Soft, classical music hung in the dim light of Carousel Boutique's kitchen; a record player was playing some old music Rainbow wasn't familiar with. She sat at one end of a small table with a single candle in the middle; at the other end was her marefriend as of exactly two months ago, Rarity. She was laughing at the totally awesome and not cheesy joke Dash had just made; they had been doing this for hours now: just talking into the late hours of the night after their dinner was finished.
“Ahaha, Rainbow; you're so funny...”
Rainbow smirked at the praise, “Yeah, Rares; I know. I am pretty great.” she replied before yawning, “But... it's getting kinda late, I should probably head out now.”
Rarity looked a bit saddened by the declaration, “Yes... I suppose you're right, I do need my beauty sleep, after all...” she contemplated something for a second, “Although, I think it might be a bit late to go back now; I mean, it gets rather cold at night... wouldn't it be better if you just stayed here?”
The idea sounded good to Rainbow, but, of course, it's not like she could give a straight answer, “Well... I don't know, Rarity... Tank gets kinda lonely if I'm not there...”
“Tank? But what about me?” Rarity gave Rainbow a pitiful look, one with her lip pouting and big puppy dog eyes, “How am I supposed to get to sleep without a massage first?”
“Heh, it's always about the massages, isn't it?”
Rarity moved closer to Rainbow, her hips moving side to side and tail swaying, “Well... that and I was thinking...” She put her hoof on rainbow's cheek and kissed her, “maybe we can have a little... 'fun' afterward,” she finished in a low whisper.
Rainbow's eyes went wide and she smiled stupidly, letting out a high pitched “Eeeep.” before regaining her cool, “Ahem... I mean... I'm sure Tank can be alone for one night...”
Rarity smiled seductively, eyes half-lidded, before turning around and walking to the stairs, her hips and tail still swaying, “Come on then, it's right up here...”
Rainbow was frozen there while Rarity disappeared up the stairs before running up after her. Getting to the top, she saw Rarity laying on her bed and walked into her room slowly.
“Mmmm, Rainbow; what are you waiting for?” Rarity said in a low voice.
Rainbow flew to the other side of the bed and sat down on it; she laid down next to her and started the massage Rarity had asked for.
“Ohhh... Ahhh, yes, right there...”
After a couple of minutes, Rarity sat up and turned around, interrupting the massage and flashing Dash an almost predatory grin. Rarity circled to the side of Rainbow, who let out another high pitch “Eeep.” and pushed her so that she was pinned to the headboard. With Rarity leaning in for a kiss, Rainbow closed her eyes to wait for it...
*Thump*
“Ow, Rarity, the hay was that for?” Rainbow said from her new position on the floor, Rarity had pushed her off the bed.
Rarity just smirked at her, “Oh, just giving you a taste of what you could have had right now... if things had been different, that is.”
“What I could've had? But... what did I do?” Rainbow looked confused, having just been shut down but her own marefriend.
Rarity's smirk evaporated, “What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?!? YOU DRUGGED ME AND TOLD ME I WAS IN A COMA!!!”
Rainbow cringed a bit, “But... that was, like, months ago! You're still mad about that?”
“YES!!!” Rarity put a hoof to the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath to compose herself, “So... because of your idiotic, cruel, and terrible sense of humor, you will have to sleep on the couch downstairs.”
Rainbow tilted her head sideways, “The couch...? Did you... did you invite me to stay the night just so you could make me sleep on your couch?”
“Yes.”
“But this isn't fair! The coma thing wasn't even that bad!”
“NOT THAT BAD?!?” Rarity stood up on the bed and stamped her hoof into it, “YOU DRUGGED ME!!!”
“Yeah, but not on purpose!”
“HOW DO YOU...!!!” She, once again, took a deep breath to calm herself, “How do you drug somepony on accident?!”
“Well, I mean... it's kinda a long story...”
Rarity shot Rainbow an icy glare, “We have time.”
Rainbow groaned before thinking a moment, “Fine... It started at Pinkie's cake frosting taste test...”
It was a bright, sunny day, as it seemed to be in Ponyville most of the time. Pinkie Pie had gotten up early to get a head start on her new cake frosting creation; she promised it would be her best yet! Three of her five closest friends had already arrived and were sitting at a table in the main room, waiting for Rarity and Fluttershy.
“Ugh... can't they hurry up, it feels like we've been waiting forever!”
Twilight just sighed and rolled her eyes, “Rainbow, we've only been waiting for fifteen minutes!”
“Yeah, but it feels like forever.”
