//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7.1 
// Story: How I Became An Alicorn... 
// by ShadowBolt94 
//------------------------------//

(*** AN: I'M NOT DEAD I SWEAR!!!! I had a hell of a time editing all this... but I swear I'm not dead! Yet! I may or may not be later on. But I will post the second part of this chapter shortly. No more two week wait. A day at most. Okay, I'm going to stop talking now, Enjoy.***)
How I Met Your… 
Chapter 7 Part 1: Family Matters

Twilight loved this time of year for a reason, for her it meant family, a warm fire, and no limit to the amount of love in the air. For Spike it meant dressing up in goofy outfits, helping dad with his goofy traditions, and then gorging himself on sweets while he opened presents. They did indeed have very different reasons for liking the holiday but they both loved it all the same. The two of them settled in easily into their old room. They had never minded sharing since the two were inseparable anyways and Spike didn’t really need much room anyways, he just needed his bed space and a trunk for his stuff and he was set. So the fact that the entire room was filled with scattered books everywhere, old research papers, science experiments with blue ribbons attached to each of them, and the occasional old food wrapper from her late night study sessions just laying around didn’t bother him in the least. Actually, if school related material was gems, and this was his horde, Spike would be a very powerful dragon by now. But alas, just like most growing dragons any gems he got were usually eaten right away. 
Spike up in the morning to find, unsurprisingly, a stray research paper in his face. How it hadn’t caught fire with his snoring he didn’t care to know but he flung it aside and rubbed his eyes as he sat up in his bed pushing his covers off him as he stood in his purple footie pajama’s that he swore up and down he didn’t own or wear. He found Twilight missing which wasn’t exactly odd as she did sometimes manage to get up before him, especially around the holidays. He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen where he found Shining Armor and Night Light already eating their breakfast with a plate of gem pancakes waiting for him. Shining, ever the morning person, greeted his baby brother with a grin. 
“Morning sleepy head, I thought I felt the house shaking last night with your snoring, you should really see a doctor about that.” He chuckled as Spike dug into his pancakes and Night poured him a glass of orange juice. His green eyes slid towards his brother as he tried to get over how perky he was in the mornings. 
“For the hundredth time Shining… all dragons snore, it’s a reflex. And being a hybrid doesn’t make me any different.” He mumbled through his pancakes. He swallowed and looked over at his dad. “So where did Mom and Twilight run off to this early in the morning…?”he asked cutting off another chunk as he did so. 
“They didn’t really say, they said they’d send a message later telling us so I guess we’ll find out soon.” Nightlight responded with a shrug as he drank his morning coffee. Spike was bringing the fork to his mouth when he felt his stomach rumble. 
“Oh come o- Buuuuuuuurp!!!” he charred the pancake to dust as green flames erupted from his mouth and formed into a letter. He frowned at the now charred fork and the ashes of the pancake that had once been and tossed the letter to Nightlight to read as he got up to get another fork throwing the old one in a special bin filled with half melted items. 
“Ahem… ‘Dear Dad, Shining, and Spike, Mom and I will be out shopping for most of the day and as such will not be able to get a few things done, Dad I’ve attached a list of what mom need’s done by the time we get home and she hopes you’ll but the boys to good use in doing it. Spike, I’ve also attached my own list of things I need done as well since I won’t have time to do it later. After it’s done you can have a free day. –Love, Twilight and Twilight.’ . . . Well boys, looks like we have quite the day ahead of us…” he said as he unrolled the list and it dropped all the way to his feet. Even Shining Armor groaned. 
Meanwhile at the Canterlot Shopping district: 
Twilight and her mother Twilight Velvet, or just Velvet so as to tell them apart, were sitting in a quaint café enjoying a breakfast of coffee (Twilight’s was decaf.) and a small pile of scones. 
“Do you think we over did it on the ‘keeping them busy’ part…?” Twilight asked her mother curiously after she’d sent the letter with a small spell. Twilight’s mother tapped her chin in thought before she grinned. 
“Nah, they need something to occupy themselves otherwise we come back to find the TV half melted and your father and brother fighting over who’s turn it was to change Spike.” Velvet responded before she sipped her coffee adjusting the scarf around her neck as she did so. 
