Previously, on Fear of The Fall. Rainbow Dash read a book! Rarity is planning a party! Pinkie Pie sensed a doozy! Applejack had some arguments! Twilight is exasperated! Fluttershy isn't plot relevant yet.

The door of the Carousel Boutique was not a flimsy specimen, but a robust and husky plane of oak, likely to outlast the shop itself and all its inhabitants. Of course, it needed to be. The fashion world had more than its fair share of drama queens, all of whom were inclined to storm from the room when a deal hadn't quite gone their way, and a door that could stand up to a good slamming was a friend indeed to any serious dress-maker. Rarity, however, had gone the extra mile when she picked her door. Varnished, sanded, and sounded out for that perfect acoustic crash when manhandled, it was to doors as princes were to peasants. It was so fine as to receive letters of praise from disgruntled customers, ostensibly letters composed of complaints and veiled threats, but always including lateral compliments on her fixtures and fittings. All in all, it was a truly magnificent door, perfect in every way, and Rarity felt no small degree of pride in it.

Rainbow Dash also enjoyed Rarity's enormous portal, for reasons she had never really bothered to articulate. It was a long standing dream of hers to sneak back in the dead of night, steal the door and replace it with something, but she hadn't decided what the substitute would be. She could always just replace it with a worse door, but that wouldn't be funny enough. Sliding glass doors and trapdoors would be too loud and cumbersome to install. She'd briefly entertained the notion of using hanging beads, but that'd be a security risk and she didn't really want to see Rarity robbed and murdered in her own home. Eventually, she had decided that the only proper replacement for such a magnificent door was one of those cast-iron ones with the portholes in, like the ones on the submarine Pinkie had somehow acquired. Unfortunately, that involved stealing a door from a vehicle that spent most of its time underwater, which was just too much effort for a one-off gag.

However, even if she couldn't steal it, she could still slam it, and once she and Twilight were inside the boutique she took great pleasure in doing just that.

"You know, darling, it's traditional to do that at the end of a visit rather the beginning," Rarity said by way of greeting.

Twilight looked from one pony to the other with barely disguised interest. She had always been quietly fascinated by how Rarity and Rainbow Dash managed to remain friends despite having relatively little in common with each other. The longer she observed them, the more obvious it became that, secretly, they didn't know how to deal with each other at all. Sure, they could work together flawlessly in the event of, say, a rampaging dragon, but the threat of immediate and painful death had a lot to do with it. (Twilight had learned long ago that, whatever else it might be, a world-ending crisis was a marvellous conversation point. There was nothing quite like a rampaging dragon as an icebreaker).

"So, uh. I heard you and AJ had lunch yesterday. Did she, uh, do any rootin' in your tootin'?" Dash asked awkwardly after the silence became unbearable.

"...Darling, I don't know what that means," the unicorn replied. She sounded like a helpless kitten.

"Onlyway askingway ifway eshay otgay enoughway uckbay orfay erhay itbay. Eeshshay, aintway ikelay Iway asway askingway orfay away iagramday," Dash snorted.

Rarity looked at Twilight, then at Rainbow Dash, then concluded that they were both quite insane. Of course, she had known that for quite some time, but the depth of the malady constantly surprised her.

Evidently it showed on her face, because Dash flashed her a winning smile and began explaining. "Oh, don't worry about that. It's just a little secret code Twi uses to yell at me when she doesn't want anypony to know what she's yelling at me for."

"Of course, the first time she did it, she didn't actually know I knew how to speak it, so she was pretty much just shoutin' insults at me," Dash continued. "Man, she used words that'd turn the air blue."

"For the last time, 'ignoramus' is not a dirty word," Twilight said, grinding her hoof against her forehead.

"Snrk. She said 'amus'," Dash giggled. "Anyway, Rarity, I hear you're setting up a party. I'd better be invited."

With an audible sigh of relief, Rarity latched on to the conversation topic with all the ferocity of a desperate limpet. "Why, yes, darling, of course you are. As is Twilight. Provided, of course, we have a venue?"