The bell on the door rang and Fluttershy and Rarity walked in.
“Sorry we're late, girls; Fluttershy and I were having a delightful cup of tea and must have lost track of time.”
“Oh, it's alright; Pinkie's just been in the kitchen the whole time, so we're not even sure if she's ready.”
“Of course I'm ready!” Pinkie bounced up from behind Twilight, startling the alicorn into making an undignified yelp.
Rarity smiled at her friends' antics and walked over to the table, “Well then, I'm ready, too; last time you made something new it was, quite possibly, the best thing I'd ever tasted!”
“Aww, thanks, Rarity!” Pinkie smiled and bounced up to Rarity, “Since you liked it so much last time, did you wanna go first?!”
“Oh, I couldn't!”
“Comon, Rarity! I'm sure nopony minds.” The rest of her friends nodded in confirmation.
“Oh... well if nopony else minds...” Rarity took a spoonful offered by Pinkie and ate it, “Mmmm... oh my! This is just astounding, Pinkie Pie! Why, I don't think I'be wev-weeeee...”
*Thump*
Rarity passed out and fell to the ground while everypony just stared at her blankly for a second.
“Yo, Rarity!” Rainbow flew over to her and waved a hoof in front of her face, “Yoo- hoo, you alright?”
Twilight looked from Rarity to Pinkie, who was busy getting more of the frosting for them to try, “Errr, what did you put in that stuff?”
Rainbow proceeded to poke Rarity's face in a futile attempt to wake her up.
“Oh, the usual... Sugar, vanilla, some strawberries, horse tranquillizer, some whipped cream-” Pinkie put a hoof by her chin, listing off the ingredients.
“Did you say horse tranquillizer?!?”
“Hmm? Oh! Yep! Or, you know, normal tranquillizer? Whatever it's called here.”
Twilight just gawked at her for a moment, “But where did you even-? Why would you put that in cake frosting?!?”
“For flavoring, silly!” Pinkie stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Meanwhile, Rainbow was still by Rarity, poking her face, “Uhh, girls? This is Pinkie we're talking about; we should probably take Rarity to the hospital... just to be safe.”
“So Twilight picked you up with her magic and we all walked with you to the hospital; we figured you'd probably be fine, but, well... who knows how much of that stuff Pinkie put in there.”
Rarity had her hoof constantly on the bridge of her nose, almost as if she just had a constant headache, “Pinkie... from now on, you're eating anything she makes before I do.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Fine, whatever... so, anyways; we took you to the hospital...”
The Ponyville hospital was fairly deserted when Rarity was brought in by her friends; it was normally like this, as having such a large hospital in such a small town seemed a little bit unnecessary. She was immediately given a room while some nurses inquired to her friends about the circumstances of her eating horse tranquillizer. Since they all knew Pinkie Pie, it was a pretty easy thing to explain. Eventually, the doctor came in to make sure everything was alright, so everypony was ushered out of the room to wait in the lobby while he worked.
Twilight looked at Pinkie, unsure whether or not she should be surprised by this, “So, Pinkie... how often do you use 'horse tranquilizer' as an ingredient?”
“Oh, almost all the time! Although, I did use a bit more than usual this time; it gives it a nice, tangy flavor.”
“I see... could you possibly... in the future, I mean; not use any sort of drug as an ingredient in cake?” Twilight held her breath, hoping Pinkie would agree.
Pinkie Pie thought long and hard about Twilight's question, “Hmm...”
“...”
“Ok!”
Twilight let her breath out, “Whew... thanks, Pinkie...” Twilight looked around to all of her friends; she looked at Rainbow, who tilted her head back repeatedly to get Twilight to come over to her.
Twilight walked over to Rainbow, who leaned closer to her and started whispering, “So, I was thinking... I don't think that I can pass this opportunity up...”
Twilight just tilted her head at Rainbow, “Opportunity? What do mean?”
Rainbow looked at the rest of her friends to make sure they weren't listening, she wanted it to be as much of a surprise as possible, “Well... with Rarity in that hospital bed like that... it's not really something that you can set up easily and I've thought of some great pranks for-”
Twilight shook her head quickly, thinking she had misheard. Pranks that involved somepony in a hospital bed? “Nope! Noooooooope! Not happening.”
“What? But you didn't even let me finish!”
“Yeah, because what you're going to say is a terrible idea; I can already tell.”
Rainbow pouted at her a little bit, “Comon... it'll be funny! And besides... you owe me, I, uh... taught you how to fly!”
“So? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Twiliiilight, at least hear me out!”
