The next day passed just as any other day did in Ponyville. Cake making, dress selling, field ploughing, animal care, aerial stunts. The usual.
Rarity couldn't wait for her day at the Boutique to be over. She'd been as giddy as a school-filly all day long at the thought of her brilliant plan taking shape.
Her final customer of the day left the shop at precisely 6 pm, giving her just enough time to assemble the reinforcements.
Pinkie Pie arrived at the boutique covered in flour, much to Rarity's dismay. She'd been baking lots of tasty treats for the evening ahead, so she set them down on the kitchen table accompanied by balloons and confetti.
"You can't have cupcakes without party decorations!" Pinkie exclaimed as she set off her infamous party canon.
Shaking the confetti from her mane, Rarity rolled her eyes at the party pony.
"Yes, Pinkie Pie. However, this isn't really a party, is it?" the unicorn asked rhetorically.
"A party's wherever I say it is, baby!" Pinkie replied, catching a cupcake in her mouth all too effortlessly.
It was at that moment that Fluttershy trudged into the boutique with, what seemed like, tonnes of blankets and sleeping bags.
"S-sorry I'm late, Rarity. It took me a while to fly over here with all these sheets" the shy pegasus began.
Rarity gasped dramatically upon seeing her yellow friend.
"No-no-no-no! This just won't do, darling!" Rarity proclaimed as she brought her hoof to her forehead.
Being slightly taken aback, Fluttershy dropped her baggage to the ground with a squeal.
"Hey, Fluttershy! Ooh! Nice blankets!" the party pony uttered as she bounced out of the kitchen.
"No! Not nice blankets!" Rarity cried.
Fluttershy and Pinkie turned to each other for a moment, confused.
"Darling, you weren't supposed to bring any blankets, sheets or anything we can sleep on!"
"Well, why ever not? Isn't that what we normally do during sleepovers?" Fluttershy asked timidly.
"Yes, of course. But this isn't supposed to be any old sleepover, is it?" the fashionista replied.
She gestured slightly with her hooves to provoke a response from the other two.
"Oh, Celestia. I do wish Twilight was here" Rarity whispered to herself.
Clearing her throat, Rarity approached her friends, levitating the blankets into a nearby cupboard in the process.
"Ladies, do you recall anything of my brilliant plan?" the unicorn asked with a forced smile.
The two friends stood awkwardly for a moment. Fluttershy drew a small figure of eight on the ground with her hoof as Pinkie bit her lip somewhat overtly.
"Well," the earth pony began in an elongated tone.
"All I remember were the words: Cupcakes, sleepover and don't you dare forget anything I've told you this evening, Miss Pie- oh".
Rarity threw herself onto her chaise lounge in an exasperated manner.
After reaffirming the purpose of the sleepover, it was time to initiate phase two.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash. Might I call for your presence at the boutique? There's a gown I'm altering for a client whose measurements are the same as yours. Be a dear and let me try it out on you" Rarity asked down the phone.
"Uh. Sure, Rarity. As long it doesn't have any frills or looks like something that would ruin my reputation" Rainbow Dash responded in her usual raspy voice.
"Oh, darling. I would never" said Rarity as she winked at Fluttershy and Pinkie, sparking a small snicker between them.
"Yeah. Fine. I'm on my way" the flighty pegasus ended.
Rarity hung up her phone and immediately picked it back up again. She dialled a new number and waited for a response with bated breath.
"Ah. Applejack, darling. Might I call for your presence at the boutique? There's a gown I'm altering for a client whose measurements are the same as yours. Be a dear and let me try it out on you" Rarity repeated almost word for word.
"Shoot. Course, Rarity. So long as it's not some silly frou-frou lookin' thing, that's alright with me" said Applejack with a chuckle.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stood laughing to themselves by the telephone, getting louder and louder as the conversation continued.
With a clear wave of her hoof, Rarity shooed them away to the other room so they could giggle in peace.
"Don't worry, my dear. Nothing too lavish, I assure you".
"Alrighty then. Ah’ll be right over" Applejack replied as she hung up her phone.
"Phase two, completed," Rarity said to herself with a smirk.
Rarity's gaze diverted itself to the kitchen, where she could still hear intermittent giggles and cackling from her two friends.
Rolling her eyes, she trotted towards their sounds and burst into the room.
"Ladies, please! Get a hold of yourselves!" she bellowed.
Pinkie and Fluttershy tried their best to withhold their laughter, but tiny bursts of air kept creeping out like helium from a balloon.
"S-sorry, Rarity" Fluttershy began as she spoke through giggles.
"I think it's just nerves".
"Yeah. Nerves" Pinkie agreed as she looked over at the yellow pegasus, trying to squeeze her mouth shut as she did so.
Of course, they fell into another fit of hilarity, causing Pinkie Pie to fall to the floor in exhaustion.