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at that. “You’re still not going to let them live that down are you…?” 
“Not for all the stars in the sky… now then, what are you getting Spike, and for the love of Faust please do not say a book.” She said with mild scorn in her voice. Twilight winced under her mother’s blue gaze. 
“N-no…! Well… maybe as a side gift, but I’m getting him a gift card for that gaming website he’s always on. He keeps muttering about not ever having points to spend on it and I found out you can buy points in the form of gift cards so I chose that.” She explained as she bit into a raspberry scone. Her mother nodded. 
“That’s perfect because your father and I just got him a new laptop. We figured he’d want to stop using your old one.” She chuckled remembering how he’d been upset when she first gave it to him because it had pink on it. He had quickly covered it up with a large amount of stickers and now one couldn’t even tell the original color of it. Twilight smiled sheepishly and nodded. 
“I think you’re right… What are you going to get dad…?” she asked finishing the scone and moving for her coffee. 
“Hm… you know I hadn’t actually thought about that. He’s pretty hard to shop for since the only thing he ever wants is new clothes or a book… Honestly you two couldn’t be more alike if you tried… But I know what we got Shining~ It should be coming in tomorrow too!” she exclaimed as she pulled out her phone to pull up a picture she’d saved of it. Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw it. 
“That’s an original pre-renaissance French sabre…! How on earth did you find one of these?!” she gasped staring at the picture in awe. 
“Believe it or not your father found it! One of the other professors in the university had found it laying around in his attic and had no idea what it was so he was going around work trying to sell it cheap to get rid of it. Your dad knew what it was and ordered it on the spot. But it was pretty old so we had it sent to a repair shop to be cleaned and it’ll be ready tomorrow…~” she hummed as she pocketed her phone again. 
“Wow… he’s going to flip out and put it on a pedestal to worship it, you realize that right…?” Twilight giggled. Her mother smiled as well. 
“Well at least I know he’ll like it. Come on hun, we’ve got a heck of a lot to get done today and stuff is flying off the shelves faster than we can buy it.” her mother announced as she stood up. Twilight grabbed a scone for the road and joined her mother as she walked out of the café after leaving her money on the table. 
What her mother said ended up being quite true, with school out now the streets were packed with college students and other school aged kids running around trying to get their hands on a last minute present or two. Twilight rolled her eyes. She’d already done the majority of her shopping and it had been online too. They were mostly out right now to catch good deals and pick up some decorations as well. But with her mother she knew that would take all day, perhaps even part of tomorrow. Twilight mentally groaned as she was dragged into a large department store. 
‘Why do the boys get the easy job…?’ she thought while her mother weaved in and out of clothing racks like a snake. ‘I wonder what the shopping is like up in Cloudsdale right now…’ she pondered as her mother started to make her first purchase pile of the day. 
Cloudsdale City, Shopping District A. 4 AM that morning: 
“Mooooooom…! For the last time! I don’t want clothes for Hearth’s warming!!!” Rainbow shouted as she was being dragged into the dressing room of Portes du Ciel, one of the fancier department stores in the upper ring of Cloudsdale. 
“Nonsense Elizabeth darling, what young girl in their right mind DOESN’T want clothing for Hearth’s Warming…?” Shine said as she slid her daughter into the elegant changing room and hung the various dresses and blouses she’d picked out up on the coat hanger. 
“Okay, let me rephrase that: I don’t want any of THIS clothing for Hearth’s Warming! I’d rather have a new track suit or a new pair of those cargo shorts! Hell, I’d take short shorts at this point if it meant I didn’t have to wear THOSE!” she exclaimed pointing at the ‘evil’ articles of clothing her mother always made her get. 
“Elizabeth, how could you possibly call such beautiful outfits un worthy of someone with such a natural beauty to her like you…? You look simply amazing in these every year!” Rainbowshine argued back while she crossed her arms and faced her daughter. 
