//------------------------------// // A Plot Part II // Story: Color Schemes // by distortedtruth92 //------------------------------// A Plot, part II Tank was a tortoise. This is pretty much an established fact, obvious and all that, right? Well, one thing he WASN'T was being good at dress-up. Are you aware that, for a time, they gave miniature replicas of old Equestrian military helmets as prizes in boxes of Crunchy Oats? Are you further aware that Rainbow Dash was a proud owner of the full set? … And that Tank was being forced to wear the gold one? He hated it, to be sure. It was tight, it was gaudy, and it had absolutely no purpose whatsoever that he could see. But for some reason, it seemed, his owner felt it appropriate for her to tell him her plan. “Mreweh!” “I know, it's uncomfortable,” said Rainbow as she stood in front of her pet and an easel that held several pieces of paper which were covered in crayon, “but this is an emergency meeting! We have to dress appropriately!” Cue glare. Also, cue eye roll. “Whatever. I think it's a good idea. Anyway, it's time to begin!” She then seated herself next to her presentation that she had prepared and put on her most authoritative look. “Alright, gentle… pets! I've called you here today to discuss a most important matter: Spike!” She pointed a hoof at the first set of pictures, which showed a picture of Spike's head inside a heart. She flipped the page back and continued. “Now, I know what you're thinking, ‘Why is Spike important?’ Well, to answer your question, I… I'm in love.” Rainbow tried her best to hold back a blush at this point. She coughed and continued. “But, I still don't know if he feels the same way, and since he probably doesn't anyway, I have designed a plan that will make sure he does!” She pulled back the next sheet of paper to reveal various lines, arrows, diagrams, illustrations, and other things that only Celestia MIGHT be able to decipher. “Alright, ” she began to elaborate, “this is my plan! I call it my ‘Color Scheme’! Get it? 'Cause I'm… oh, never mind.” She pointed to the first picture, one of a talking blue pony speaking to what appeared to be a purple blob. “First, I start talking to him more, get to know him and see if he likes me, too! Then…” The next picture was pointed to, one of the former two creatures sitting on a checkered quilt. “… I'll take him on a picnic, set the atmosphere!” Tank stared blankly ahead, occasionally shaking his head. “Hmph!” Rainbow noticed. She also ignored. “Anyway,” she continued, pointing to what looked like a video camera, “then I'll invite him on a date! The movies sounded good, and I can show him we have the same interests! And lastly,” said she, pointing towards the final image, one of lips, “he'll kiss me and we'll be together forever!” She accentuated this with several aerial spins. Tank considered this the most impressive part of her presentation. More snorting ensued. As Rainbow Dash settled herself, she sighed and started to slump, the thought of all that romance being a little too much for her at-the-moment weak legs. She quickly realized that she was daydreaming again, and Dash shook her head to get her thoughts back together. “Okay,” she said to Tank, “Operation: Win Spike's Heart is in motion! Wish me luck!” She closed her eyes and giggled giddily, and Tank had no choice but to do so. For you see, as irritating as she could be at times, he still loved her for who she was: his owner, his friend. And so, she left with a puff of her wings, out the door to find her true love… “MRREEEEAAAGGHH!” … Forgetting to remove the helmet from Tank's head. ~~~ Elsewhere in downtown Ponyville, a small, green-and-purple dragon was setting down a large pile of fabrics onto the floor of the Carousel Boutique. With a huff, he placed it all in the pre-defined area specific for fabrics, and sat down, quite glad that he was finished. “Wow, Rarity!” said Spike, trying to crack his spine. “What do you need all this for?” The white unicorn, who happened to be accompanying him, turned and looked at him confused. “What? You mean I never told you?” He shook his head. “Ah. Well,” Rarity continued, “this is for my upcoming Summer Line! I was inspired by the birds and fish around Fluttershy's home, all those swirling, gorgeous colors! I just HAD to use those ideas, it would be a crime NOT to!” Spike was enthralled. Not in the dresses, of course. “Of course, Rarity! Whatever you say…” spake the drake. He was, at the time, staring at Rarity with half-lidded inner jubilance at merely being around the pristine mare. Surely this was to be the love of his life. …Outside, however, there was a blue pony that would sorely disagree. As the conversation continued inside, Rainbow was listening in on them. It hadn't been long since she had seen them last, and it wasn't too difficult to find them. As she desperately held back tears and hopeless thoughts, Rainbow Dash also steeled herself for Phase 1 of her so-called Color Schemes. It was time for the single to mingle, and she was eternally grateful that Spike still was. From inside, a knock was heard at the door. Spike was first to