"Well, you better get your nerves under control-" Rarity commenced in a somewhat firm tone.
"Because it won't be long until the two of them are here!"
With a squeal from Fluttershy and a cartoonish gasp from Pinkie, the three ponies leapt into the adjacent room to prepare for the oncoming storm.
Mere seconds after they'd situated themselves in Rarity's front room, a flash of colour flew through the boutique that moved like lightning. It was, of course, Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, Rares. Where's this dress you wanted me to-"
Rainbow's sentence sifted into nothingness as her eyes wandered around the room. Her magenta orbs fixated themselves on Pinkie and Fluttershy. She pondered their relevance in the current situation.
"Uh. Hey, you guys. What're you two doing here? You trying out Rarity's stuff too?"
The two ponies took a momentary glance at each other before humming a collective "um".
"Sure! Yeah! Rarity wanted me to-" Pinkie began as her eyes searched for a prop of some kind.
"Try on this belt!" she exclaimed as she tied the leather belt around her waist with great difficulty.
"It totally fits!" Pinkie strained as the belt buckle snapped off in her hooves, causing her to throw it to one side with failed subtlety.
"And-um. Rarity asked me to try on this scarf" Fluttershy finally responded as she gingerly picked up a comedically long scarf from the nearby clearance bin.
"It's a bit long" she smiled as Rainbow watched the scarf engulf her friend.
Pinkie, again un-subtly, winked at Fluttershy to signal that she'd done a decent job. Rarity, on the other hoof, gritted her teeth together in anger and nervousness.
After looking around the room in utter confusion, Rainbow gave a raspy laugh.
"Yeah. I'd say a good five foot off that scarf oughtta do the trick, Rarity!" the pegasus said through chortles.
The three schemers gave out a silent breath between them, wondering where to take the conversation next.
"Anyway, darling. I have something a little more complex for yourself" Rarity explained to Rainbow Dash.
"But don't you fret; it's nothing you Wonderbolt types would disapprove of".
"Sweet. Let's get this over with, yeah? You know what happens when I'm grounded too long" the colourful pony made clear.
"Of course, dear. I don't want you getting sick on my account" replied Rarity as she rifled through her downstairs closet.
"I didn't know you still got ground sick, Rainbow Dash" said Fluttershy as if to kindle an answer from her fellow pegasus.
Since moving to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash had always felt considerably more nauseous on the ground than she did in the sky. She discovered that she couldn't sit or generally stay still on the ground without the sensation of sickness. She and Fluttershy decided to call it "ground sickness", taken from the term "seasickness".
Sure, it had improved over the years, but living in a Cloud House and aerial training didn't help to abolish the feeling. Plus, her recent revelation about Applejack didn't make her feel any better.
Rainbow gave a confident side smile as she stopped hovering; it was as though she was trying to prove a point.
"Eh, it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Don't sweat it, Fluttershy" reacted Dash, crossing her hooves assuredly.
Wondering what monstrosity awaited her in Rarity's closet, Dash started to get a little apprehensive. Biting her lip and scrunching her face slightly, she stayed silent for a few moments, confusing her friends.
"Everything okay over there, Dashie?" Pinkie asked in her routine, bubbly manner.
Dashie.
She said that once.
There it was again.
That feeling.
The feeling of emptiness.
The feeling of fear.
The feeling of weakness.
And the underlying knowledge that the pony you love may never love you back.
How could one pony make the formidable Rainbow Dash feel so many confusing feelings at the same time?
Feelings she'd never felt before.
Feelings she never wanted to feel again.
Feelings that she wanted simplifying.
Or were the feelings genuinely so simple that they needn't be clarified any further?
She did not know.
Finally processing her pink friend's question, Rainbow nodded with false conviction.
"Yeah, I'm good. Celestia knows what's coming out of that closet, though" she ended with a breathy chuckle.
As if waiting for the exact moment, Rarity surfaced from her closet with a sleek, long, black gown.
There was no client to give it to, no measurements that needed taking, and no real need for a fitting; she just wanted Rainbow Dash to wear it for a little while.
"Here you are, darling. It's quite the number, isn't it?" Rarity asked proudly.
Rainbow rolled her eyes at the sight of her fate.
"Eh, could be worse" she thought.
Accepting her destiny, Rainbow Dash allowed her designer friend to fit her into the gown. What surprised her more than anything was that she didn't hate it. In fact, she thought she looked rather good in it.
"Pfffft, what am I saying? I look good in everything!" the Wonderbolt said to herself.
"So, Rares. Who's this dress for, anyway? Must be a pegasus if they've got a body like mine, right?" Rainbow asked as she shuffled her hooves slightly.
Blanking for a moment, Rarity ceased her fraudulent adjustments to think of a fitting response.