“I didn’t say I didn’t look nice Mom, I said it’s not my style! We go through this every year! We fight over what YOU want me to wear, I say over and over again that I don’t like wearing them and that I’d rather wear something I pick out, you pull out your ancient Mom mojo and guilt me into agreeing to some small compromise that gives you the majority vote, and we take yet another family photo with me wearing some kind of dress that would make Photofinish and Hoity Toity keel over from pure bliss. BUT, I’m not doing it this year! I’m 14 freaking years old Mom! I can pick out my own clothes!” Rainbow Dash roared back in her mother’s face. 
Rainbowshine was surprised to say the least. Dash was NEVER this vocal with her arguments, she normally just whined a bit and then gave in when her mother activated her ‘Mojo’ as she had called it. Shine couldn’t help but feel a little spark of pride at how her daughter was starting to grow up, in more ways than one. She let a small smile cross her face as she relaxed. “Alright Elizabeth, I’ll let you have this one. But, whatever you pick out I need to approve first. No biker shorts, no studded leather jackets, aviator goggles, or anything you’d wear to that gaudy little mall down on the surface, do I make myself clear…?” she asked her magenta eyes glaring at the younger girl. 
Rainbow’s eyes lit up and her cyan wings spread as she shot up into the air and promptly hit her head on the ceiling. “Ow… Uh- I mean… Of course! Got it! Totally, I won’t look like a street thug I promise!” she exclaimed nodding quickly and grinning ear to ear as she burst out from the dressing room and ran out into the store again to find something of her tastes. Rainbowshine was already regretting her decision as she watched her daughter run into the boys department. 
“This is going to be an interesting holiday season for sure… oh for the love of Celestia, no child of mine is going to be seen in something as gaudy as combat boots…!” she exclaimed as she saw her daughter holding up the shoes in question. “Dash get your hands off those monstrosities…! If you’re going to wear boots get ones that don’t remind me of commander Hurricane PLEASE!” she sighed walking towards her daughter to help. 
Twenty minutes and a lot of bickering between the two later Dash was in the dressing room yet again trying on her own choices this time, her mother waited outside in a chair across from the door messing with her phone in anxiety. Dash grinned as she buttoned up the dress shirt she wore. ‘I can’t believe she’s letting me do this…! Rarity was totally right about just telling her off! I can’t believe that prissy premadona gave me useful advice… oh well, I’ll thank her when we get back to the surface… maybe I should get her one of these dresses as a present… yeah, I think she’d like that. Oh, damn, I’ve been sitting here for a few minutes now not doing anything.’ She realized with a start. She put on the rainbow striped tie that went with it and stepped out of the room her heeled boots clicking as she did so. Her mother looked up when she did so and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw her, the attendants and store clerks that were in the room stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the sole daughter of the Dashington family walk out in a suit designed for a male, but who made it work in all the right ways. 
The outfit itself was simple, she wore black skinny jeans that tucked into her heeled boots that went up to her mid-calf, but the white dress shirt that had it's sleeves rolled up neatly was feminine in the sense that it hugged her and ruffled out a bit towards the end, she wore the multicolored tie loosely around her neck and her patented grin completed the outfit. Her mother was shocked and all the stores clerks quickly took pictures on their phones and uploaded them to their web pages for all to see that Rainbow Elizabeth Francis Dashington, sole heir to the entire Dashington fortune, was spreading her wings and soaring all on her own. And she looked great doing it. 
“Well, are you going to say something or gawk at me like a fish Mom…?” she asked with a small smirk. The comment seemed to snap her mother out of it as she stood up quickly brushing her skirt to smooth it out before she walked over to her daughter and circled her. 
“Impressive, I’ll admit… almost perfect. We just need to have that shirt tailored to you and it’ll be complete, go ahead and change back and I’ll make the appointment with Hoity tomorrow. In the meantime you go on and change back and I’ll-“ 
“Rainbow?!” a soft voice exclaimed from the entrance of the changing rooms. Both Rainbow’s turned to the voice and found Fluttershy standing staring wide eyes at her with her mother and sister at her sides, both grinning after losing the shocked looks. Dash blinked at the sight of her best friend and smiled. 