Once again, hospital pranks; there was no way she could let this happen; however, Dash was her friend, so she could at least hear her out, “...Fine. What is it?”
Rainbow's face lit up, “So I'm thinking fake coma; she's been in a coma for a while and popular fashion has gone back in time! We just need to find a few ponies and do up their manes all weirdly.”
Twilight contemplated Rainbow's idea for a second; one one hoof, faking a coma sounds really bad... but then again, Rarity was never in any danger or anything, and she did have the rest of the day off... it could make for a nice prank, assuming it didn't get out of hoof, “I mean... I guess that's not that bad... as long as we don't take it too far.”
Rainbow smirked, “See? I told you it was fine. Then we get her back home we tell her the truth and everypony can have a good laugh; this is Rarity we're talking about! She's always so calm and collected, I'm sure she can take a joke.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow's pleading face and sighed, “I mean... what if...” She sighed again, “Alright, fine; let me get Pinkie Pie, she can find some ponies and get their manes ready.”
Rainbow nodded vigorously, “Oh, good idea; and we should probably do ours, too.”
Rainbow looked back at everypony else, “And Twilight... whatever happens in there... just roll with it.”
Dash looked back at Rarity's room to see the doctors and nurses leaving it, “I'm gonna go in there and wait for her to wake up; go get Pinkie so we can get everypony's manes done. Hurry though, we don't know when she'll be up!”
Twilight turned to go talk to Pinkie before she heard Rainbow again, “Rarity? …Doctor, she's waking up!”
Rarity was already waking up? That couldn't be good for what they were trying to do; she would have to do as Rainbow said and 'just roll with it,' but... what did that mean? She'd just have to try her best; and Rarity was supposed to be in a coma so, with her best impression of the doctor, Twilight said (a little too loudly), “Miss Dash, that's what you said two days- ...Nurse, over here, stat!”
A nurse to the side of her just looked at her like she was crazy, before going into the room to check; she saw Rarity was waking up and paged the doctor.
Rainbow Dash just sat there, dumbstruck for a second, “I... uhh, gotta go tell our friends; I'll be back soon!”
Rainbow ran out into the hallway to find Twilight, when she did, Twilight just smiled sheepishly at her, “Twilight! The buck was that?! 'Nurse, over here, stat!?' Really??”
“I don't know! I panicked! I've never had to do anything like this before!”
The doctor walked past Rainbow and Twilight and into Rarity's room.
“Ugh... well... maybe it's still fine; I mean, she looked pretty out of it... Lets just get everypony together and get Pinkie to do whatever horrible thing to our manes that she's gonna do.”
“Ok... at this point we just left out the part about the coma to our friends... we figured we were kinda short on time here cause we weren't sure when you'd be awake... So Twilight ran off to get Pinkie to fix our manes to look like we were-”
“Wait, stop.”
Rainbow looked at her, surprised; she hadn't interrupted her this whole time, “Yeah?”
“So Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy all didn't know about the coma part?”
“Not right away, no.”
Rarity sat up and crossed her forehooves, “So what you're saying is that I can only trust three of my five closest friends to NOT tell me I was in a coma when I wasn't?”
Rainbow cringed, “Ummm... yes?”
Rarity just glared at her.
“Anywho, then, when you woke back up, were all there and Twilight told you that you had been in a coma and that our manes were the new style if you hadn't, well, passed out...”
“I see...”
Rainbow started to continue her story, “Yeah... after Twilight said the coma thing, which she wasn't supposed to say yet, everypony looked at her like she was crazy; it was great. Of course, then we told them fully about what we were planning. Pinkie thought that it could be funny, Applejack didn't think we were gonna be able to pull it off, and Fluttershy... well, she said something... but, uhh... nopony really heard it, though...”
Rarity tried to remember exactly what had happened next, “Hmm... Well I remember the next part: I woke up and you had been crying. If what you said had been the plan, why were you crying?”
Rainbow's eyes widened and her ear went flat on her head, “Crying? I... wasn't crying... there was something in my eye.”
“Don't lie to me, Rainbow Dash! If you ever want to move from the couch” she pointed to the stairs, “to up here.” she finished, patting the bed, then glared at Rainbow once more.
Rainbow groaned, “Fiiine... I was reading... a... you know, I'm sure your couch is pretty comfy, I'll just-”
Rainbow saw her glare intensify.
“I... umm... was reading a... romance novel and... it was really sad.”
Rarity's glare dropped and she stared blankly at Rainbow, attempting to process what she had just heard. Once she fully understood, she, naturally, started giggling uncontrollably.
