Rainbow Dash was one of the most glamorous, most beautiful, most groomed mares in all of Equestria. She was the very definition of femininity, with curled, glittery lashes and an expertly brushed, rainbow-colored mane that flowed elegantly across the back of her neck. Her cyan coat practically sparkled from head to hoof.
In other words, Rarity had gone too far.
“Simply gorgeous!” Chortled the white unicorn, waving an ornate brush triumphantly around the air with her magic. “Oh you simply must let me do this more often, Rainbow Dash. Having a rainbow for a mane gives one so much to work with!”
Dash let out a long, meditative sigh, exhaling all the displeasure out of herself that she could. The only blessing she could count was that Rarity had turned the styling chair toward the door of the boutique. She wasn't sure she could bare to watch herself getting dolled up in the mirror that was behind her.
“Are you ready to have a peek?” Rarity asked, as if reading Dash’s mind with malice.
“Uh, no. You, uh... you just keep going, Rarity. You know best.”
Rarity beamed and resumed brushing at what used to be a patch of split ends. “Indeed I do, you look simply marvelous. And I know your date will approve.”
Dash winced at the reminder. “I still can't believe I let you set me up with one of your hoity-toity friends.”
Rarity waved a hoof about, as though swatting away at Dash's words. “Oh, no no no! I would never try to set you up with Hoity Toity. He already has a very lovely mare in his life. Not much else to her, I'm afraid, but -”
“Wait...” Dash interrupted, her voice already on the verge of cracking up. “Seriously? You actually know somepony named...” she snerked, “Hoity Toity? A-hahaha!”
As Rainbow Dash started to rock the seat with laughter, Rarity wrapped a hoof around one of its arms and tugged it firmly into place.
“Be still, Rainbow Dash! I'll have you know that his name is really quite respected in Canterlot.”
“Oh yeah? They need to learn some better names!”
“RAINBOW DASH!” cried Scootaloo, not more than a second after the bashing of the door hinge against the wall. It was as if on cue.
“Much better!” Dash squealed, before collapsing in the seat with a fit of laughter that had her clutching at her sides.
Rarity watched Rainbow Dash calmly and with a complete lack of amusement. The pegasus’s idea of humor had always been rather... silly. She sighed, lowered her brush onto the table beside her, and turned her face disdainfully toward the loud-mouthed filly in her doorway.
“Scootaloo!” she scolded, “That is no way to enter a room.”
Sweetie Belle materialized from behind Scootaloo, trotting daintily with her nose up in the air and a carefree smile as she crossed the room to her sister. Her eyes snapped wide open as soon as she reached the quivering heap that was Rainbow Dash.
“See? I toldja she was here! WOW, Rarity, you made her hair look so pretty!”
“It was already pretty!” Protested Scootaloo, stomping one of her hooves.
Rainbow Dash propped her aching cheek on a hoof and grinned across to the rebellious little filly. “Heh, that's why I like you, squirt.” She grinned up at Rarity. “You hear that? My hair was already pretty.”
Though infuriated, Rarity cleared her throat and tightened her posture, maintaining her grace as best as she could. If she had to be the only mare in a room full of fillies, so be it.
“Of course it was, Rainbow Dash. I am merely bringing that natural beauty forth. It’s what I do. Now then, Scootaloo, what is the meaning of barging in here like that?”
Scootaloo vaguely heard the door closing behind her as Rarity’s horn glowed. The filly took a few steps forward, trying her best to appear formidable.
“I wanted to know if it was true... I mean, Rainbow Dash isn't really going out with some pony from...” she gagged over-dramatically, “from CANTERLOT?!”
Rarity and Rainbow Dash both blinked and looked at each other. Sweetie Belle, now realizing what she had just enabled, ducked out of sight behind the nearest curtain she could find. Rarity took note of this but concentrated her stare on Scootaloo for now.
Rainbow Dash arched an eyebrow fiercely at the angry filly. “Um, sorta? I’m not a foal, y’know.”
“But he’s all wrong for you!”
Rarity decided to step in before this could go any further. “Scootaloo! I realize that you idolize Rainbow Dash, but you do not control her. Besides, you don’t even know Vain Glorious.”
Mostly to herself, Dash muttered, “Not that the kid’s totally blowing smoke...”
“RAINBOW DASH...!”
“Yeah, yeah...” Dash heaved a sigh and sat upright in the styling chair, doing her best impression of an actual role model. “Look, kid, I appreciate you caring about me and all, but it’s, y’know, my choice. I think.”
Tears began to well up in Scootaloo’s eyes. It was not the same to have Rainbow Dash scold her. She turned her face away. This wasn't part of the ‘tough girl’ act she was going for.
“I know...” she stammered, “but...”
Rarity, feeling that this was quite over, ignited the magic in her horn once again and levitated the brush back into place behind Dash’s mane. She had quite a mess to fix.
“Anyway,” she said, “it’s only a date. I want Rainbow Dash to have a little fun for once, that’s all.”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Psh! I always have fun!”