“Hey Flutters, like the new look? I talked mom into letting me pick this year!” she beamed walking over to her and spinning a bit letting her tie flare out before she stopped and beamed. Fluttershy’s mind was racing and she could feel her cheeks heating up but she hid behind her long pink hair so Dash wouldn’t see. 
“I-it looks… nice.” She whispered praying that Dash hadn’t seen her pink cheeks. Ivy grinned with a gleam in her eye after seeing the exchange. 
‘Operation Flutterdash is ago…’ “Dashie, look you looking all kinds of swank. Didn’t know you even had a sense of style under all that tomboy!” she chuckled as she circled the younger girl like a wolf. Rainbow was by no means shy, that was Flutters’ job, but the way Ivy was eying her it made her squirm. 
“Yeah, well… I’d better go change back so they can ring this up… I’ll be right back.” She stated quickly bolting into her dressing room again. Ivy chuckled again and Fluttershy retracted into her hair more at her sister’s behavior. Sunny walked over her yellow hair shining with the same glow her smile gave off as she addressed her longtime friend. 
“My, My… how times change huh Shiny…? Seems like only yesterday she was blindly obeying your will and now she’s fighting her own battle and winning by the looks of it…” she mused resting a hand on the shorter woman’s shoulder. Shine sighed and lowered her head. 
“I can’t believe I didn’t see that sooner… ME, who’s eye for detail in all things beautiful has everything to do with my destiny, couldn’t even see that my own daughter looks far better in a more masculine style than any of the dresses I’ve ever put her in…! Am I losing my touch Sunny…?” she cried into her friend’s shoulder. Sunnyskies sighed as she patted Shine’s back gently. 
“Not at all Shine, you’ve just never given her the chance to try it is all, how could you have known…?” she reasoned quietly while Ivy went into her own dressing room to try on the outfit she’d picked out and Fluttershy sat in a chair next to the mirrors quietly brooding over her own thoughts. Rainbow emerged just as her mother was getting her senses back and she handed the folded clothes to her before she turned back and sat down next to Fluttershy.
“So what brings you three out here…? Did you forget to get presents like Mom…?” she asked leaning back in her chair. Fluttershy responded by shaking her head. 
“Um… no… well… Ivy did, but Mom just wanted to get out of the house… Oh, and Dad’s here too he just didn’t want to come into the store because he said it felt like his testosterone was draining from him with every step.” She explained with a small giggle. Dash chuckled a bit herself. 
“I know the feeling… places like this aren’t my style either. So is he just waiting outside ready to carry you guys’ bags…?” she asked trying to resist bursting out laughing at the image of the giant carrying bunches of pink bags filled with all kinds of clothes and perfumes. 
“Actually he’s across the street at the weapon’s emporium. He said they just got in a new selection of foreign swords…” she explained looking up from her lap at her friend. Rainbow’s eyes widened at her friend’s revelation. 
“No way! Do you think they have anything pre-equestrian in there?!” she asked sitting up and trying to peek out of the window that was on the other side of the store. Fluttershy giggled again and smiled at her friend’s antics. 
“I don’t really know… you could go look if you-“ but Rainbow had already grabbed her friend by the wrist and was dragging her out of the dressing rooms and towards the front door of the shop. 
“Mom! Me and Flutters are going across the street to see the new swords they have in stock!” she called over her shoulder before she bolted out of the store and ran across the cloud street to the store. Everything in Cloudsdale was made out of clouds, buildings, streets, houses, street lamps, everything. Anything that wasn’t cloud had to be enchanted so it wouldn’t fall through. But that wasn’t an issue since they had the spell stored in a master gem the royal family had given them centuries ago. It had the spell ingrained into it that washed over all of Cloudsdale, allowing any non-cloud object, or un-winged human, to walk on the clouds just like any winged being. This is also why in recent years magic users and even the occasional earth-bounds had moved into the city. Although the mass populace was still Pegasi so it wasn’t all too common. So the pricy swords, daggers, knives, guns, spears, and all kinds of other weapons that decorated the decently sized store stayed put on their cloud walls and shelves. 
