Rainbow Dash sighed.
It wasn’t a happy sigh. It wasn’t a sad sigh. It wasn’t a bored sigh.
Sometimes, Rainbow Dash thought, you just had to sigh. Just lean back and let out all your stress for the day. And this was one of those times.
It was a breezy summer morning and Rainbow Dash, the fastest, toughest (up to debate), and coolest (also up to debate) pony in all of Ponyville, was, simply put, enjoying the day. She had cleared the clouds in record time and the weather called for clear skies all day, and so now she took her free time to enjoy her work, soaking up the sun on her favorite tree, much to the annoyance of her apple-oriented earthbound friend.
Rainbow Dash stretched her limbs, grunting as she felt the pop of her joints before settling down across the large branch, enjoying the smell of apples tickling her nose and pretty much every other part of her body.
This. This was what she truly lived for, the pegasus believed, if only for a moment.
“Rainbow Dash, darling! Just the pegasus I wanted to see!” A loud, feminine voice called, attacking Rainbow Dash’s ears and sense of peace. Rainbow Dash yelped and hung on to the branch before she could fall; she was practically an athlete at catching herself from all the times Applejack tried to disrupt her ‘Dash Time’.
The blue pegasus righted herself and groaned, looking down to see her assailant, even though she already knew who it was. “Hi, Rarity.”
The fashionista smiled delightfully; an energetic smile that, ironically enough, clashed with the overall lax attitude the usually far more active pegasus had put on for the day. “I see you’re enjoying your day as well, then?” the unicorn said with a chuckle.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Uh, yeah. Already did my job for the day, and I’m feeling a little sore, so I’m taking the rest of the day for some rainbow time.”
Rarity nodded, still smiling cheerfully. Honestly, it felt like Dash was talking to Pinkie with how... infectious her currently upbeat outlook was. “Of course, of course, darling. I know exactly how you feel! For once I’ve come across an entirely free day in my schedule. Business is doing fine and I’ve just completed my latest designs and sent them over to Canterlot. At first I thought of going to the spa for the rest of the day, but I don’t have an appointment today, let alone somepony to...”
Rainbow Dash sort of faded out of the conversation. She didn’t really mean to; of course not, she loved Rarity. Rarity was one of her best friends. But sometimes there really was nothing to say to the unicorn... and that branch felt so inviting.
...
It took a few minutes for Rainbow Dash to notice that Rarity stopped talking. She probably left in a huff after noticing the pegasus’ lack of interest. It wouldn’t be the first time. Rainbow Dash would just have to apologize later, probably. Maybe bring her one of those chocolates she absolutely hates but loves in that weird fussy Rarity way. Yeah, that’d probably earn her some awesome points back.
As she turned over on the branch she noticed, mid-chocolate-thought, that Rarity was in fact still there. Worse yet, the unicorn was putting most of her attention on Dash herself. “Uh, hi, Rarity.”
Rarity chuckled again. “Hello, Rainbow Dash.” she stated simply, not moving from her spot.
Rainbow Dash frowned. Crud. Did she ask me a question? Uh. Think. Think. You were paying attention. Come on. Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. “So... no spa, huh?”
“No, no spa.” the unicorn responded, shaking her head delicately.
Rainbow Dash grimaced. That didn’t help. She thought of what she could say. She wasn’t made of bits after all, and those chocolates were kinda expensive. “So what are you gonna do all day then?”
Rarity gave another delightful giggle. Rainbow Dash frowned inwardly. I was wrong. This is worse than Pinkie.
“Well, darling, that depends entirely on you, doesn’t it?”
“Er, wha?”
Rarity chuckled yet again, smiling up at her winged friend. “As I’ve said, darling. I would like to spend the day with you. Is there something wrong with that?”
Rainbow Dash blanked out for a second. Wait a second. Spend the day? Like... a date?? With Rarity!? No no no no. I mean yeah she’s pretty but come on! It’s Rarity! And me! “U-uh, oh. And... where did this come from?” the pegasus asked nervously, doing her best to hide amongst the leaves. Sadly, cyan and rainbows tend to stand out from green green and more green.
“Oh, no real reason behind it, dear, I assure you.” Rarity responded, still grinning quite cheerfully.
“Ah... uh, gimme a sec, will you?”
And before Rarity could respond, Rainbow Dash sped off.
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Fluttershy tipped the watering can over, smiling as the flowers in her garden got their water for the day. She was glad Twilight suggested gardening; it really was a great way to just forget about all your worries.
“FLUTTERSHY!!”
At least up until your fast, flying friends tackle you into your flowers. “EEP!! I mean, oh, um, hello, Rainbow.”
“Fluttershy! Help!”
“Oh dear, wh-what’s wrong Ra-”
“It’s horrible, Fluttershy, just horrible!”
“What’s horri-”
“I-I mean, Rarity of all ponies!”
“Rarity? Oh my, did something ha-”
“What do I do? What do I do?! She’ll freak out if I say no and I can’t afford all that chocolate!!”
“Chocolate? Wha-”
“Yeah, you know what, that’s it! This is... just a one time thing, right? I mean, we’d never work out.”
“Oh... oooooh my, did Rarity really as-”
“So that’s it! I’ll say yes, drag her around town a bit, and then she’ll see how terrible I am and we’ll all live happily ever after without chocolate!”
“...Bu-” And then Rainbow Dash sped off back to Sweet Apple Acres.
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Rarity yawned. Just a small yawn. “Goodness, is it really still morning? This day seems to be dragging on...”
She looked up in time to see Rainbow Dash come up on a hard landing right next to her. After flinching and brushing some accumulated dust off of herself, smiling towards the pegasus. “Ah, hello again Rainbow Dash. We really have been seeing a lot of each other this morning, hm?” the unicorn joked.
