D-Ding!
The door to the Carousel Boutique swung open. Rainbow Dash trotted lightly through.
"Okaaaaaaay..." She sighed, glancing left and right. "Rarity, what did you need from me this ti—"
"Rainbow Dash!" Thwoooosh! Rarity zipped over, standing before her with a grin. A measuring tape and several spools of yarn were draped over her alabaster figure. "At last! You're here! Just the mare I was looking for!"
Rainbow Dash leaned back, a hoof raised. "Uh huh..."
"I trust that you got dear Fluttershy's message?"
"Well, it was more of a summons than a message, but—"
"Quickly!" Rarity grabbed Rainbow by the shoulder. "There isn't much time!"
"Whoah—!" Rainbow yelped as she was telekinetically tugged towards the center of the Boutique. "Rarity! Guh! Who said you could yank me around like this?!"
"Well, you're so terribly petite, darling!" An airy laugh. "It's not all that difficult to do!"
"Grrrrr... Rarity..." Rainbow stopped growling long enough to sigh. "Really, girl, I'm not exactly in the mood for trying on any gowns today—"
"No no no no—I most certainly wouldn't throw you into the throes of your own fashion statement upon such short notice!" Rarity spun and gestured towards a figure standing atop the dressing stage. "What I need is your opinion on this! Yours and no other!"
"Uhm, right." Rainbow Dash tilted her head up. She did a double-take.
Biting his lip, a lithe pony stood atop the stage, fidgeting slightly in a blue military suit. "Uhm... h-hi there," he said with a nervous smile.
"So?" Rarity grinned wide, pointing. "What do you think?"
"... ... ..." Rainbow glared. "... ... ... it's a stallion."
"Sharp Quill," he said, brown wing feathers twitching with emphasis. He slicked back his stone gray mane and waved. "Pleased to meet ya—"
Rarity stuck her head between the two. "Not him. Unh!" She rolled her dainty eyes and pointed at the suit with a renewed smile. "It's what the stallion is wearing!"
"Uh huh. What about it?"
"Well, is it or is it not spectacular?"
"Rarity, why in the hay are you asking me?"
"Erm..." Rarity fidgeted, bowing her head low. "Is it not standard dress for formal Wonderbolts attire...?" she whispered.
"Huh?" Rainbow gave the outfit on the stallion a second-glance. "Oh! Ohhhhh! It's a uniform!"
"Now you see it!"
"Pfft! Totally!" Rainbow gestured. "It's in all of their magazines."
"Magazines?" Sharp Quill asked.
"Heh... she's only joking, Mr. Quill." Rarity waved a hoof. "Rainbow Dash is not fond of reading. She wouldn't collect magazines."
"Bite your tongue! I do too!" Rainbow frowned. "Wonderbolts Monthly!" She pawed at the floor of the Boutique, ears twitching. "...I really like the pictures of them doing cloud-kicking corkscrews n'stuff."
Sharp Quill chuckled to himself.
Rarity smiled at him. Then she smiled at Rainbow. "Ahem..." She fluffed her own mane. "I do suppose an explanation is in order."
"Ya think?"
"You see, Rainbow, I've been commissioned to make an authentic-looking Wonderbolts uniform for a client's costume party that he will be attending in a week or so. He pays well, and he wants nothing short of the most accurate looking uniform imaginable!"
"Better not make it too accurate."
"I beg your pardon?"
Rainbow smirked. "I hear that the minimal penalty for impersonating a Wonderbolt or any other member of the Royal Aerial Guard is twenty months in pony prison, making gravel."
"Wait..." Sharp Quill's eyes darted about. "...what?"
"Eheheheh... don't mind Rainbow! She's quite the jokester! She adores pranking me and the rest of the girls all the time!" Rarity cleared her throat. "You're simply being jocular, aren't you, Rainbow?"
"I dunno. Ask the dude who came out of the slammer a few months ago. He went in there for mass-producing fake uniforms. He came out several years later with a face tattoo and four personalities."
"Erm..." Sharp Quill fidgeted, sweating.
"Oh well. The party's in Appleloosa." Rarity waved a hoof. "So..."
"Oh, then never mind, I guess." Rainbow yawned.
"Nevertheless, doesn't he look simply dapper?"
"Huh?" Rainbow blinked blearily. "Who, what?"
"Mr. Quill, of course!" Rarity trotted around him, tugging at the sleeves and collar of the uniform while the pegasus smiled awkwardly. "Presuming I got all the seams and insignias right, he's every bit the spitting image of Captain Spitfire himself!" Rarity grinned. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Rainbow fought the urge to snicker. "Uhhhh... Rarity?" Her tail flicked. "Spitfire's a mare."
Rarity's pupils shrank. "Oh! Uhm..." Her face muscles tensed. "I-I knew that! Besides..." She hopped down from the platform. "...unisex outfitting is the new thing, I suppose. Oh, what a temporary phase it will be. I assure you."
Rainbow shrugged. "Works for me."
"It's a little stiff in the rear," Sharp Quill said. He immediately winced, blushing. "C-cuz of the tail hole in the pants, I mean."
"Hmmm..." Rarity tapped her chin in thought. "I suppose I could alter it to be large."
"Nah, it should stay that tight," Rainbow said. She pointed up at the stallion. "If the suit's any baggier, it could become less aerodynamic."
"You mean..." Sharp Quill squinted. "Wonderbolts are actually expected to fly in this sort of a thing? I thought it was meant just for show."
"Heh. Nothing that the Wonderbolts do are just for show!" Rainbow Dash smirked. "Every card-carrying member of Spitfire's team is expected to fly for the safety of Equestria at a moment's notice!"