But the first thing Fluttershy noticed despite the multitude of weapons was the stuffed game that dotted the walls as well. Rainbow noticed her friend’s uncomfortable nature quickly and saw her staring at the mounted head of a snarling bob cat. She acted quickly and grabbed her arm dragging her away from the game and to where she saw the green haired giant of a man talking with the store owner. Fluttershy quickly rushed forward hugging her father’s large arm since it was about all she could reach on him as long as she stayed on the ground. He blinked in surprise when he saw his daughter but when he saw Dash it made sense and he smiled stroking his daughter’s soft pink hair soothingly. 
“Shhh… hush now little one… no need to get upset, all the animals in this store are fake, they’re made out of polyester and plastic. They were never alive, isn’t that right sir?” he asked staring at the store owner. The owner nodded smiling down at the girl, he looked remarkably young to be the owner. 
“Of course, my father was the big hunter in the family, but I never liked it. So when he passed on and left the store to me I replaced all the game in here with fakes and put the old ones in storage.” He explained. That seemed to make her relax so Rainbow took the opportunity to fly up and examine the swords along the wall behind the register. They were all incased in glass because of their value. 
“Whoa… these are in amazing condition for relics… did you clean and repair them or were they just kept that well…?” she asked turning to the store keeper who’s mark of two lances crossing over a shield was revealed on his forearm as he pushed up his sleeves and flew up beside her his silver wings stirring up a small wind as he did so. 
“A few were just found in pretty good condition, but we had to clean up a lot of them. Here, over here we have our prized piece.” He said motioning her over to the center of the glass case where a sword sat sheathed and hanging on its perch. He unlocked it using a key around his neck and held it gently in his hands. Rainbow’s eyes widened as she saw the inscriptions on it. “The man who brought this in was a professional explorer and he found this in the ruins of an ancient Equestrian city… he said it dates back even further than that though, to before the harsh wars took hold and Equestria was formed. According to the inscription the sword’s name is-“ 
“Xiphos, the sword of the Greek gods, in legends they say it was used to execute those who went against Zeus’ will and it was even used by Odysseus in his quest… H-How in hell’s name did this thing survive through so much, yet alone remain intact as if it were just crafted!” Rainbow asked in astonishment. It was true; the sword itself was in fact completely unchanged by the hands of time. Its surface remained polished and shining, the golden engravings on its surface were still easily seen, it looked very sharp and even odder it didn’t have a single scratch or chip on it. The sheath looked old but it was still in very good condition as well, the worst to it was the thick layer of dust that had been cleaned off of it. The store owner smirked and tapped the engravings with his finger. 
“The engravings on this are an ancient form of runes. They protect this sword from the hands of time and ensure it will never be damaged. And because it was made using the fangs of ancient dragons it could cut through diamond like butter. The sheath, likewise, was made using a dragon’s scales; the only thing the teeth can’t penetrate. All together it’s probably one of the only sword, beside the one Princess Luna herself carries, that could be worthy of a god… or goddess.” He explained as he sheathed it. 
Rainbow’s eyes lit up. “How much for it?” she asked excitedly. The shop keeper blinked in surprise. 
“Ma’am, this isn’t for sale… it’s a priceless artifact.” He explained. Rainbow’s magenta eyes stared at him like he was a child who didn’t understand her. 
“And I’m Rainbow Dashington, my entire family has been collecting ‘Priceless’ artifacts since Equestria’s FOUNDING. But the one thing that we DON’T have is a pre-equestrian dated sword like THIS.” She explained gesturing to the sword. The man blinked in surprise but still shook his head. 
“I’m sorry Miss Dashington, but this one isn’t for sale. The curator of the Equestrian History Museum in Canterlot will be by on Monday morning to collect it for their exhibit on Pre-equestrian history.” He explained as he placed it back inside its case and locked it. Rainbow’s wing’s drooped and she lowered herself back to the ground. Fluttershy gave her a small smile. 
“Cheer up Rainbow Dash, you could have a replica of it made and-“ 
“NO! Replicas aren’t good enough ‘Shy! All of the artifacts in our hall are legitimate. We don’t do replicas!” Rainbow explained as she shook her head. She sighed and decided to look around at the other swords but didn’t seem to be into any of the others. Fluttershy watched her with growing worry and her eyes kept darting to the sword and back at Rainbow. Her father saw this and smiled at her before he leaned down to whisper into her ear. 