"I was bored, alright! It was the only book I could find!" Rarity just continued giggling.
Eventually, Rarity's giggling died down, “You done?”
“Hehehe... ahem... yes, continue.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “So then you woke up... and I was still thinking about what I had just read... and I wasn't really thinking clearly... aaaannd I kissed you.”
“Bahahaha!! -Oh Celestia, her face!!”
Rainbow leaned against the wall in the hallway, laughing.
“Hahaha- wait... Twilight's in there explaining why I just did that... well... I hope she does better than she did last time she tried...”
Rainbow leans up to the door to listen, “...you two had been dating for... oh, about half a year... more actually, before the accident... don't you...”
“Dating? Yeah, I can work with that...” Rainbow whispered to herself, “That does make a lot of sense...”
Rainbow listened again, “...you two live together; she sold her cloud house a couple of-”
“Uhhh, can I help you?”
Rainbow let out a high-pitched yelp and turned around, “Errrr, no; I was just, uhh... I'm Rarity's marefriend?”
The doctor looked at Rainbow, unsure, “Ok... Miss...?
“Name's Rainbow Dash.”
“Ok, Miss Dash; I was just about to get her set to leave; everything checks out fine. Will you be helping her to get home safely?”
“Yes? I mean, yes; of course I will... cause... we live together.”
“Ok...? Well, lets go then.”
Rainbow opened the door and walked through, “Are you two done yet? Cause doc here says that I can take you home, Rares.”
“Oh yes, everything checks out; I'm sure Miss Dash here will take excellent care of you.”
Twilight looked around nervously, “Uhhh... well I've gotta get going now; see you guys later!” she signaled for Rainbow to follow her.
While the doctor and the nurses were preparing Rarity to leave, Rainbow left to talk to Twilight. A couple feet down the hall, Twilight was pacing between each wall; she turned around often, as there wasn't much room.
“Yeah, Twi? What is it?”
Twilight looked up as Rainbow spoke, she rushed over to her and grabbed Rainbow's shoulders with her forehooves, shaking her slightly, “Rainbow, what are you doing! This totally throws everything off! I had to explain why you kissed her! Now she thinks you two have been in a relationship for almost a year, that you live together, and that I thought she was going to ask you to marry her, and... I couldn't stop! I don't know what came over me!”
Rainbow just smirked, “Yeah, I saw that; I kissed her and you didn't even flinch! I mean, wow, I knew you were a fast learner, but still!”
“Rainbow! This is bad! It's getting out of hand, we should tell her.”
They hadn't even gotten to the main part of the prank yet and Twilight wanted to call it off? Rainbow didn't want that, “But... we have all those ponies with their manes all done up outside, we have to at least wait until she's home.” Twilight was not very happy about it, but she eventually agreed.
“So I told her to get everypony together the next morning at Sugarcube Corner and then went back to get you so I could take you home. Pinkie was very thorough, even putting your sister up to it! It was gre-”
If Rarity had been glaring daggers at Rainbow any more intensely, there would have literally been daggers shooting from her eyes.
“Umm... it was... never mind. So... well... I kinda just told myself I'd go a little bit further and then stop, but... I don't know... your bed was really nice and warm and... well... so were you...” Rainbow finished with what she hoped was an endearing smile.
Rarity sat there, contemplating it all before, finally, she spoke, “So Twilight told you to not to take things too far?”
“Uhh, They might have gotten a teeny bit out of hoof...”
“...”
“Sorry?”
A pillow swiftly impacted Rainbow's face, “On the couch.”
“But-”
“Too bad.”
Rainbow picked up the pillow and started trotting downstairs, grumbling to herself, “Stupid couch... I know! I'll just fly back to my house and-”
Her grumbling was cut off by a yell from Rarity, “And don't let me catch you going back to your house to sleep in your bed! You do not want to know what I will do!”
Rainbow grumbled more before throwing the pillow onto the couch and laying down beside it.
“Well, Ah like hay, too... but do ya know what Ah really like?”
Twilight was walking along beside Applejack, looking at her checklist for the day. Applejack was actually on a day off for once; not really knowing what to do, since she rarely took days off, she decided spend time with Twilight.
“I don't know... apples?”
Applejack stopped and looked at her like she was an idiot, “Uhh... yeah, but... Ah mean-”
Twilight, not really interested in the apple talk, could swear she heard something, “Wait, Applejack... do you hear that? It sounds a bit like... somepony yelling...”
They walked towards the sound to investigate and it led them straight to Carousel Boutique. Getting closer, they could hear Rarity's voice, “DON'T YOU USE THAT TONE WITH ME, I HAVE EVERY REASON TO BE MAD!!!”
