//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Out of the Blue // by LightSpectrum //------------------------------// Out of the Blue Chapter 3 "Ouch! Watch it! That hurt!" Rainbow Dash complained for what had to be the umpteenth time that day. Rarity sniffed daintily as she pulled a mother-of-pearl handled brush through Rainbow's mane. "Rainbow Dash," The alabaster unicorn scolded. The pegasus rolled her eyes. "You are going to go on a date, and you need to look nice. I may not be able to make you wear a dress, but at least let me finish your mane! And besides, darling, it wouldn't be such a pain in the plot to wash your mane if you took care of it every day. Your mane is a horrendously tangled, matted, lumpy, prismatic MESS and I'M GOING TO FIX IT!" Rainbow grumbled under her breath for a while. None of the things she said were compliments about Rarity. "And anyways," the unicorn continued. "If I were to stop right now, you wouldn't want to go to your date with a half tangled and half silky mane, it'd look worse than a fully tangled head! And what is the point of that?" Rainbow Dash sighed. "I don't know, but I'm only complaining that it hurts." Rarity sighed dramatically and continued her work. A few minutes later- it felt like forever to Rainbow- Rarity finished her work on Rainbow's mane. Rainbow wouldn't admit it aloud to save her life, but her head felt about 3 pounds lighter. And she looked a lot better. Rarity left the room and returned wih a dress encased in an opaque white plastic bag. "Darling, are you certain that you don't want to wear a dress?" Rainbow was about to reply that she was sure, but her voice stopped dead in its tracks when she saw the dress. It was sleek, rippley, and reminiscent of Greek fashions- and not at all poofy or frilly, which she absolutely hated. Rarity had braided golden ribbons into her mane, and now Rainbow saw why. The shimmery gold matched that of the entire inside lining of the dress- Rarity's homemade silk. Gold ribbons like those in her hair line the bottom of the dress and the neckline, which looked like it would settle comfortably in the middle of her withers. Rarity looked extremely smug. "You like?" Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "...maybe." The unicorn, keeping her proud smile, but toning it down a notch, levitated a necklace over. "This pendant matches." It was a simple, sturdy, thin plated necklace with a ruby the shape and color of the Element of Loyalty. Rainbow secretly thought it was awesome, but still had her doubts. "I like it, I guess, but- I mean, what if he doesn't like it? Or he thinks it's overkill?" Rarity scoffed at the nervous complaints of the inexperienced pegasus. "Oh, he's just the same as any stallion. He'll love it." Rainbow nodded, but she still looked unconvinced. One hour later, a nervous Rainbow Dash paced back and forth at the door of the restaurant. She was afraid he would have forgot, that he didn't like her, that he wouldn't like her dress. She waited for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, a voice made itself heard right next to her perked ear. "Hey," it said. Rainbow jumped about three feet in the air, fluttering her wings with surprise. She settled back down when she saw it was only Soarin. "...oh. Hey." He laughed when he noticed she was startled. Rainbow looked him up and down, and although not completely casual, he also wasn't totally decked out in fancy stuff. Just a simple custom Wonderbolts jacket with the gold lightning bolts and his name on the back, above his number on the squad- although the jacket looked recently dry-cleaned and pressed. He had slightly shined and definitely cleaned off his goggles. She actually felt slightly awkward, because he looked and was acting very smooth and casual, and here she was dressed up all nice and pretty. Rainbow wasn't even sure it was going to be a date in the first place; she had only taken Rarity's word for it. But, being as awesome as she obviously was, she just grinned and acted all nonchalant, and allowed him to gently guide her inside with the tip of his wings. "You look nice, Rainbow." ... "Rainbow?" "Huh? Oh, sorry, I kind of zoned out." Rainbow sheepishly grinned. Soarin returned her smile easily. "I said you looked nice tonight." She turned her head away a bit and tilted it, so her bangs flopped into her face and effectively hid her blush. She turned back to him, trying not to be too obviously bashful. "So... You really like it?" He turned his head thoughtfully. "It's really pretty. I can tell it was skillfully made and it looks very nice on you. Though, now that I think about it, it doesn't really seem like something you would typically wear. You don't have to worry about being fancy, I think you look just fine without all of that fancy stuff." Rainbow tried to figure out the correct the response to that. She ended up shrugging and trying to keep up a pleasant air. "Yeah, my friend Rarity kind of insisted that I dress up. That mare can be very stubborn." Soarin mischievously grinned. "Even more stubborn than the amazing Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow Dash puffed up her chest and tossed her silky mane over her shoulder. "Hey! Nopony is more stubborn than the amazing Rainbow D- wait... HEY!!" She shrieked. She tried to maintain a displeased demeanor, but apparently Soarin found the entire situation to be entirely too hilarious. She playfully whacked his head with her hoof, and he playfully pretended to fall down and get back up, making a big show of dusting himself off with his wings. By the time their meal had been payed for, the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, turning the sky a bright and fluid mix of peachy-coral pink and butter yellow. Soarin walked her outside, and both pegasi were extremely reluctant to say their goodbyes. Soarin rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. "So... Do you want to go for a flight?" Rainbow looked around her, and then back at him. "Um, sure!" The two pegasi lifted off and set towards Rainbow's house at a moderately slow speed. Well, until Rainbow got going a tiny bit faster and got ahead of Soarin. And then he got in front of her, until the two were full on racing. Rainbow speeded ahead of him, squealing and laughing. "LAST ONE THERE IS A ROTTEN LOAD OF HORSEAPPLES AND PONYFEATHERS!" The two pegasi landed on Rainbow's doorstep in a sweaty, quivering heap of feathers and torn fabric. "I think I won," Rainbow added, breathlessly. "We'll, maybe I was just a teensy bit ahead of you." Soarin countered. "Was not." "Was too." "Was NOT!" "Was TOO!" And so on and so forth, until they wrestled and landed in another sweaty heap. Rainbow got up and dusted herself off. "Whew, that was the most fun I've had in a long time, but I really need to go inside and take off this dress." Soarin didn't reply. Rainbow awkwardly pushed the door open, and started to head inside. "Do you wanna... Um, come in?" She awkwardly offered. He looked pained. "I'd love to, but I have a show tomorrow. I really need to rest up." She put on a fake smile and nodded her head a bit too enthusiastically. "Oh, ok. I understand, it's fine. I'm fine, I'm okay, you go and rest." Her grin faltered a little. As he flew off, she kept up her rapidly fading fake smile. "See ya!" He called, looking behind him and waving at her. She waved back. She went inside her house, and plopped her flank on the couch, much like she had the day before. Except this time, she was none too happy. What the hell? She thought to herself. I'm glad I got to spend some time with him, but... I thought... When he draped his wing around me... I must have interpreted it wrong. It was only a friend hug. She collapsed onto her bed, sighing. I guess he didn't like me like that after all. Never mind the fact that he signed that letter with love and asked me out on a sort of date and said I looked nice, he didn't mean any of it. Her final sigh was heavy enough to crush seven elephants in one blow. She rolled over and planted her face into her pillow, and let the tears fall silently. It was not a very good night.