“Want me to make some calls…?” he asked gently. Her sea green eyes darted over to Rainbow one last time before she nodded. 
“Mhm… and could you do it quickly please…? I’ll distract her in the meantime.” She whispered back. Her father nodded and pulled out his cellphone as Fluttershy walked over and tugged on Rainbow’s sleeve. Fluttershy had always been taller than her but this had been a habit of hers since they were little. Dash looked over at her slightly agitated, probably a mix of being up so early and her frustrations with being un able to buy the sword. “Do… do you want to go get breakfast…?” she asked knowing the prospect of food usually cheered her up. Rainbow thought for a moment before she nodded her agitation fading away. 
“Yeah… I guess I could use some grub. Come on, there’s this cool looking café on the next block over I wanted to try out.” She said taking Fluttershy’s hand and pulling her out of the store. Fluttershy was used to being dragged around like this but for some reason it made her heart skip a beat this time. This had been happening a lot lately. She wondered if it had something to do with the growing pains she’d been having lately. She knew according to the thousands of books she’d read on biology and human anatomy that her body was changing at last, so it wasn’t unreasonable to think that her heart would undergo changes as well. She blamed it all on biology and shoved her doubts to the back of her mind as they came to the café entrance. Fluttershy’s eyes widened a bit at the name. 
“I-is this… a maid café…?!” she exclaimed as they stood in front of it. Rainbow rolled her eyes. 
“Pfffft, nah, this is an all-around otaku café! Luna told me about it and said the food here was great so I wanted to try it out!” she explained beaming from ear to ear. Fluttershy looked like she wanted to crawl in a closet and die. Her face was completely red and even her ears were burning. Rainbow couldn’t help but smirk a bit at the sight. “Awww, it’s okay Flutters, if you don’t want to eat here I won’t make you…” Fluttershy looked up hopefully. 
“Really?!” 
“Nope, now come on!” Dash shouted as she pushed her friend into the café grinning from ear to ear. It was so much fun to make the shy girl so thoroughly embarrassed. And it seemed to be getting easier and easier nowadays. They sat down at a table in the surprisingly busy café and their waitress walked up to them in a short school girl’s uniform her bright pink wings half folded at her sides and her white and red hair tied up in curl twin pigtails.
“Hello and welcome to Love-Love Café, where we make all your otaku dreams into a reality…! My name is Cherryblossom and I’ll be your server today. What can I get you two lovebirds to drink this morning…?” she asked smiling at them her blue eyes sparkling excitedly. She reminded Rainbow of Pinkie and just scared Fluttershy senseless. Rainbow looked at her menu. 
“Yeah, uh, I’ll take a glass of orange juice and she’ll have your herbal tea.” She told the waitress. She walked off skipping a bit as she did so. Rainbow looked back across the small table at Fluttershy who seemed to be deeply studying her menu and trying to hide her bright red face behind her wall of pink hair. “Do you know what you want yet Flutters…?” she asked as she scanned the menu herself. 
Fluttershy squeaked a little as her eyes peeked up over the menu at her friend. “I-I… think I’ll get the strawberry pancakes…” she murmured. To anyone around them it probably sounded like she didn’t say anything at all but to Rainbow she heard it loud and clear. 
“Hmmm… that doesn’t sound too bad. Although those omelets look awesome.” She thought aloud as she ran her eyes over the menu. With her not paying attention Fluttershy glanced up from a menu her face still bright pink. It now wasn’t the fact that they were in such a café that was getting to her, but the pure notion that the waitress had thought they were lovers. 
Fluttershy had nothing against gays, she thought they deserved just as much right to love as everyone else. But she had never thought about BEING gay. She had always seen herself marrying some handsome Prince Charming one day and having a wonderful little family together, or living happily with her friends at her side in a little cottage on the surface with her own animals to keep her happy. She had never thought about falling in love with another girl, yet alone Rainbow Dash who was practically her sister. She wondered what Rainbow thought about it. She had certainly never seen her attracted to a boy. In fact the only male Rainbow had even had the foggiest attraction to was Soarin of the Wonderbolts. And that was more of a fan-girl crush than anything else. But she had also never seen Rainbow attracted to a girl either. Well... her relationship with Applejack was questionable and Pinkie was often affectionate towards her, but she was with everyone so that didn’t really count. 