react, quickly turning to the sound with years of servant's instincts. He rushed over, and in a dash, he opened the door to reveal… Dash. (Wow, that was bad…) “Oh! Hey Rainbow!” he said nonchalantly. “Hey, Spike!” she replied. (Cue barely contained blush.) “Well, what a pleasant surprise!” came a silky voice from inside the room. Both parties at the door turned to look at the owner of the voice, Rarity, who had yet to actually SEE the visitor at her shop. “Hey, Rarity! I'm not interrupting anything, am I?” Rainbow asked, stepping into the building. “Oh no, of course not! I was merely receiving help from our mutual friend here!” Rarity said, peering towards the door and gesturing to the friend in question. “Aww, I'm always glad to help…” Spike said, blushing and kicking his foot. Rainbow cringed at that, but she came here for a reason, and the sooner she got the job through with, the better. “Uhh, sure… Say, uh, Rarity? Do you mind if I borrow Spike for, like, the rest of the day?” Rarity seemed a bit confused by this question, but she didn't seem to be that put off by it. “Why, certainly! I was finished here anyway. Thank you Spike!” “Oh, uh, no problem, Rarity,” he said in his most kindred voice, shuffling his foot and trying to hide his head behind his shoulder. He looked on Rarity and saw that she was giving him a warm smile in return, but warm smiles would have to wait. Rainbow Dash stepped up. “Come on, Spike! I've got some things planned for us today,” she said. As soon as she had spoken, Spike barely had time to wish Rarity ‘Goodbye,’ before Rainbow had whisked them both out of the door. Rarity was left alone, slightly confused, and, for reasons that escaped her, a bit annoyed. She shrugged off the feeling, however, and continued with her day, while our lovebird was flitting about outside… ~~~ “So, what's up?” Rainbow asked. “Nothing much,” said Spike. Gee, great conversation, huh? Anyhow, Rainbow Dash and Spike were walking and flying down the road running through the middle of Ponyville, and Rainbow's plan was officially initiated. “Umm…” Struggling to think of witty banter, Rainbow was forced to start with the basics. “So…” she eloquently began, “whatcha been up to?” Spike eased into the conversation, um, easily. “Well, I've been trying to survive, mainly. I mean, life here gets pretty hectic, know what I'm saying?” Rainbow knew all too well. “Tell me about it. Can we please have a week where there ISN'T a monster or villain trying to invade the country?” This got a chuckle out of Spike. Unfortunately, the time for chuckling would have to wait. At this time, two mares by the names Flitter and Cloudchaser showed up and got in front of them. Now, before we continue, some clarification is in order. Rainbow Dash and the two ponies, who were twins, were not friends. You see, Rainbow thought that the twins were decent enough fliers (they were also pegasi), and would recruit them for missions should their presence be required. However, outside of work, Rainbow thought Cloudchaser was too frivolous, and she thought Flitter was more of a pushover than Fluttershy, and WAY more annoying. That being said, the twins also thought that Rainbow was egotistical and rude. Needless to say, them meeting while the rainbow-maned mare was on her quote-unquote ‘date’ wasn't exactly what she wanted. “Oh, hey, Rainbow!” Cloudchaser spat. “Yeah, hey, RAINBOW!” Flitter said, feeling emphasis was necessary. Eyes rolled all through the street. Rainbow's were but a single pair. “What do you want?” the cyan mare inquired. “Well, we just wanted to congratulate you on finally telling us all which side you play for,” replied Cloudchaser. Rainbow was confused. “Huh?” “Yeah, it got boring betting on whether or not you liked mares or not,” said Flitter rather bluntly, and more than a bit spitefully. Now, Rainbow was mad. “WHAT?!” “Ah! Hit Cloudchaser!” Flitter said as she ducked behind her sister. “Hey!” shouted said sister, who was clearly annoyed. “Whatever. Anyway, we just want to thank you for winning all those bits for us. Really helpful.” Although Rainbow was glad that the twins at least seemed less devious than normal, she wasn't quite convinced. “…Anything else?” “Oh yeah, how many?” More confusion. “Huh?” Cloudchaser reiterated. “How many callers have you had? That ad was answered pretty well from what I heard.” Rainbow's response was a violent, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”, followed by an internal, ‘I thought I got rid of all those posters in time! Were the guys talking about it after they left?’ And now, SPIKE, who never left, was confused. “What did she mean by that, Dash?” “NOTHING!” Dash exclaimed. She continued in the direction of the twins. “AND IT WILL STAY AS NOTHING, got it?!” Flitter flinched. “Just was curious… n…” Rainbow's ears pricked at that last one. “What was that?” “Nothing… b…l n…” Flitter mumbled. “Okay, I HEARD you that time! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?” Rainbow Dash demanded. Then, out of nowhere, Flitter let her bitter hatred out in a single burst, unable to contain herself. It went like this: “YOU STUPID BOBTAILED NAG! YOU THINK YOU'RE SOOOO MUCH BETTER THAN THE REST OF US, DON'T YOU?! JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN FLY FAST AND CAN GET A FEW STALLIONS TO FOLLOW YOU AROUND, THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU SPECIAL, GOT IT?! WE'RE BETTER PEGASI THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!!” All around the four creatures, ponies stopped and stared, slack jawed. The ones out of them all who were most shocked, however, were Rainbow Dash and Cloudchaser, the latter of whom was surprised with her sister's random outburst. Rainbow wasn't shocked, though. She hardly reacted at all. But inside, where none could see, she was furious. More exposition! A while back, it was considered a mark of royalty to have long, flowing hair, and many grew theirs out to seem more beautiful. But when ponies discovered that many mares used fake manes conjured by magic to seem more attractive, they were ridiculed. The term ‘bobtail nag’ came from the unattractive mares of old with short tails and consumed by vanity, and it was considered the worst insult imaginable by many. Including Rainbow. …In fact, she was so upset by the comment, she didn't even care what the rest of the insults were, and shortly after her initial shock, she started prepping the biggest haymaker she'd ever land. Unfortunately, her target, Flitter, coward that she was, dodged it. It hit Cloudchaser instead. This made her angry. She punched back. In no time at all, a brawl broke out between the three mares, and Spike, who had just settled for watching this whole time, began rooting for Rainbow. He wasn't even sad about not getting to talk to her about… whatever it was. There were punches thrown, kicks landed, a tooth chipped here and there, and it. Was. AWESOME! … Until a cop showed up to break up the fight… ~~~ “… But it was still really, REALLY COOL!” Spike finished. After the impromptu battle, Rainbow was claimed the victor, especially Spike. …And the officer, oddly enough… But Spike especially, and while Rainbow had started this whole thing to get to know him better, she ended up hearing nearly 30 minutes of recapping her 5-minute fight. He might have kept going forever if she hadn't noticed he was turning bluer than herself. In any case, she was glad at least that she had a fan in him. It might be easier to talk to him now that he found this new interest in her. And she didn't want to waste any more time, since it was almost nighttime. “So, Spike…” she said. (My, my, what eloquence. She should win a Ponlitzer.) “I wanted to ask something to you.” “What is it?” he replied. “Do you think…” “…Yes?” “Do you think…” She started to ask him what he thought of her, but thought better of it herself. One look into Spike's eyes told her it wasn't time. She sighed, and ended up asking, “…do you think I went too far today?” “Well, not really,” he replied. “I mean, they were acting horrible. I'd've slugged ’em, too! Uh, if I was a girl. I guess what I'm saying is, I respect what you did for your honor.” Rainbow smiled. Oh, and cue blush. “Well, I don't know about that.” “Are you kidding?! You were incredible!” he said. Rainbow started to get a bit more confidence, allowing herself to enjoy her victory for the first time. “Well, in any case, I can bet that those two won't be ‘flittering’ OR ‘cloudchasing’ for a while!” That did it for Spike. On top of his already good mood, those perfectly horrid puns gave him such a case of the giggles that he couldn't help but fall over, holding his gut, writhing in laughter. At this, Rainbow grew a massive grin. ‘GREAT!’ she thought, ‘He's laughing! And he said he respected me! And here I am thinking this was gonna be hard. This is gonna be easy!’ ~~~ …Something sinister moved in Tartarus… ~~~ … And on the other side of Ponyville, in Twilight's house, something was happening in a poor, purple brain. It was a thought, a vast, and yet seemingly minuscule thought. It wasn't vast in terms of the type of question, but rather what it could mean. It was minuscule because she already knew she couldn't get the answer on her own. But that didn't bother Twilight, who shouldn't have bothered with it, but did anyway. “So, you think you can evade me that easily? FEH! You couldn't evade me if you were the fastest mare in the world!” “… Uh, isn't she already, th-” “HUSH!” she interjected. And she continued. “Now then, as I was saying, I WILL find the answer. I've been searching high and low for clues ALL DAY. AND NOW, I HAVE AN ANSWER! …Of sorts. Oh sure, I don't have proof YET, but I have a strong hunch!” “Oh, wow, I hate it when I get those, you know I know this chiropractor if you need-” “SILENCE!” *Sigh* “Never mind.” *AHEM!* “Now, I'm certain I can prove this hunch-” “A-” “AS IN A FEELING OR GUESS BASED ON INTUITION RATHER THAN KNOWN FACTS!” “…Oh.” “…Heheh, and guess who's gonna help me?” “…” “… You can talk now.” “Ok. Uh, who?” “Why, Rainbow's crush of course!” “Uh, who's that?” “Why, it's YOU, THUNDERLANE!” At this point, the dark-colored pegasus looked out at the audience and said, “Aw, man. I'm not gonna like this, am I?” End Act III