And also Rainbow's, “But what did I-?”
“YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT!”
The door to Rarity's home and business burst open, “LEAVE, RAINBOW! NOW!”
“But Rarity, I-”
Rarity finished pushing Rainbow out the door, “AND STAY OUT!” and then slammed the door in her face.
Rainbow just shrugged and turned around to leave, before the door opened and she looked back to see Rarity standing in the doorway, “Oh, but be back for dinner; I was going to cook something for us. Love ~ you!”
Rainbow replied, in an unsurprised tone, “Love you too, Rares,” before the door was closed again.
Applejack walked ahead of Twilight, over to Rainbow, “Were ya two fightin' again?”
Rainbow looked at them as if nothing had happened, “Hmm? Hey AJ, Twi... don't worry about it, she's still just upset about the coma thing; I mean sheesh, get over it already, am I right?”
Twilight and Applejack exchanged uncertain glances, “Uhh... if you don't mind me asking, Rainbow... how did you two start dating in the first place?”
“Yeah... it's like, one second she slaps ya and doesn't talk ta ya for about a month, and the next ya two show up to Suga'cube Corner and suddenly ya'll are dating.”
Rainbow just shrugged, “I don't know... she didn't talk to me for a couple of weeks after she slapped me; and then, one day, she just shows up at my house...”
Rainbow looked off in the distance with a blank stare.
“Err, Rainbow? You were going to tell us how you and Rarity started dating.”
Rainbow shook her head, “What? Oh, yeah... I was just thinking about how I've had to tell stories like this a lot, lately... anyways, she shows up to my house one day...”
“Rainbow!!! Rainbow Da~ash!!!”
Rainbow was busy napping in her cloud house, she had just been through a long, hard day of work clearing the sky. It had taken almost five minutes! Getting up and walking over to her cloud window, she looked down to see Rarity. She was surprised to she her there; Rarity hadn't spoken to Rainbow in almost two weeks! Ever since Dash had pranked Rarity, she had always just ignored Rainbow whenever they were near each other.
Rainbow flew down to the ground to see what was up; landing in front of Rarity, Rainbow greeted her awkwardly, “Oh, hey Rarity... what's up?”
“Oh, I was just in the area, and...” Rarity seemed unsure of herself, which was unusual, “Well... it's just that...” she trailed off and avoided eye contact with Rainbow, “Aw, to hay with it,” Rarity put her forehooves behind Rainbow's head and pulled her in for a kiss.
Rainbow just stood there, slightly confused; they had kissed before a couple of times, and Dash had to admit that she didn't hate it, but it was still kind of weird. Eventually, Rarity broke the kiss and Rainbow smirked a bit, “Alright then... just don't hit me this time.”
Rarity smiled a bit, “I'm terribly sorry for that... it's just that... I can't seem to get you out of my head,” Rarity looked to the ground, “Of course, at first, since that horrible, awful prank, my thoughts of you were filled with rage... but... after a while, I thought about what it was like with you as my marefriend... granted, it wasn't real and I am usually into stallions... it was... very nice.”
Rainbow shrugged, “Yeah, it was kinda nice, actually...”
“So, I came here... to... ask if you'd like to grab dinner sometime?” Rarity asked with hopeful eyes.
Rainbow shrugged again, “Sure, why not?” She thought for a second, “Does this mean you forgive me for that prank?”
“Mmmm... maybe...”
“Apparently, she didn't.”
“Well that was... interesting.” Twilight said with an uncertain look, “Well, I should probably get back home, I've got some import- WAHH!”
Pinkie Pie seemed to just appear out of nowhere beside Twilight; it wasn't as if she popped into thin air, though; it was like she had been there all along but nopony had noticed her until now, “Hey guys!!! I've had a breakthrough!”
Twilight, after seeing that it was just Pinkie, calmed down a bit, “Pinkie! What do you mean 'breakthrough?'”
Pinkie just smiled more, “In cake frosting! It's taken months, but I think it's perfect now! I just need you to get all the girls together!”
Twilight looked worried, “C- cake frosting?”
“Yeah! It's so good... I bet Rarity will wanna taste it first again!”
Rainbow laughed, “Right, I bet she'll jump at the chance!” Realization dawned on her face; she had promised to taste-test anything made by Pinkie that Rarity was going to eat, “Aww, crap... any chance there are no drugs of any kind in it this time?”
Pinkie just stood there, still smiling (obviously), “I can't say for sure; it's a secret!”