Across the cafe a woman with white and dark green streaked hair sat with her parka buttoned up all the way, a fedora hat shading her deep green eyes, and a white scarf covering her neck and mouth as she sipped her steaming cup of coffee watching the pair from afar but listening to their every word. 
Rainbow noticed her friend had been quiet for a while and looked up to see her staring at her intently. Rainbow knew that look all to well and smiled a bit. “Got your thinking cap on a bit to tight huh...?” she asked setting her menu down and resting her chin in her hand. Fluttershy squeaked and blushed as she looked at her lap again.
“S-sorry Dash... I was just a bit caught up in my thoughts.” She explained. Rainbow smiled at her and was about to respond when the waitress came back with their drinks. 
“Okay you two, I’ve got a nice cold glass of orange juice for the colorful haired beauty, and a steaming hot cup of Herbal tea for the shy little uke.” She said setting the cups down as she did so. Rainbow smiled at her slightly. “Now, are you two ready to order or do you need a few more minutes...?” she asked taking out a notepad. Rainbow held up her menu and looked through it once more. 
“Yeah, I’ll take the Ham and cheese omelet and... you said strawberry pancakes Flutters...?” she asked her friend. The shy girl nodded and Cherryblossom squealed a bit as she wrote down the order. 
“Kawaiiiiiii~~~ Okay, I’ll have both those orders right out.” She mused as she skipped off. Rainbow looked back to find her friend blushing like crazy. 
“Whoa... is that tea to hot for you or are you seriously embarrassed by that girl calling you cute...? Or was it that she called you an uke...?” Fluttershy made a small squeaking noise when she said that and Rainbow chuckled a bit. “Well you are you know, it’s not like you’d ever be assertive enough to top-“ she was cut off by Fluttershy promptly covering her mouth and her friend to peek out from behind her wave of pink hair her face bright red and her butter yellow wings flared out in surprise. 
Ivy almost stood up quickly when she saw her baby sister in distress but restrained herself knowing that Dash was more than capable of handling her if she got too bad.
“P-please... stop... I don’t know how much more I can take...” she said her breathing getting raspy. Dash’s eyes softened and she closed her mouth as Fluttershy took her seat again. Rainbow knew a lot about Fluttershy’s medical history and quickly took her breathing as a bad sign. 
“You need the inhaler...?” she asked softly. Fluttershy held up a finger as she took in a few more deep breaths and regulated her breathing back to normal. 
“N-no... I’ll be fine now...” she said once she was back to normal. She folded her wings against her back again and relaxed in her chair. Rainbow eyed her carefully. 
“If you say so... so, what were you thinking about so deeply...?” she asked taking a sip of her OJ. She enjoyed it since Applejack didn’t ever buy anything besides apple juice. Seriously did that girl EVER get tired of apples...? 
Fluttershy avoided her friend’s gaze again. “Oh... well... I just... Rainbow... what do you think of me...?” she asked quietly, but her face was serious despite the forming blush. Rainbow Dash blinked for a few seconds. 
Ivy edged forward on her seat anticipating the reaction Dash would give, her green eyes flashing brightly as she crossed her fingers.
Dash tapped her chin in thought. “I think you’re an amazing girl who’s way too kind for her own good, but uses that same kindness to treat idiots like me with enough patience to rival Celestia... you’re also cuter than a box of kittens and cooler than all the Wonderbolts put together. And whatever lucky bastard gets you had better be grateful for it or I’ll kick his ass to Faust’s gates and back.” She responded with a firm nod as if to finalize her statement. 
Ivy gave a small fist pump in the air and waited for her sister to respond. 
“O-oh... I don’t really think I’m all that... cooler than the Wonderbolts...?” she asked quietly her face heating up more and more as she thought about it. 
