Rainbow Blitz was athletic, energetic, confident, brave, all-around dashing. He was one of the best friends Dusk had and was the most loyal and dependable pony Dusk knew. Dusk Shine had to remind himself of those things as he walked down the street with Rainbow singing:
"We gonna get you laid! We gonna get you laid!" as he flew behind him, darting back and fourth in foalish glee. The entire ordeal was humiliating enough to Dusk Shine, now his friend was advertising it to the world.
"Please," he whisper-begged his friend, "for the love of Solaris, let's... let's forget about all this, okay?"
Blitz shook his head. "We got a lota work ahead of us. What would you ever do without me?" he asked, hovering over him.
Dusk turned to the ground. "Probably make Barbs the new Rainbow Blitz," he muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Blitz asked.
"Hey!" Dusk changed topics. "Let's... let's go to the library instead! There could be single mares there!" Dusk Shine now put on a show of enthusiasm in the vain attempt to redirect his friend's attention to other activities.
"The library? Lame. Nice try, though."
"I'll get you the latest copy of Go Gallant!"
Blitz grabbed his friend by the cheeks, holding his mournful, tear-eyed face in his hooves. "Time. For. Flank," he replied to Dusk. He then grabbed Dusk Shine by the tail and proceeded to drag him down the road.
"Noooooooooooooo!!!" Dusk yelled as his hooves were dragged through the dirt.
Elusive was a colt with an eye for detail. He examined every stitch on every outfit and although he knew when to stop, he was something of a perfectionist. The fashion designer took pride in everything he did, every seam and piece of cloth that graced his hooves he strove to make a masterpiece. And he enjoyed a challenge. Speaking of, a challenge was about to literally knock on his door.
"Hmm, somepony at the door, Quartz?" Elusive noticed his cat looking out the window. The cat mewed in response and the door was punctuated with a string of three knocks. He got up from his sewing table and walked to the entrance.
"Rainbow Blitz!" Elusive said, opening the door for his friend. "How fantastic it is to see you, good sir! Whatever can I do for you?"
"Lusi, it's good to see you, too. Listen," Rainbow Blitz pulled up Dusk Shine by the tail, holding the frightened-looking colt in midair. "We need to do something with this."
Elusive turned his head to meet Dusk Shine's eyes. "Hi, Elusive," the purple colt greeted him, sounding equally frightened and discomforted. Dusk Shine knew Elusive. He knew Elusive was a colt of refinement, a stallion of style, grace and integrity above all else. The most generous pony Dusk knew, Dusk saw a way out for a moment. Elusive would advocate caution and respect for mares, he would never support an impromptu quest for random tail! He could derail this whole thing right now!
"Hello, Dusk. Whatever is Blitz talking about?" Elusive asked.
Dusk brought his hooves to the ground to stand on all fours. "Well, Rainbow Blitz was talking about how we don't know any girls around here and we needed to go and do something about that. Crazy, am I right?" he said, trying to gather some sympathy for his cause. Rainbow Blitz's expression didn't change but he folded his hooves as he hovered.
"Hmm," Elusive said, thinking. He'd never go for this. There's no way Elusive, the stallion who defined what it meant to be a gentlecolt would ever-
"He does have a point."
"What?!" Dusk asked, shocked his classy friend would agree.
"He's right. We all could stand getting in touch with the... feminine side."
"Exactly!" Blitz agreed. "And do to do that, we could use some new threads."
Elusive raised an eyebrow. "Guys' night out planned, I presume?"
"Oh yeah. Gonna strike every spot until we hit plot!" Rainbow declared, slapping Dusk on the backside as he did so. The purple colt's eyes went wide and he felt his stomach jump into his throat.
Elusive's eyes just narrowed. "Splendid," he said slyly as a mischievous grin spread over his face. "It just so happens, I've just finished some new styles that I think might be alluring to the opposite gender. A-this way, gentlecolts." The white stallion led them inside.
