The party was in full swing, and Rainbow Dash wasn’t having fun. Probably because Rarity was having too much fun.
“Mm, your chest fluff is so silky smooth, darling.” Rarity purred as she toyed with said chest fluff.
Dash fought back a blush and glanced around the room. Streamers of violet, white, and light blue hung from every corner of the room, while matching balloons bobbed up and down around the dance floor with the sea of ponies surrounding them. Pinkie had done an awesome job, as always, but Rainbow wondered if Rarity had even noticed all the effort.
“Rarity, you’re embarrassing me!” Rainbow hissed. This was not good.
Rarity snorted and waved around an empty punch glass. “Nonsense! The world deserves to know of your chest fluff!” She hiccupped and snuggled closer into the pegasus’ breast.
Rainbow sighed. She’d seen Rarity get tipsy before, but this… she’d never seen anything like this. But she wasn’t scared or anything. The word “scared” wasn’t even in Rainbow’s vocabulary! She was just… uncomfortable. Everypony got uncomfortable sometimes, right?
“Everypony! Are you ready to get fabulously funky?” Pinkie shouted across the room. Roars of approval and hoots of laughter from the dance floor below met her in response, and Pinkie grinned. She signaled to Vinyl Scratch, who nodded and placed a hoof on her soundboard.
The lights overhead dimmed as Pinkie picked up the mic. “Then let’s get this party started!”
Happy shouts and hoofstomps were drowned out by a pounding violin and electric piano tune. Rarity swayed and jerked against Rainbow’s chest, nearly in time with heavy beat ringing throughout Sugarcube Corner. There was a tickle; Rarity was saying something into the fluff that Dash, even with her better-than-average hearing, could not understand.
Great.
“Rares, you, uh… you wanna sit down somewhere?”
Furious nodding into chest fluff.
“Okay, let’s sit down over there. Away from the punch.” Rainbow dragged a sputtering Rarity across the room. Sure, she probably didn’t have to stick to the walls, away from all the other ponies, but that’s what friends did, right? Best friends, at least.
Rainbow rested the unicorn onto a cushioned chair, out of the action on the dance floor and propped up her head. Rarity’s hoof appeared to be gripping something, and Dash’s jaw dropped.
“You, uh…” Dash gulped. “You found some more drink, did ya?” Curse Applejack and her damned cider! She hadn't even seen the mare pass by.
“Ooh, my, yes! I really don’t know how Applejack does it, but this zap apple cider is to die for!” Rarity attempted to place a hoof across her forehead, but smacked herself in the face with a cry of pain.
Dash tried not to groan. Of all the nights that this had to happen, it had to be tonight. Though…
To be fair, it was Rarity’s birthday, and she had actually showed up without any stunning outfits or accessories or anything. Rarity was a normal pony tonight, and, well… normal ponies did get drunk, Rainbow supposed.
Rarity perked up. “Rainbow Dash! Come here.”
“I’m standing right here!” Rainbow was met with a pout. “Okay, okay.” She plopped herself down on an adjacent chair, turned towards Rarity. “Better?”
Rarity smiled, and Dash felt herself to start to sweat. This wasn’t a smile between friends. This was a smile she’d seen Rarity pull on Trenderhoof, and Blueblood before him. But that was crazy, it couldn’t be that she—
Could it?
Rarity was saying something. “...please, I have to tell you something! It’s important!” she all but hissed. Her eyes gleamed with something Rainbow couldn’t quite place.
Dash gulped. “Uh… what do you want, Rarity?” she asked, bracing herself for some horrible response. Surely Rarity wouldn’t do anything… bad. Not at her own party!
“Hmm…” Rarity smiled. “Another drink. But first!” She motioned for Dash to come closer, and the reluctant pegasus shuffled up. “Oh, come now, I don’t bite…”
Rainbow leaned in, and Rarity cupped her hooves around Dash’s ear. Rainbow was definitely sweating. How was Rarity even this close to her without needing to wash her hooves?
“Like I said, Rainbow…” Rarity whispered. It was getting warm in here, wasn’t it? Surely it wasn’t just Dash. No, Twilight probably adjusted the temperature for “optimal party conditions” or something egg-headed like that. That had to be it.
Rarity’s breath sent shudders down Dash’s spine. “I don’t bite… hard.”
Warmth blossomed over Rainbow’s face and refused to leave. She was absolutely sure her coat was an awful combination of blue and bright red, but she didn’t care. This… this felt good. This was a good feeling, she told herself. Hadn’t this been what she’d wanted for a while? So why did it feel so unsatisfying?
Oh no, Rainbow thought. What if…?
Rarity couldn’t have known the same was true about Dash, right? That Rainbow felt the same way? Or did she? Rainbow groaned to herself and buried her face in her hooves. What was she going to do now? She couldn’t just tell Rarity!
But what if she already knew? What if it was all a clever setup the entire time? No, Rainbow Dash knew when she was in danger; it was her middle name, after all. She, like most pegasi, had a severely biased tendency in the “fight or flight” response, and that was to book it as fast as she could in any direction away from the danger, safety be damned!
But on the other hoof, she couldn’t just leave Rarity here by herself, not when no one was watching. Not when Rarity had...
Well, not when Rarity had just confessed. She might take it as a “no,” and that’s not what Rainbow wanted. She needed some distraction, some way of saying “great but not right now could I sleep on it a bit and get back to you thanks.” One full, fluid thought that would get the point across in a good way.
And so, without much fanfare or forethought on Rainbow’s part, the guests at Sugarcube Corner could now see clearly into the night sky through the ceiling, courtesy of one Sonic Rainboom.
Rarity, of course, had fallen asleep.