“You know what I mean. Civilized fun. You and Fluttershy both need to come out of your respective shells and start meeting other ponies.”
“Yes, mom.” Dash grumbled.
Scootaloo wiped her eyes. “So... as friends? And there’s nothing to it?”
Partly to Rarity, Dash replied. “That’s right, hot shot! Nothing to it!”
“Hmph.” Grumbled Rarity, suddenly feeling very defensive of her matchmaking skills. “We’ll just have to see about that. Either way, Scootaloo, you need to trust that Rainbow Dash will make the best decision for herself.”
Rainbow Dash glanced sideways at Rarity, a little amazed by the hypocrisy of her statement.
“So...” Scootaloo mumbled audibly, “It’s up to her whether she goes out with Vain Glorious or not...”
Rarity waved the brush in the air like a paddle. "Just look at what happened yesterday, when you and your friends tried to force Cheerilee and Big McIntosh together. That didn’t work, now did it?”
At this, Scootaloo lifted her head with a sudden surge of energy. “Oh yeah! The potion!”
“Er... right.” Rarity wasn’t sure what she was encouraging at this point, but it at least seemed like she was getting through.
Without another word, Scootaloo’s turned and left the boutique. This time, the door closed gently behind her.
After a long and awkward silence, Rarity looked toward a particular curtain where she always kept her latest works in progress. Her eyes narrowed on the obscenely fluffy tail sticking out from underneath.
“Sweetie Belle!”
“Pay no attention to the filly behind the curtain.” Came a high-pitched reply.
Unfortunately for Sweetie Belle, it took only a small exertion of magic to bring her out of hiding. As her body mopped the floor with her tail hovering behind her, she smiled sheepishly over her shoulder at the two adults.
“Sweetie Belle.” Rarity repeated. “As Scootaloo’s friend you must encourage her to leave other ponies alone in their private affairs. And that goes for Apple Bloom too. Do we understand?”
“Okay, okay!” whined the filly, yanking at her tail until Rarity released it.
"Cool." sighed Rainbow Dash. "Now can we please get this makeover thing over with?"
*
A slim thread of saliva made its way down the side of Spike’s tiny bed as he lay dreaming the day away. Even though the light of the sun streamed directly on his scales from the rounded mirror above the neighboring bed, he just didn’t seem to want to wake up.
Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, moved about on the ground floor with her horn ablaze. She was deeply engrossed in one of her favorite activities - organizing books. This time, she figured, things would be much more efficient if she kept all the magically-themed titles closer together. Of course, fantasy novels didn’t make that cut. In fact, she decided, all the fiction belonged in its own section after psychology, since psychology could often be gleaned from the storytelling of a particular culture. But she gave also pause to an alternative... couldn't it also follow anthropology? No, anthropology already preceded psychology for the very same reason. And preceding that was -
The reverie was broken by a small tapping on the door. Spike grunted and rolled out of bed, flopped directly on his stomach, and proceeded to snore again. Twilight glanced up at him, grinned, and went to answer the door herself.
“Oh! Hi there Scootaloo!” Twilight raised a hoof over her eyes to block the mid-day sun.
Scootaloo was wearing a large saddlebag, and inside that bag was a book. A very familiar book.
“Hi, Twilight. Um... here.” Scootaloo turned her flank outward, allowing Twilight to get a good look at her luggage. It was the very same Hearts and Hooves reference book that the three fillies had borrowed the day before, when they concocted their ill-fated love potion. Almost without pause, the book was levitated from the saddlebag and floated up in front of Twilight Sparkle’s glowing horn.
The unicorn smiled as she sent the book flying to a shelf beside her. “Great timing, Scootaloo! I was just thinking that since this book has a potion recipe, it should really go in the alchemy section. I reference alchemy a lot more than holiday history. I even saved it a spot, see?”
Scootaloo watched quizzically as a perfectly sized slot in the shelf was stuffed neatly with the book. Then her eyes became transfixed as she glanced over the titles that now neighbored it. How perfect is that, she thought.
With a congenial smile, Twilight Sparkle turned her attention to the little filly.
“Hey, Scootaloo, where are your friends? I almost never see you without Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.”
“Well... I came to talk to you.”
“Oh... okay! What’s on your mind?”
"Well, nothing really, I just wanted to know if I could borrow another book. Like, you know, with more potions in it."
Twilight only stared at her, but the stare said enough.
"Um, what I mean is..." Scootaloo continued, rubbing nervously at the back of her neck, "we seemed to be really good at potion making. Maybe even too good, but... you know, maybe could be my special talent. You wouldn't want to keep me from getting my cutie mark, would you?"
"Hmm." Twilight narrowed her eyes a bit. "If potions were your special talent, shouldn't you have a cutie mark now?"
Scootaloo grunted; her empty flank had betrayed her. Now there was really only one option left, and it wasn't going to be easy. Of all the fillies she knew, Scootaloo had the hardest time talking openly about how she felt, or expressing even the least bit of sentiment. But if she was going to get Twilight to give her a book, she was going to have to come clean and hope for the best. She sighed.