“Totally. Though, if you ever tell anyone I told you that I’ll tell them about our first sleep over.” She countered. Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she nodded quickly. She then carefully took a sip of her tea as Rainbow continued. “So... what do you think of me...?” Fluttershy only resisted spitting out her drink from years of etiquette training with her mother. Dash looked away slightly. “Not that I really care… but… just for reference purposes… what am I like to you…?” she asked in something that almost sounded worried. 
Fluttershy smiled as she set her cup down on its plate and tucked her hair behind her ears revealing both of her bright sea green eyes. 
Ivy was literally on the edge of her seat anticipating her sister’s response. 
“I think you’re-“ 
“Annnnnd, we have one order of strawberry pancakes and a large ham and cheese omelet for the two lovely ladies.” A male waiter said as he set the dishes in front of the girls. 
“OH COME ON!” Ivy exclaimed nearly knocking over her table as she stood up. Half the café stared at her before she quickly sat back into her seat and emerged herself in the newspaper to hide herself from their stares. Rainbow and Fluttershy turned their attention back to each other. 
“You were saying…?” Rainbow asked as she picked up the fork that had come with the plate. Fluttershy however had retracted back into her shell having lost the fleeting moment of confidence she’d had. 
“N-never mind… I’ll tell you some other time…” she said from behind her wall of pink hair. Rainbow made a face. 
“That’s no fair… I tell you but you chicken out of telling me…?” Rainbow sighed as she cut into her omelet. Fluttershy quickly went into a frenzy of panic. 
“I’m so Sorry Dashie…! I-I’ll make it up to you somehow! I-I could help you with that English assignment you have! O-or I could help you with your flying regimen a-and… and you’re just messing with me again aren’t you…?” she sighed noticing the growing smirk on her friends face. 
Dash forked a piece of her omelet and brought it to her lips with a devilish smirk. “What was your first hint Flutterby…?” she snickered using the nickname her sister had given her when she was an infant. Fluttershy’s face reddened at the sound of her pet name and buried her face in her hands. Muttering something as she did so. Dash swallowed and moved her ear a bit closer to her. “Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.” She said. Fluttershy looked up a small gleam in her eyes. 
“I said you’re a meanie Blitzie…” she replied in a cool even tone. Rainbow Dash’s blood ran cold. 
“Where did you hear that name…?” 
“From your Mother the last time she went out drinking with mine… she told me all about how you were supposed to be a boy and they called you their little Blitzie until the day you were born… I thought it was really cute actually…” she giggled her eyes shifting more blue than green as she did so, a sure sign she was in a more mischievous mood. Dash quickly narrowed her gaze. 
“I still have the sleepover incident on my side.” Rainbow Dash countered quickly. 
“And I have the weekend in Manhattan.” 
“. . . And I have the summer trip to the lake…! That’s recurring so it counts for all seven years!” 
“As does the times Gilda kicked you out of your cabin in camp and I had to take you into mine so you wouldn’t freeze outside. That’s another seven for me.” She countered back as she cut up her syrup covered pancakes. 
“Wha- I- that doesn’t- . . . !!!” Dash stammered before she slammed her head against the table repeatedly to clear it. Fluttershy examined her fork full of food before making one last jab at her. 
“And three was also the first week of high school when you thought there was a shadowbolt outside your window so you slept in my room while Rarity was out and we woke up in-“ 
“Okay!!!! Stop! You win! Just don’t finish that sentence…!” she exclaimed holding out her hand to halt her. Fluttershy smiled a bit and bit into her pancakes victoriously. She swallowed and purred a little in content. 
“The princess was right, this IS really good food~!” she hummed as she cut off another bite. Rainbow groaned as she buried her face in her hands. 
“You know… sometimes I really regret having someone who knows me better than I do for a best friend…” Dash sighed as she resumed eating her food. 
Ivy took this opportunity to exit the café being sure to pay for her coffee and leaving a generous tip as well. 
“Looks like those two don’t even need my help with this… I just need to wait it out… even if it takes a few more years to develop properly, I can see there’s already little love seeds between them… now to find out about these Applejack and Rarity characters. Her special talent may have been playing the piano like a musical goddess, but she also had a keen ability to spot a potential couple from a mile away. And these two names screamed at her.