"You don't say!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Yup!" Rainbow nodded proudly. "They found out the hard way at the last Griffon Mount Summit! A rampaging manticore broke out of its hold and Soarin' and Fleetfoot had to take off and wrangle it down! They didn't have time to slip out of their dress uniforms! Cuz if they went any slower, that manticore would have taken off with the Duke of Featherton's eggs! Whew! I dunno about you, but I think a tragedy like that would have sent Griffon-Pony relations back by about fifty years!"
Silence.
Rarity spun towards Sharp Quill, beaming. "I did not know that! Isn't Rainbow Dash just riddled with Wonderbolt information?"
"Heh..." Sharp Quill smirked. "Sure beats me at any trivia."
"Trivia? Pfft!" Rainbow made a face. "It's the Wonderbolts! What's not to like?"
"Oh... It's not that I don't like them! I... uhm..." He bit his lip and avoided her gaze. "I sorta... uh..."
"He's half earth pony on his mother's side," Rarity said. "He works at the Harvest Family farm on weekdays and flies back to Los Pegasus for the weekends."
"Guess I'm loyal to a fault." Sharp Quill shrugged with a smile. "I'm too busy flying long distance to stop and watch any Wonderbolts show."
"S'all good." Rainbow Dash yawned again. "Nopony's perfect."
"I got to know him after he made a few deliveries for Golden Harvest and her sisters," Rarity said. "Gowns for the latest square-dance. Ohhhhhhh they're so adorably rustic!"
"You would know." Sharp Quill chuckled. "You made them!"
"And so when he stopped by today, I realized he was the same proportions as the stallion commissioning this piece!" Rarity gestured. "So I begged him to try it on for me. Like the gentlecolt he is, Mr. Quill agreed. I must say, generosity certainly is infectious, yes?"
"Yeah, I guess—"
"And your generosity is most appreciated, as always!" Rarity interrupted Rainbow Dash, taking a few more measurements of the suit. "I think I have everything finished up. Oh! But of course! The pockets! Unnh! Where is my mind, these days?! Let me see if I have the right material to sew them in." She trotted off briskly. "You two don't go anywherrrre!"
As Rarity left, Rainbow sighed and turned towards the stallion. "I'm sorry that she roped you into this. Rarity's really nice and all... buttttttt she has these habits of interrupting you in the middle of the day to do something of absolutely no importance."
"Heheh..." Sharp Quill nodded, fidgeting in the stiff uniform. "So I gathered."
"So long as you brush paths with her, you're a target for fashion." Rainbow smirked. "Remember that when you hang out with your friends again, so you can warn them."
"Heh... it's really not all that bad." Sharp Quill smirked. "So... you really dig the Wonderbolts, huh?"
"Hmmm? Oh. Yeah. Yeah, sure."
"They're really awesome, aren't they?"
"Oh... yeah! That's what I saw all the time! Awesome!"
"Heheh... awesome!"
"Uh huh..." Rainbow turned, gazing casually across the Boutique. "...awesome."
Sharp Quill blinked. "What was it like meeting them?"
Rainbow's head jerked towards him. Her brow furrowed. "Who told you that I did?"
Sharp Quill gulped. "Uhm... uhhhh—"
"This is an emergency!" Rarity rushed back, skidding to a stop. "I have run out of the materials that I need for making the absolute perfect handkerchief pockets!"
"So... like... order them or something," Rainbow said with a shrug.
"Rainbow, are you out of your pony mind?! I can only make these myself! And I can't put off the alteration for too long or else my client will become too impatient!"
"Yeah, so... wing it!"
"Guh! I am a unicorn of exquisite fashion!" Rarity teetered dramatically. "I cannot just wing it!" She paused, blinking. "Erm... n-no offense."
"Uhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash glanced at Sharp Quill, then at Rarity. "Are you talking to us still?"
"Oh! I know!" Rarity grinned. "The shops in downtown might have the materials I need! But... alas..." She pouted. "I'd have to search every one and that might take forever!"
"Uhhh..." Rainbow sighed long and hard, eventually muttering, "Do you need some... help—?"
"Ohhhh Rainbow! I thought you would never ask!" Rarity hugged the mare, then turned to look up at Sharp Quill. "I-I know you have much on your plate, Mr. Quill, but would you be willing to assist as well?"
"Rarity, for Celestia's sake! Don't get him—"
"Hey! It's quite fine!" He grinned, slowly and carefully unbuttoning the uniform before dismounting from the stage. "I've done my errands for my cousin today anyways!"
"Oh, thank you so... so much!" Rarity bowed low, smiling. "I promise that I shall make it worth your while! Both of you!"
"Uh huh. Whatever, Rarity." Rainbow smirked. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
"Indubitably! Wait right here while I go gather my things!" Rarity trotted briskly off. "A lady is always prepaaaaared!"
Rainbow sighed out the side of her muzzle. She glanced aside at Sharp Quill. "Thanks, y'know... for doing this for my friend here."
"Don't mention it." Sharp Quill, sliding on a saddlebag. "The way I figure it, if we split up and cover different shops, then we'll help her faster and she won't have to fret about pleasing her client."
"Snkkkt...heeheehee."
Sharp Quill raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"Just the last thing you said, is all."
"What about it?"
"Think it over."
Sharp Quill squinted into the distance. Suddenly, his muzzle turned a slight shade of red. "Oh dear..."
"Hehehehe..." Rainbow nudged him. "Right?"
The stallion smirked. "I'd never would have thought of that. My, don't you have a colorful mind."
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow slicked her bangs back. "They gotta root somewhere."
"No kidding."
"Really, though, sorry you got wrangled into this hooplah."
"Hey... it's no big deal." Sharp Quill trotted with the mare into the lobby. "If there's anything I'm used to, it's being in two places at once."