“Please hold still, Rainbow Dash! I can’t finish the alterations with you moving around so much!” Rarity huffed a bit as needles and thread flew around her guest room in the palace as she worked on Rainbow Dash’s dress for the Gala.
Rainbow’s original dress, which had been made for the hospital’s party, had been torn up badly from her clash with the armored Pegasus. It had required the most work to fix. Applejack, despite being thrown into a table, had only ripped a few seams, while the rest of the girl’s outfits were untouched. Still, Rarity insisted on doing some additions and improvements, since it was “a crime against fashion to wear the same dress twice!” So, with absolutely no choice, Rainbow stood as still as she could while Rarity worked on her.
“I just don’t see why I can’t have a simple fix! I don’t need ruffles and lace! And I certainly don’t need them in pink!”
“What’s wrong with pink?” A certain party-planning Earth Pony mare demanded, looking up from a collection of comic books to glare at the cyan Pegasus.
“Nothing’s wrong! It’s just not for me! It looks way better on you and Fluttershy anyways!” Dash said, almost acting afraid. Whenever Pinkie Pie got mad, Dash got scared. It was very odd, but Rarity ignored them as she worked.
Her mind wasn’t focused entirely on her craft, however. She kept on thinking of Azure Flame and Blueblood. The former she had not seen since the day of the hospital party, and she was a bit upset at that. For Blueblood, she had not seen him since he had asked some guards to escort them back to their rooms. After they left, Twilight had excused herself, and Rarity had a sneaking suspicion that her purple Unicorn gal-pal had gone after a certain prince.
She was worried for Twilight. Celestia’s student had never been very social, and even now was a bit of an oddball, all things considered. Was Twilight developing some sort of crush on Blueblood? Was it because of his past, or rather, a sense that she had to make it up to him for hurting his feelings?
“Alright Rainbow Dash, I’m finished. Try not to mess it up until after the Gala,” Rarity declared, ceasing her musings and finishing up Dash’s formal wear.
“Thanks, Rarity. I might not like froo-froo stuff, but your dresses are always pretty sweet,” the racer Pegasus said, looking herself over in a mirror.
“I try darling,” the alabaster Unicorn said, taking the compliment with a sincere smile.
“Now that yere done with Rainbow, could ya get to work on me? I’m starting ta get cramps,” Applejack pleaded, the orange farm pony trying to stand stock still on a nearby platform, her own dress upon her and covered with pins.
“Of course.” With a flash of her horn, Rarity began to work on her next friends attire. Before anything could get started in depth, however, Twilight entered the room, a slight smile on her face.
“Hiya Twilight! Didja have fun with Blueblood?” Pinkie called out, not looking up from her comic books. Rarity tensed at that, but kept her cool. None of the others noticed the fashion-pony’s actions, and were instead more interested with Twilight’s reaction.
Instead of the blush they expected from her, Twilight stiffened and looked around frantically, like she was afraid or nervous.
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked after settling down.
“Uh, you went off to find Blueblood, right? Pinkie was just curious as to how it went,” Rainbow looked at Twilight with a mix of concern and suspicion.
“Nothing happened!” Twilight practically yelled, the unexpected volume startling them mares and causing Rarity to jab Applejack with a needle, leading to a rather undignified yelp.
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy muttered, and walked over to her clearly distraught friend. She lifted a small dress manikin, one Rarity used for poses, and brought it over to Twilight.
“Show me where he touched you,” Fluttershy said, her voice surprisingly forceful, more so because of what she had spoken as well, and that she was pointing a hoof towards the manikin’s anatomically proportionate body.
“WHAT?!” Twilight shouted, surprise, indignation and embarrassment present in both her voice and her expression. Her friends all mirrored her reaction.
“I don’t even… why would you… huh?” Twilight stammered as the timid yellow Pegasus shrinking back in fear.
“…So he didn’t touch you in a bad place?” Fluttershy whispered, barely audible.
“NO! No he did not!” Twilight exclaimed. “Why would you even think that?!”
None of her friends had an answer, aside from a lot of “well…,” “you see…,” a bit of polite, discreet coughing and embarrassed frowns.
“I think we were all worried ‘bout ya, sugar cube,” Applejack said at length, recovering from the sensation of needles in her flank. “Fluttershy just wanted ta make sure ya weren’t hurt or nothin’.”
“Well, thanks for the concern, I guess, but I had something else on my mind.” Twilight paused, and bit her lip, wondering how much she should tell her friends about Blueblood’s proposal, and how much she actually could tell them. What she was planning on doing was bordering on treason, if somepony looked at it in a certain way…
“He just wanted my help with something.” Twilight said at last. “He wants my assistance in tracking down the members and motives of Dark Phoenix.”
It was the truth, and she had carefully omitted enough that none of them, even Applejack, would be suspicious. Still, her announcement was met with mixed reactions.
“He what?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while Applejack muttered “Horse Apples.” Fluttershy gave a soft cry of “eep!” and hid behind her mane, Rarity spluttered indignantly, while Pinkie started bouncing around trying to plan a “kick the bad-guy flank” party.
“Did you accept?” Fluttershy inquired, worried, and at Twilight’s nod of confirmation, she gave another “eep!” and tried to become one with the furniture.
“That’s crazy, Twi! Ya have no idea what they’re capable of, and from what ah’ve seen, they mean business! Ya could get hurt!” Applejack cried out, and the rest of them nodded their heads in agreement.
“It won’t be so bad!” Twilight protested. “I won’t do anything over the top, and I’m sure Shining will look out for me with everything he can! I just… want to help, and this is a way I can.”
“But…” Rainbow Dash began, but the purple Unicorn cut her off.
“I know this is reckless, but I want to do something. They’re threatening Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor by association… they’re going after ponies I care about, and I don’t want them to get hurt.” As she spoke, tears sprang into Twilight’s eyes, and her friends quickly rushed over to give a large group hug.
“We’ll support you however we can in that case, Darling,” Rarity said, reassuring her.
“You gals are the best,” Twilight sniffed, and after a moment of comforting hugging, she was back to normal.
“There’s something else I talked to Blueblood about,” Twilight said, and smiled over at Rarity.
“He’d like to extend an offer to escort you around the Gala this evening as a guest. He wants to make up for the incidents of last year,” Twilight explained, and Rarity’s eyes lit up, but worry flashed across her face.
“I, I’m honored. Will… Azure Flame be at the Gala?”
Twilight shook her head, and her friend’s face fell.
“Sorry, but he apparently can’t make it. Family emergency or something.”
“Oh dear, was it anything to do with last night’s attack at the hospital?” Fluttershy asked, worried.
“Maybe.” Twilight wasn’t comfortable talking about Azure Flame any more than she already had. She knew keeping Blueblood’s secondary persona secret was important to the prince, and he would want to do the revealing on his own terms. It wasn’t her place to tell them, even if she desperately wanted to.
“Oh, I see,” Rarity replied, clearly disappointed, but she quickly masked it. “In that case, I’d be glad to accompany Prince Blueblood around the Gala tonight.”
“Great! We’re expected to be in the Grand Hall at seven, and we’ll get to see the Princesses before they start letting guests in. I’m sure this evening will be far better than the last,” Twilight said, strongly hoping it would be the case.