"Scootaloo? Are you alright?"
After chewing nervously on her bottom lip for a few seconds, Scootaloo took a deep breath and asked, “Can you keep a secret, Twilight?”
For the second time that day, Scootaloo felt a door closing behind her courtesy of a unicorn’s horn. Twilight smiled warmly to the filly and nodded her head as she remembered a certain past adventure.
“It just so happens,” she assured the filly, “that I’ve recently learned the importance of discretion.”
“Dis-what now?” Scootaloo wasn’t great with words.
“Discretion.” Twilight was. “Keeping a secret. You can tell me anything you like.”
There was a pregnant pause. Scootaloo shuffled her hooves, and Twilight just remained smiling down to her, patiently.
“Well I...” Scootaloo started. This was harder than she thought it would be. “I... I maybe...”
“Mayyybe?” Twilight imitated, leaning in.
The truth was, there was nopony that Scootaloo would feel any safer or more comfortable telling her secrets to. Twilight had a sympathetic nature that seemed magnetic to most other ponies, despite being so quiet and reserved. For a brief moment, all the ulterior motives Scootaloo was hiding didn't seem quite as critical as just... getting this out.
“Maybe...” Scootaloo breathed in, and when she breathed out again the rest of her sentence spilled out like a river that had broken its dam. “Maybe-think-I’m-sorta-in-love.”
Hearing these words deeply pleased Twilight Sparkle, especially following a holiday like Hearts and Hooves. But Twilight wasn’t the type to gush, so she gently said, “I see! And who is the lucky stallion?”
Scootaloo’s face turned nearly as purple as Twilight now. She bowed her head down almost to the ground. “... uh. You see...”
“Lucky... mare?” Twilight offered, with no change in her expression.
Scootaloo looked up at Twilight Sparkle with a meek smile and the same blush as before.
“Scootaloo...” Twilight whispered, laying a hoof on the filly’s shoulder. Her voice was comforting, perhaps a little patronizing, but comforting nonetheless. “I didn’t realize, that’s all. It’s okay if you like another girl. Is it Sweetie Belle?” she winked. “She’s one pretty filly.”
Scootaloo jumped at the suggestion. “Huh?! No!”
“Oh, so it’s Apple Bloom!” Twilight winked again.
“No, it’s not... I mean, it really is a mare. Like, you know, not a filly.”
Twilight cocked her head a few degrees. “Its... not me, is it?”
Scootaloo giggled and shook her head. “No, Twilight, it’s not you.”
Spike, who was still laying with his eyes shut against the floor, groaned loudly. “It’s Rainbow Dash... duh.”
There was an awkward pause. Twilight glanced up with an arched eyebrow and found Spike breathing in and out in the heavy pattern of sleep again. Either he was faking it, or he was just being a ridiculous baby dragon as usual. Either way, Twilight levitated him back up into his bed and threw the small blanket across his head. Then she turned her attention back to the furiously blushing filly.
“Yeah, I... guess I should have seen that coming. Well, Scootaloo... you have to understand something. Rainbow Dash is older than you, and -”
“I...” interrupted Scootaloo, swallowing. “I wanted to know if you have any potion recipes that get rid of love.”
“Huh!? What? Why?” Twilight looked absolutely stunned, blinking and shaking her head.
“To...” Scootaloo’s eyes once again turned to the shelf, hoping to find something to embolden her there. “To fix this.”
“Scootaloo...” Twilight reached out and gingerly rubbed the filly’s warm face. “That... may be the saddest thing I've ever heard. You’re still young. You should enjoy your little crushes, not magic them away!”
Scootaloo's blush immediately started to fade, and she pulled herself away from the caressing hoof.
“This isn't a little crush!” She shouted. “You think that just because I’m younger than you, I can’t feel the same as you? Well I do, okay!?”
Twilight’s horn hummed gently as it pushed more blanket over Spike’s sleeping head.
“I didn't mean it that way, Scootaloo..." she said gently. "Look, you just got in big trouble using one of those potions, Remember? Didn't you learn something from that?”
Scootaloo's eyes widened considerably. “So there is an anti-love potion?”
Twilight grimaced. First nervousness, then anger, and now excitement. She was beginning to feel a little dizzy from this pint-sized roller-coaster of emotions. “I didn’t say that.” She replied, more firmly. “You will just have to wait for the natural order of things, okay?”
The two ponies exchanged a wordless stare for a few moments, then Twilight sighed and turned to a shelf near the back of the room. Books began to hover one after another as she resumed her tasks. “Besides...” she continued, “These feelings are good for you. They’re all part of becoming a mare. Believe me, I know. Everypony goes through this sooner or later...”
As Twilight made her speech, Scootaloo turned her attention fully to that shelf again. This would be a matter of making an educated guess. She knew she would eventually come to regret what she was about to do, but...
“One of these days, you’re going to make somepony so, so happy.” Twilight continued. “And you’re going to be happy too, I just know it. Do you understand, Scoo-”
But when she turned around, the filly was nowhere to be seen.