushing you, but please try to be ready by 11. Your new clothes are hanging inside the bathroom door when you get out, alright darling?” Rainbow just nodded, wondering what other things would be going on today. “Very well then,” Rarity responded, “Let me know what you want to do after that. Ta-ta, darling.” As Rainbow started showering, she was wondering why Rarity was trying to treat her like this. Last she checked, Rarity wasn’t the sort to spontaneously be like, “Hey, you wanna hang out sometime?” And that wasn’t even the way Rarity asked her. She usually wasn’t this much outgoing or bold, and  she saw her hang out with Applejack and Twilight a few times, which was absolutely fine by  her. But what made Rarity want to hang out with her? Maybe there was something else about  her friend she didn’t know about. Well, whatever it was; she decided that she’ll figure it out as the day would roll on. She finished getting herself out of the shower and then she slipped into  the new clothes Rarity got out for her. They were a pleasant combination of fashionable yet  Practical. She slipped into a pair of Rough-N-Tumble jeans, which were jeans that were made  from recycled fabrics from other trashed jeans that were designed to be flexible and  comfortable; yet (because they were made from reliable materials of other work jeans that  were washed and refined) very useful for any environment and element needed. “Applejack’s handprints are all over this one.” Rainbow observed, admiring the perfect balance of beauty and practicality. A balance she enjoyed very well. She stopped for a moment when she saw the t-shirt that Rarity gave her. (Rainbow still had the towel  around her waist, so don’t get any ideas. Unless you think getting reported is fun.) It was a  shirt that had the seven colors of the rainbow in rings that were around the sleeves. The same  pattern alternated down from the collar of the shirt to the very bottom of the shirt. The logo on  the shirt? Think the Harley Quinn “Daddy’s Little Monster” font from Suicide Squad, but  reading, “The Rainbooms” with “The” being smaller and right above the bigger,  “Rainbooms” Rainbow then checked the clock on Rarity’s bathroom wall. It was 9:30. She  then put on the t-shirt and went to find Rarity. She figured Rarity was in her room, waiting for  her to come hang out or something. Sure enough, as soon as she came into Rarity’s room,  she was chatting around for a bit. “So, I was thinking, Rainbow Dash, that we’d…” Rarity  paused for a moment when she saw Rainbow in the t-shirt Rarity handed her. “Oh, whoops…”  she said, embarrassingly to herself before getting off the bed and accidentally tripping over  herself; Rainbow quickly caught her as her friend stumbled out of the door. “Ah, thank you  Rainbow.” she said, dusting herself off. “Now; I was thinking that today, we make it all about you. I want to take you to wherever it is you want to go today. Movies, the park, bowling, or we can just have a quiet day in if you’d like. And don’t you dare think of paying for anything, darling. It’s all on me. I’m Team Rainbow  Dash today and forever!!! ” Rainbow was about to hesitate again but this time, her perspective changed.  There were a few things that she knew that both of them would like and maybe a few things  that would get her out of her comfort zone. After all, Rarity did say that she wanted to hang  out, right? In fact, Rainbow-Dash actually wanted to spend some more bonding time for a while now. Her main concern now, was that since Rarity was being so generous to her, she didn’t really want to screw up such an opportunity by being too, well... Dash, with everything. But at the same time, she didn’t want to be too ooh la la and Fun and Fancy Froo-Froo either. Obviously, the solution to Rainbow’s friendship problem was a penalty kick with no defenders or goalie stopping her. Just choose something they both would probably like and then, BINGO!!! Quality  fun time for all. However, she knew that there actually were defenders in the game of life, and a goalie too. Kick it the wrong way or in an underachieving fashion, and you will lose. But, on the other hand, this was also the Rainbow-Dash who knew that the only way to find out anything in life in the first place, was to focus, run up and give the ball a good hard kick. After a few, good, hard minutes (really, it was only a few seconds), Rainbow took a deep breath and was ready with her decision. “So, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity kindly offered, “What would you like to do today?”