//------------------------------// // Boutique or Bust // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// “Nnngh! Gnngh!” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she fussed with the saddlebag around her midsection. “Get in there--Mmmf!” At last, with a final shove, she managed to cram the last of her ruined Gala dress into her lightning-bespeckled satchel. “Whew.” Standing on the edge of a Ponyville rooftop, she stretched her wings and prepared to leap. Pausing, she glanced at her forelimb and flexed the stiff thing at the first joint again. A slight wince stretched across her muzzle, but she dissolved it with a sigh. Two… four… eight flaps of her wings, and she easily took off, slicing her way through the brisk morning air of a beautiful March day. “Morning to ya, Rainbow Dash!” Mr. Cake said as he beat a rug clean at the back door of Sugarcube Corner below. “Nice to see that you’re back!” “Uh… y-yeah!” Rainbow Dash gave him a half-hearted salute as she breezed by. “It’s good to be back…” “Hello, Rainbow Dash!” Cheerilee waved from a downtown market vendor selling lettuce heads and celery stalks. “Returned from the Gala in one piece, I see!” “Oh… you bet!” Rainbow smiled crookedly in mid-flight. “Did you have a good time?” “Totally!” Rainbow blinked awkwardly as her body fell into a low, limp glide. “At least… I think so.” She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice herself plunging towards the ground until her tummy brushed against several blades of grass. Grunting, she flapped her wings and pulled back to rooftop level. “Look, I’ll chat you up another time, teach! I got… uhm… stuff to do!” “Heheh… well, alright, Rainbow Dash! I wanna hear all about it!” As Rainbow’s sleek shadow crossed the grassy knolls and dirt roads of Ponyville, several more ponies called out and waved to her. “Hey! Rainbow Dash!” Bon Bon chirped as she leaned out the window of her cottage. “Way to go! A ticket to the Gala, huh?!” The mare giggled as the pegasus flew beyond earshot. “You and your pals had the chance of a lifetime! Hope you enjoyed it!” ”What is everypony’s deal this morning?” Rainbow muttered to herself as she circumnavigated the tall cylindrical shell of Town Hall. ”Did chuckle gas vents open up in the earth overnight?” ”Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” A young colt stood on a wooden box at a street corner, handing out freshly printed newspapers to citizens trotting up with golden bits in their mouth. ”Grand Galloping Gala Turns into Monumental Mayhem! Read about how the Party of the Year became the Crash of the Century!” Rainbow’s ruby eyes pinballed against one another. She drifted into a slumped hover. Bulbs of sweat forming along her brow as her twitching ears caught mumbling voices from down below. ”My goodness. Did you read that article?” ”No, but I heard about it. An entire royal ballroom reduced to a smoldering battlefield!” ”And all those poor, endangered wildlife that ran amok!” ”I hear the Wonderbolts were requested to assist in rounding up the escaped turkey vultures.” ”Poor Captain Spitfire had to call out of her next airshow!” ”That doesn’t compare to what happened in downtown Canterlot over the next two days.” ”No? What happened?!” ”Well, let me put it this way. They’re still having to put out the flames.” Rainbow Dash turned her head and glanced down. “Wut.” Bonk! She slammed dead-center into a dark-brown ponyquin. “Oof!” Like a ping-pong ball, she rattled down the decorated face of the Carousel Boutique and landed muzzle-first in the flower garden right beside it. Thud! “Rainbow, Dassssh!” Rarity musically cooed. She was squatting beside a miniature wagon full of potted petunias and was presently patting the first of many plants into the earth with a firm slap of a garden shovel. “How sweet of you to drop in! I could certainly use the company as I tend to my little darlings here.” “Mmmf-rmmmf-hhhhhfffmgh!” Rainbow Dash bellowed as her tail flailed like an army banner. “I beg your pardon?” Rarity adjusted the shades on the tip of her muzzle. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to speak up, darling.” “Muaaah!” Rainbow yanked her head out of the earth. Several daisies, tulips, and clumps of dirt clung to her ears and bangs. “Rarity! You’re… you’re…” She squinted. “Gardening?” “I most certainly ammm!” “Just how long have you been up?” “For quite some time. It is eleven o’clock, after all.” Rarity hummed to herself as she planted another set of petunias. “Why, how long have you been up?” Rainbow Dash bit her lip to fight back the blushing. “Oh. Pffft. You know me. Heh…” She swatted her left ear, knocking seedlings and clumps of soil out the other. “Pegasus weather flier! Gotta be up, bright and early!” She chewed on the end of her lip. “Emphasis on the ‘bright’ part--” “Hold that thought!” Rarity gasped, lifting her hooves up at perpendicular angles to place a “frame” over the sight of Rainbow Dash. A sharp, dainty inhalation: “I just got the most inspiring idea!” She grinned as her sparkly blue eyes reflected Rainbow’s flower-strewned scalp. “Blue Pegasus in Bloom! Oooh! I just know that would make the most perfect cocktail dress!” “What’s this about cocks, tails, and dresses?” “Oh, Rainbow Dash, don’t ruin the moment.” Rarity’s eyes coyly fluttered. “It’s not everyday that a pony gets to see you with flowers in your mane. They do accentuate your natural beauty most exquisitely.” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash turned cock-eyed, then frowned. “Darn it!” She knocked the petals loose from her hair. “I don’t do the whole ‘pretty pony’ thing!” “Hmmm, of course you don’t, darling. Nevertheless…” Rarity floated more petunias in place and packed them into the earth. “What brings you speeding so eagerly towards my front door? And please don’t say ‘inertia.’ I swear, I am in no mood for bland pegasus humor.” “I… uh…” Rainbow Dash looked shakily over her shoulder. After a nervous gulp, she allowed a few muffled verbs and consonants to limp out of her mouth. “Don’t mumble, dear. It’s terribly rude.” “I… I-I said I… wondered if y-you might be able to fix something for me.” “Heh! Now that’s quite the thought!” Rarity smirked while flicking her garden shovel from side to side. “Of course, you do know that I only fix dresses and gowns, Rainbow.” “Right.” Rainbow gulped, then opened the flap to her satchel. “My Gala Dress. Perhaps you could… y’know… stitch it up for me?” Rarity’s telekinesis fluctuated as the garden shovel fell to the floor. The unicorn looked over quizzically. She pulled the glasses down to the edge of her nose and droned, “The dress.” “Right.” “You would… want me to fix your dress.” “Uh huh.” Rarity glanced at the sky, then back at the pegasus of a matching color. “And that is what brought you here in such a Celestia-forsaken hurry?” “Well… we don’t have to j-just work on the dress!” Rainbow said in a cracking voice. “We could, y’know, chew the fat!” “Rainbow, a lady doesn’t ‘chew’ on any ‘fat.’” “Pfft!” Rainbow waved a hoof and rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean!” She smirked. “Just sit and gab! Talk about stuff! Like… the weather! And Twilight’s magic! And how totally awesome our weekend at Canterlot was!” After that, she fidgeted, then leaned towards Rarity with a suspicious glare. “You… uh… do remember what happened during the Gala and after… r-right?” “Difficult to forget, darling, and I must admit that my mind and body are still reeling.” Rainbow glanced down at her squirming hooves. “Oh.” “But, first thing’s first!” Rarity planted her shovel into the wagon and hoisted Rainbow’s gown out from her satchel. “Let’s perform a fashion rescue, shall we?” Trotting gaily into the Boutique, she paused and scrunched her nose at the multi-colored wad of material. “Well, you most certainly brought it here… exceedingly wrinkled.” “What can I say?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I pack light.” “Now that’s an understatement.” Rainbow’s eyes twitched. “Huh?” “Follow me, darlingggg!” And Rarity sang her way into the ultra-femme abode.