"A-um. D-designer client confidentiality I'm afraid, darling" Rarity finally managed.
"But, to answer your latter question, they are, indeed, a pegasus".
Rainbow began to ruffle her wings slightly, much to Rarity's annoyance. Although she wasn't actually adjusting the gown, she needed Rainbow to stay still as she falsely pinned things together.
"Will you stay still, Rainbow Dash? One slip of a pin and you'll be wishing you never came" the fashionista exclaimed.
"Bold of you to assume I don't wish that already" Rainbow responded in a huff.
Continuing to pin her fake improvements together, Rarity rolled her eyes and lifted her glasses on top of her muzzle.
Pinkie and Fluttershy stood nervously in the corner as Rarity proceeded to work.
"Oh. I don't know how much longer Rainbow Dash can stand still like that. Where in Equestria is Applejack?" the shy pegasus murmured.
"Luna knows! She said she'd be right over!" Pinkie Pie almost shouted as she bit her hoof restlessly.
Then, right on cue, the doors to Carousel Boutique swung open, setting off the bell in the process.
"Sorry Ah'm late, Rarity. Had something to take care of just before Ah left" the orange farm pony announced.
"Now, where's this whatsit you need me to tr-"
Silence.
Silence as the earth pony became awestruck with what was in front of her.
As though the rest of her vision became blurred somehow, all she could see was a sea of black among bright, brilliant colours.
Rainbow Dash was in a dress.
A stunning dress, in fact.
Applejack was stunned by the mere sight of her colourful friend, and it wasn't the first time.
She'd seen Rainbow in dresses before, plenty of them. Every single time the Wonderbolt wore such an outfit, it lit a fire in the pit of Applejack's stomach. Feelings resurfaced, thoughts whirled inside her head and, for one of a better term, she felt as though she could vomit.
"Whoa" the farmer whispered under her breath.
Eventually realising that Applejack was in the room, Rainbow's wings shot up immediately, sending her straight into the air.
"A-Applejack?! What're you doing here?" the Wonderbolt stuttered as she hovered close to the ceiling.
Rainbow Dash became all too aware of what she was wearing at that moment. The fit of the dress, it's colour, it's fabric, what she looked like in it.
The confidence Rainbow possessed mere moments ago had been shattered, and all because of one pony's presence in the room.
"Come back down here at once, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity shrieked.
"I've never seen you so startled".
With a graceful awkwardness, Rainbow slowly descended to the floor of the boutique.
Snapping herself out of whatever fantasy she'd been in, Applejack gave a cool tip of her hat.
"A-Ah'm here to try on something of Rarity's. As is everypony else, apparently" Applejack answered as she took a short look around the room.
"Ah. Applejack, yes!" Rarity began in an alarmed manner.
"I-uh. I-I need you to try on that hat, darling" she finally decided as she pointed towards the clearance bin.
Giving a sly look to her designer friend, Applejack trotted over to where the hat was situated.
It was simple enough, but Rarity made it, so decoration was imminent.
Picking it up, Applejack inspected it further.
It was a black, velvet fedora who's edging was laced with gold. Why it was in the clearance bin, Applejack didn't know.
"That's a mighty fine piece of headgear, Rarity" the cowgirl began.
"Who's it for?"
"Oh, it's designer client confidentiality, darling" Rainbow Dash imitated with accentuation of the word "darling".
Snickering to herself, Applejack let her eyes linger on the Wonderbolt a little longer than necessary.
Trying to avoid looking at Applejack, Rainbow Dash ran a hoof through her chromatic mane.
"Are we done here, Rarity? I need to fly!" the Pegasus laboured as she attempted to stretch her taut wings through the dress.
Tutting to herself, Rarity allowed Rainbow Dash to free herself from the dress.
Gleefully jumping from the pedestal, Dash sauntered off to Rarity's closet to remove the silky monster from her nauseous body.
Her eyes still hindering on the colourful Pegasus, Applejack watched her friend walk passed her in complete silence.
"Like what you see?" said Rainbow smoothly as she looked over her shoulder at the rooted farmer, giving an arrogant smile as she did so.
Zoning back in with a cocksure flick of her fringe, Applejack returned the smile with one even more cavalier.
"In your dreams, fly-girl" she responded.
Carrying on her pursuit of the closet, while trying to hide the goofiest grin on her face, Rainbow cantered away.
"So, Rarity. Uh-You wanted me to try on this here hat?" Applejack asked as she tried to divert her eyes towards her purple maned friend.
"Why, yes, darling!" Rarity responded as she took the velvet fedora from Applejack.
Removing her beloved stetson for a moment, she placed her creation atop Applejack's head, but it was no sooner there then gone.
"Perfect. All done!" Rarity exclaimed as she threw the gold-rimmed hat back into the clearance bin as if she were discarding it.