"It landed in my breakfast," the librarian nodded sagely. "Princess Celestia won't be able to attend, but Princess Luna will be there."

"Fabulous! It would be somewhat of a bust, as the expression goes, if the princess of honour were unable to attend. At least we don't have to worry about that scenario. Besides," Rarity continued with a wink, "I think Pinkie would have hunted her down and dragged her to the party regardless."

Rainbow Dash shuddered. There was nothing quite like being stalked by Pinkie to instil an appreciation for endurance hunters. It was like being followed around by the world's cuddliest, bounciest shark. A shark that had a Pinkiecopter.

"So, do you have any ideas about what costumes you'll be wearing, girls? I would, of course, only be too happy to help out when it comes to the apparel," Rarity said, smiling and batting her eyelashes.

Twilight frowned. "Sorry, Rarity, but I already have something in mind. It'd be no fun if I told you about it beforehoof."

Although Rarity's smile remained in place, she couldn't help but feel there was a hint of suspicion in Twilight's voice. But then again, she thought, the poor dear was on the watch for a Doozie. Besides, paranoia and Twilight Sparkle went together like Lady Hay and toasted teacakes.

"Cool. That leaves more Rarity-time for my costume," Dash chimed in. "What? Don't look at me like that, Twi. It isn't like I can sew, and who else is gonna make me one? I mean, I'd ask Fluttershy, but she adds ruffles to everything. Even the ruffles. You get a costume from 'Shy, you go to the party dressed as a doily."

Rarity tittered. "To be fair, you'd be going as the best-sewn doily in all Equestria. Her needlework is nothing short of exquisite, especially considering she hoof-stitches. But that's quite beside the point. Rest assured, Twilight, it will be a mere triviality to create costumes for our masquerade. The standards are a touch lower than that of high fashion."

"Hm. Well, if you say so. Just don't overwork yourself. I have a feeling I'll need all hooves on deck to make sure nothing goes wrong," Twilight warned, before shooting a look at Dash. The pegasus grinned.

"I'm sure nothing will go wrong, darling. Anypony seeking to upset the event will have to answer to Pinkie. Not a fate, I am sure, that anypony among us would aspire to," Rarity continued pointedly. Dash's grin only grew wider.

"Speaking of Pinkie, I'd better go and tell her the venue's been confirmed," the librarian said.

"She seemed really hyper last night, so she probably stayed up making invitations or somethin'. If she did, give her a shot of your coffee. That'll perk her up!" Dash added.

"Oh, yes, because there's no way that could possibly go wrong. I'll leave you two to it," Twilight said, and, with a final roll of her eyes, disappeared with a crack and a flash of light.

After the glow of teleportation had died down, Rainbow Dash strolled to the door, opened it, then slammed it again with enough force to put cracks in the plastering.

"You gotta slam the door at the end of a visit. It's traditional. Lucky for Twi that I'm around to pick up the slack," the pegasus explained, with a straight face that crooked salesponies the world over would have killed for. Rarity got the sudden impression that she had made a great error in word choice quite recently.

"Sooooo. Costume ideas. I'm thinking awesome, but not so awesome that I steal all the attention, you know? We're looking for, like, a medium amount of awesome here," Dash explained, gesticulating as though awesomeness was a fish and she had just caught several of different but equally unlikely sizes.

"I see. Well, I'm sure we can come up with a costume of moderate 'awesomeness'," Rarity replied, having privately decided that what Rainbow Dash actually meant was 'my costume must be the most awesome thing in existence.' "I seem to remember you being into the whole Daring Do aesthetic, so how about we base a costume on that?"

Dash's brow furrowed. She liked that idea. In fact, she loved it. Daring Do's costume was simple enough that she could probably keep Rarity from adding a corset or a skirt or something, and it was pretty much guaranteed to be cool. The problem was that it was predictable, and if she was going to get any pranking done at the party, she wanted to have as low-key a costume as possible. If she went with a Daring Do costume, Twilight would see through it in seconds.