Rainbow Dash blushed, ever so slightly, taking a deep breath before putting a wing over Rarity’s side. Smooth, Rainbow Dash, smooth. “So, uh, let’s go, then.”
Rarity blinked as she felt those cyan feathers brush over her coat, but smiled nevertheless. “Oh Rainbow Dash, darling. I’m so glad you decided to give this a chance! Where shall we go first?”
The pegasus grimaced. She hadn’t really thought about any of this. “Uh. Well. Erm. Food! I mean, uh, y-yeah, sandwiches! Yeah, that’s it!” Rainbow exclaimed, smiling a little too wide as she embraced the unicorn a little too much with her wing, leading her back to town.
“Oh? Hm, well I suppose it is almost lunch time...” Rarity nodded thoughtfully, keeping pace with the awkward pegasus.
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Rainbow Dash poked at her daisy sandwich, stomach turning for all the wrong reasons this lunchtime. On the bright side of the table, Rarity seemed to be enjoying herself.
“A meal IS always better with good company, is it not?” Rarity joked, sipping the tea she ordered with her sandwich.
“Er, yeah. Good company.” Rainbow Dash repeated, snapping out of her daydream and finally taking a bite out of her food. “So... how’s fashion?”
Rarity blinked. “Well, erm, fabulous I suppose?” the unicorn giggled. “How’s being fast?”
Rainbow Dash blushed, laughing a little herself at that. “Awesome, ‘I suppose’.”
The two friends looked at each other, thoughtfully, before joining each other in pointless laughter.
Rainbow felt much better after that exchange, figuring out that she was actually starving after all and eating her entire meal quickly and eagerly.
“So what next, darling?”
And just like that, she wished that for once she took her time. She had nothing planned after this. And what did Rarity say, the WHOLE day? It was barely noon! “Erm... movie?”
Rarity smiled. “Ah, that’s right! The theatre is having a marathon this week, is it not? What timing!” she exclaimed brightly, stepping out of her seat. “I wonder what they have available today.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. Perfect. We can just chill out in the movies the whole day. I don’t have to do anything, and popcorn bonus!
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It was all going well until they actually reached the theatre. The theme for the day ended up being romantic dramas. Perfect for a date, but absolutely terrible for Rainbow Dash’s current psyche.
“Goodness, that last one was over the top, wasn’t it?” Rarity admitted, trotting out of the theatre.
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash stated in a flat tone, stumbling out of the theatre with images of a pegasus and unicorn doing all sorts of things her father would be ashamed of in her mind. The pegasus shivered.
She felt something warm wrap around her neck, and looked down to see a rather... girly scarf draped around her. “Today seemed like it was going to be a bit breezy, and a lady is always prepared.” Rarity smiled.
For some reason, after watching all those movies, that smile seemed a bit brighter than it did in the morning. Rainbow Dash buried her face in the scarf, mentally slapping and stomping her head to get rid of these thoughts.
Rarity looked up. “Hm. The sun is about to set. What now, then?” the unicorn asked, looking towards her friend.
Rainbow Dash thought. “...I think I know a place.”
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Rarity smiled sweetly, and for once it wasn’t directed towards Rainbow Dash. “Goodness, darling. You were right. This view really is marvelous.” the unicorn commented, leaning up against Rainbow as a breeze brushed through her coat.
Rainbow turned, glad that Rarity wasn’t looking at her. “Yeah. Uh. It’s cool. Y-you know, in a... weird way.”
“You’ve certainly surprised me, dear.” Rarity said suddenly.
“Really? I-is that good?” The pegasus frowned, wings shaking in agitation.
“Well, I suppose. I just didn’t expect you to be such a romantic. I thought for sure you might pass out after that marathon, and to think you would take me to see a sunset.”
Rainbow Dash shuffled her hooves together.
“I suppose I was just expecting something more exciting from your day.”
Dash gulped, face red. “I guess I just wanted you to enjoy yourself, Rare.”
Rarity looked towards the pegasus, a slight frown across her face for the first time that day. “Oh, I did. But this day was supposed to be about you, dear. I wanted YOU to enjoy yourself, and I wanted to be in your company. We hardly ever get together like this without the others. Goodness, I believe I even spend more time with Applejack of all ponies than you.”
“Ah...” Rainbow Dash let out, at a loss.
The unicorn hugged her flustered friend, smiling gently. “I want us to be closer, dear. Friends make other friends happy. So how about next time, we do something you like? And I won’t even complain if it happens to be, ugh, dirty or anything.” Rarity asked, standing up.
“...Yeah, that’d be cool. Awesome, even.” Rainbow Dash stated, her blush lessening as a smile of her own formed.
“Very well, then.” Rarity nodded. “Let’s look forward to another free day like this.” she commented, looking off towards the sunset.
“Let’s.” Rainbow repeated, grinning a little.
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Rarity waved to Rainbow Dash before stepping into Carousel Boutique. Rainbow insisted that they should go to Sugarcube Corner, but Rarity countered by saying that she didn’t want to spoil her appetite or sleep with treats from Pinkie. Rainbow Dash relented and walked her home, keeping the unicorn warm with her wing the entirety of the trip, not once thinking about who might have seen the two ponies, from such different worlds, hanging out.
Hanging out. Was it that or more? Rainbow Dash gripped the scarf that Rarity had loan her. She felt a little guilty, not giving it back when it looked like Rarity forgot about it, but it was so soft, and smelled so nice...
Rainbow Dash shook her head, smirking. “Closer.” And with that, Rainbow Dash flew home, bringing this day to an end.
~END~