Confused, the farmer returned Tallulah to her rightful position.
"That's it? How comes Rainbow Dash had an entire outfit to try on and Ah only had a hat to wear for less than two seconds?" questioned Applejack.
"Oh, darling. Trying on a hat and trying on a dress are two completely different entities. You can't expect me to spend two measly seconds on an entire gown, Applejack" responded Rarity as she admired her hooves.
“But you told me you needed me to try on a dress too, remember?" Applejack retorted as she raised a suspicious eyebrow.
Stopping in her tracks, Rarity began to stutter.
"I-I did?" she asked casually.
"Clear as a corn-stalk in April" the farmer answered.
Flipping her mane, Rarity chuckled anxiously to herself.
"A-um. A slip of the tongue, darling. Besides, the hat fits perfectly. No alterations necessary" said Rarity with false certainty.
Still unconvinced by Rarity's premise, Fluttershy's unusually large smile, and Pinkie Pie's nervous laughter, Applejack let out a laboured sigh as if to indicate there would be no further interrogation.
Just before the silence between the four ponies became too unbearable, Rainbow Dash floated out of the closet carrying the dress in her hooves.
"Awesome. All done, right?" Rainbow asked as she dropped the dress into Rarity's direction, dusting off her hooves in the process.
Exasperated, Rarity gently levitated the heavily pinned dress and placed it on a nearby hanger.
"Quite finished, yes" she grumbled.
"Sweet! Well, gotta dash!" the Wonderbolt announced as she began to speed out of the Boutique.
Panicking at the thought of Rarity's plan falling to pieces, Pinkie Pie leapt in front of her nimble friend and ceased her departure.
"WAIT!" the party pony yelled as she held her hooves out in front of her.
Gazing at her, as always, hard to read friend, Rainbow fell to her hooves in confusion.
Jumping into the situation, almost literally, Rarity put her hoof around the pink earth pony.
"Say, Rainbow Dash?" the fashionista began in a somewhat rehearsed tone.
"Since we're all here together, how about you all stay for a sleepover?"
Rainbow's eyes widened at the prospect.
"No. NO! Anything but that!" the Pegasus screamed internally.
"What a lovely idea, Rarity. And it's just what Rainbow Dash wanted to do yesterday. How thoughtful of you to remember" Fluttershy interjected.
Rainbow worried that her internal struggle began to reveal itself externally.
"Urgh! I didn't even want a sleepover yesterday!"
"I only said that so I didn't have to be alone!"
"I can't! I can't have a sleepover! It's all too much!"
"I gotta weasel my way outta this. But how?"
"I know! I'll tell 'em Tank's sick!"
"No. Wait. I've already used that one, huh?"
"Man, they called me out so bad yesterday! Now I have no excuses!"
Rainbow Dash continued to battle with her thoughts as the other ponies remained somewhat oblivious to her mindset.
"Ah'd love to stay, Rarity. But Ah got a buck-load o'chores to finish by the end of the day" Applejack answered.
"Oh, pish-tosh!" Rarity responded with a dramatic wave of her hoof.
"Why I spoke my Big Mac earlier, and he said he had everything under control".
"He said that? Said all that?" the country girl asked in a doubtful tone.
Feeling her unsaid words already stuttering in her throat, Rarity pawed at the floor slightly with her hoof.
"W-well. It was probably more along the lines of "eeyup", but a very reassured one at that" she finally responded.
"Why, shoot! If Big Mac says everything's under control, Ah'd love to stay!" said Applejack with a hearty grin.
Rainbow Dash soon felt her stomach tighten as if it had wrapped a lasso around itself for fun.
All she could think about was her escape plan, but she knew that any excuse she conjured would be thrown back in her face.
"I've already made too many excuses in the past. They're bound to catch on!"
"Why did I have to go and make such a huge deal about a sleepover in the first place?!"
"Why don't you just admit that you wanna spend time with her?"
"What's the harm in one sleepover?"
Dash hated her rational side almost as much as she hated her irrational side. Two overpowering and conflicting mindsets, trapped in one defenseless pony. An awesome and brave pony, yes, but beneath all the egotistical confidence, she was still just a pony.
"What's say you, Rainbow Dash?" the glamorous unicorn asked.
"Will you stay?"
"Or is there a rogue cloud circling the area that needs taking care of?" Applejack interjected with a wink.
Rolling her eyes at her crush's comment, Rainbow Dash accepted her fate and let out a deep sigh.
"Fine. I'll stay" Rainbow admitted at last.
"But I don't want any mushy, romantic nonsense from the two of you, okay?" she continued with a hoof pointing towards Rarity and Fluttershy.
Raising a hoof to her chest, Rarity's mouth became agape sarcastically.
"Who? Us? We wouldn't dream of it, dear" she replied with a brazen smile.