"I, uh...I dunno, Rarity. I wouldn't want to go in a Daring Do outfit unless it was, like, 100% based on the books, y'know? She only ever wears a mask in book three, and that one's made of solid gold with rubies and stuff, so unless you've picked up a degree in spot welding or something, I think pass," Dash invented wildly, privately cursing the offer for being so tempting.

Rarity frowned. She'd been sure Daring Do would have been quote-unquote 'awesome' enough for Rainbow Dash's tastes. Perhaps it was time to up the ante.

"Hmm...Oh, I know! How about I make you a mock Wonderbolts costume? It wouldn't be too terribly hard to do..."

To Rarity's surprise, the pegasus shook her head with no hesitation at all. "A Wonderbolt costume? No way. Not happening. I've been tryin' to get into that costume since I was a little filly. I don't wanna cheapen all that by just getting one off the rack for a fancy dress party."

"Hm. That was well said," Rarity nodded, impressed. "But in that case, I don't really know what we'll do about your costume."

"Well, we'll just have to brainstorm. I mean, if you can do this whole fashion gig for a living, and I can come up with like a billion awesome pranks, we should be able to put our heads together on this one. Hey, what do you think AJ will-" Dash began, then stopped. A wicked grin spread itself across her face.

She had been about to ask what Applejack would be wearing. But, now she thought about it, she already knew what AJ would wear, and, for an added bonus, what Twilight would wear. With any luck, Fluttershy would be wearing it too. All she had to do was blend in with the crowd, and let the confusion do all the work for her. It was perfect.

Across the room, Rarity had no idea what thoughts were going through the pegasus' head. But she could guess. For Dash to name a mare and then cut herself short, as if she had narrowly avoided revealing a secret-- it was tantamount to a confession of love. It may even, Rarity's imagination posited, been a mark of a clandestine affair. Perhaps the farmer doth protest too much for her innocence to be believed? Even if not, it indicated a great deal of value placed on Applejack's opinions and happenings, which was very interesting indeed.

"Hm? What was that about Applejack, darling?" the unicorn asked, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, nothin'," Dash said quickly. She could do without revealing the logic behind her awesome plan, especially to somepony who had such a great interest in the party going flawlessly. "I have a costume idea, though."

"Do tell," Rarity prompted, privately noting the hasty denial and adding it to a list of evidence for a continuing liaison with an apple farmer.

"I'm thinkin', we gotta get me a costume everypony knows. But it has to be awesome, and it has to have a mask. So, I'm thinking I dress as a mare who was actually awesome enough to beat yours truly," Dash said grandly, soaring into the air as she did. She enjoyed being dramatic. "A mare we're both familiar with. A mare the town adores. I'm thinking...a Mare Do Well."

"Oh, what a wonderful idea! Of course, you never did get your own Mare Do Well costume. It shouldn't be difficult at all to whip one up for you," Rarity purred, her eyelashes fluttering.

As she started measuring, Rarity couldn't suppress a smile. Step two of her plan was now complete. She knew exactly what Rainbow Dash would be dressed as when the costume ball began, but her own costume was still entirely secret. That would make it the easiest thing in the world to find the pegasus at the party and pump her for information on her romantic likes and dislikes, without ever being discovered.

As she was being measured, Rainbow Dash couldn't suppress a smile. Step one of her plan was now complete. In all probability, there'd be four Mare Do Wells at the party-- herself, Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy. Twilight was clever enough to catch the lack of wings and rule out AJ, but that still left her and Fluttershy. All she needed to do was act like Fluttershy just long enough to set things up without being interrupted. She'd known Fluttershy since they were fillies. It was going to be easy.

As it turned out, despite her being the most eminent scholar on friendship that Ponyville had to offer, Twilight's view of the situation had been quite wrong. The athlete and the fashionista had plenty in common, a propensity for feather-brained schemes in particular. Yet, standing just a few feet apart, neither of them knew it.

Fear Of The Fall

by TheVulpineHero1

Chapter 5