Dusk tried one last time to get Rainbow to reconsider. "Blitz, do we really-"
Rainbow sighed heavily, interrupting his friend. "Look Dusk, you don't have to come if you don't want to. But come on bro, you're young, you got the world ahead a ya and you're spending too much time in doors."
Dusk had to admit his friend was right. Slowly, his discomfort at the situation was turning into regret that he hadn't attempted to find... female companionship sooner. And here was an opportunity right here. His friend was trying to help him. How could he turn him down?
"You can go back home if you want to. I'll get Bubble Berry and the others and we'll start a party. But I'M going out tonight. Look between my legs and you'll find the bluest part of me," Rainbow said as he followed Elusive.
"Wait," Dusk Shine raised a hoof to stop him. "I'll go too. You're right... this will be good for... me."
Rainbow turned, raising an eyebrow. "You're not gonna just mope around all night? Cuz no mare likes that."
"No, I'm... looking forward to it. It's... It's going to be fun. We're going to be together and it will be fun," Dusk said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.
"We're going to get tail, dude," Rainbow added/corrected him.
"That's, that's right."
"I wanna hear you say it," a smile spread over Rainbow's face.
"We're gonna get... tail," Dusk said, reluctantly but finally the words came.
Blitz frowned. "We'll work on that later."
"Gentlecolts, showtime," Elusive called to them. Dusk followed Blitz further into Elusive's boutique and into the studio. Dusk noticed several designs in various stages of completion strewn about through the work area. Sheets of fabric, rolls of materials in different forms and colors were stuffed into storage bins around the sewing table. Part artist, part architect, Dusk knew Elusive put everything into his designs and personalized each to meet his customers' style and needs. Elusive had crafted clothes for Dusk before but not for something like this. Dusk wondered what the designer had in store for him this time.
The white colt led the two into a smaller room at the back of the studio, like an auxiliary closet. Elusive flipped a switch and the lights turned on.
"I was saving these designs for a rainy day... or in this case, a dry spell." Blitz and Dusk examined the various outfits hanging from racks that lined the walls. Dusk noticed a little dust in the room.
Blitz moved closer, examining a dark blue body suit of some sort that apparently had a pair of goggles to go with them.
"Where'd you get this?" he asked Elusive, holding up the hooves of the outfit.
"Oh, that," Elusive walked over. "That's something I was just experimenting with at one time. I might go back to it at some point but-"
"I like it!" Blitz proclaimed.
Dusk chuckled. "Is it Everfright Evening again already? Or are you planning on picking up mares posing as captain of the Wonderbeams?"
Blitz frowned. It did look like a Wonderbeam costume, worn only by Equestrion's premier flying team. While it was Blitz's dream to join the Beams, Dusk was right; it would look a little awkward trying to talk to girls wearing a costume.
"You uh, you might be right. Let's keep looking," Blitz said. The three continued searching for the right outfit through the various styles. Rainbow had the distinct feeling that Elusive had been designing clothes like these for years and had simply been storing them in this back room. Blitz wasn't a fashion expert but he was pretty sure bell bottoms hadn't been worn by anypony in Ponyburg in at least a few decades.
Dusk examined a dark blue outfit with yellow stars covering the surface. "This looks nice," he remarked, brushing some of the dust off it.
"You're not going out wearing pajamas," Blitz said, looking at his purple friend's choice.
Dusk looked back to the outfit. "But these aren't pajamas. The fabric's clearly made of-"
Blitz facehooved. "Lusi, please, help this colt."
"Not to worry good sirs," the white stallion said striding by. "We'll find something to accommodate both of you that will leave the ladies stunned."
"Stunned in a GOOD way," Blitz clarified. "Not at our lack of fashion sense." The two ponies pulled through piece after piece of clothing as they searched for the perfect outfit. Dusk turned to the star-spangled design he'd chosen. Maybe he could use another pair of pajamas while they were here.