//------------------------------//
// Fifth 
// Story: A Game of Hearts 
// by AugieDog 
//------------------------------//

"Huh?" gasped Rarity.

"Sorry!" Twilight jumped to her hooves; she'd been sprawled on the rug beside one of Rarity's couches while paging through a book of love poetry that seemed to have been arranged in order of increasing overwroughtness.

The others had all looked up as well when the front door to Carousel Boutique had opened to admit a laughing Rarity and Fluttershy, but when nopony else said anything, Twilight took it upon herself to explain: "We were going to wait outside, but the door was unlocked, so we—"

"Well, of course!" With a blink, every sign of Rarity's shock vanished, a smile spreading across her milk-smooth face. "I'll not have my friends standing around in the wind when I have all these lovely warm sofas sitting here!" The tiniest frown wrinkled her forehead. "As I was telling Fluttershy, however, I do have a bit of work I need to take care of before lunch, so if the rest of you want to go ahead and get us a table at Timothy Hay's, I'll be glad to join you shortly." Most of her smile returned.

And as much as Twilight wanted to let this all go and forget it had ever happened, she instead took a breath and dredged up a smile of her own. "We won't take up too much of your time. We only wanted to say—"

"It's no good, Rares!" Rainbow swooped over with a grimace and hovered in front of their friend. "Hiding's not gonna work anymore, so you might as well come clean!" She poked Rarity in the chest to punctuate each of those last two words.

Fluttershy shrank back into her mane, Applejack pulling her hat down over her eyes while Twilight couldn't keep from shouting, "Rainbow! Will you please—!"

"Woo-hoo!" Pinkie, draped over the back of a chair, pounded its cushion while Spike, on the couch beside Applejack, slapped a paw to his forehead. "That's telling 'er, Dashie!"

"'Telling her'?" Rarity repeated, her expression hardening. "Telling me what, exactly?"

Twilight opened her mouth, but Rainbow was too fast again: "We know all about it!" She shook a hoof at Twilight and stuck her snout out till it almost touched Rarity's. "Me and Twi saw the whole thing in the market yesterday, and we wanna hear what you've got to say for yourself!"

Gritting her teeth, Twilight jumped forward, wrapped her magic around Rainbow, and pulled her out of Rarity's face. "Will you please stop this?" she hissed, setting Rainbow down on the carpet beside her.

"Indeed!" Rarity's voice rang as cold and bright as a well-cut diamond. "I must insist on a modicum of decorum! For while I'll be happy to discuss anything at all, darling, I first need to have some inkling of what in the wide, wide world of Equestria it is we're actually talking about!"

The instant Twilight shut off her horn, Rainbow sprang back toward Rarity. "You and Big Mac!" she yelled. "And don't try to deny it!"

The wide-eyed panic that flashed across Rarity's face vanished almost at once, but Twilight knew she'd seen it. Everypony else had, too, given the way Rainbow cried, "Ah-ha!" and Spike let out a little whimpering gasp.

"It's not—!" Rarity took a breath. "It's not whatever vulgar thing you're thinking it is, Rainbow Dash."

"Really?" Rainbow landed, hooves spread wide and muscles tense, like one of Applejack's bulls getting ready to charge. "So what exactly is it?"

Twilight would've called the sound Rarity made then a snort if any other pony had made it. But from Rarity, that just didn't seem like the right word. "McIntosh asked me for some advice," she said, her head drawn back and her eyes half-closed. "And that's all I care to say on the subject."

"Mac?" Rainbow's voice dripped with disbelief. "Asking advice? From you?"

"Rainbow Dash!" The words sliced like knives, and everypony in the room jumped, their gazes snapping straight to the source: Fluttershy, still standing beside Rarity, the Stare shimmering around the edges of her eyes. "You're behaving very rudely!"

"I'm behaving rudely?" For all that the air felt like it was solidifying in Twilight's lungs, Rainbow kept shouting as loudly as before. "I'm not the one lying to my friends!"

"I beg your pardon?" Rarity didn't seem to be having any trouble with the air, either. "How dare you say such a—?"

Rarity stopped again, but this time it seemed to Twilight more as if she snapped her teeth closed to bite off whatever words were boiling up from her throat. "Please forgive me, all of you." She looked around the room, her gaze finally coming back to settle on Rainbow, both their jaws clenched so hard, Twilight imagined she heard teeth cracking. "And especially you, Rainbow Dash, but I don't believe that any further discussion of this point at this time will result in anything other than bruised egos and hurt feelings." She swallowed, and something close to an actual smile whispered over her lips. "I hope that someday soon, you'll be in a clearer state of mind, and we'll be able to discuss this matter rationally."

"Ha!" Rainbow stomped the floor. "Like that's gonna happen!" She pushed past Fluttershy and shouldered her way out the front door.

Silence filled the room like an overinflated balloon, and when something popped loudly behind her, Twilight jumped for the second time in as many minutes. Whirling, she saw Pinkie taking her hoof away from her mouth.

"Wow, Twilight." Pinkie slithered down into the cushion of the chair she'd been hanging over, tumbled onto the carpet, and puddled there like melted strawberry ice cream before sitting up and shaking her head. "I don't think that went the way you planned it."

Applejack rushed up. "Fluttershy? Rarity? You okay? I mean, I know Dash wouldn't do more'n shout, but having to use the Stare on her?" She shook her head and took another hesitant step toward Fluttershy. "You need to sit down a minute, sugar cube?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Applejack," Fluttershy murmured, her mane once more hiding most of her face. "I...I didn't mean to, but she was being so...so..." She sighed and shrugged.

By this time, Twilight found that she could speak again. "I'm really sorry, Rarity." She shot a glance toward Pinkie Pie. "My plan was for us to ask you if anything's going on with you and Big Mac and if there's anything we can do to help."

"There isn't," Rarity said so sharply Twilight couldn't help wincing. Rarity groaned, then, put a hoof to her forehead, and rubbed back and forth. "I mean, there's nothing going on between Mac and myself." Her hoof stopped, and when she pulled it away, she had a spark in her eye that hadn't been there the moment before. "If you'd like to help, though, go find Rainbow Dash." The spark grew brighter. "Yes! Find Rainbow Dash, and tell her to take heart! Things often seem the darkest just before the dawn!" She clapped her front hooves together. "Yes! Please! Go at once! I shall catch up with you as soon as possible! And I may just have a surprise with me!"

Twilight blinked, and the way Fluttershy and Applejack were staring at Rarity told her they found her sudden change of attitude just as peculiar. "O...kay," Twilight said. "If you're sure you're all right?"

"Better than all right!" Rarity's hooves flashed in a high-stepping sort of dance. "Quickly, now! If all goes well, I shall see you shortly!"

Applejack and Fluttershy had both shifted to look at Twilight, but she didn't have any answers except trusting their friend. "All right," she said. "I guess we'll see you."

She turned toward the now-open door, her mane rustling in the breeze blowing through, but Spike speaking up behind her made her stop and look back over her shoulder: "Rarity?" His eyes shimmered as they gazed up at her. "Mac's a great guy, y'know, so, I mean, if you do like him—"

"Oh, Spikey." Rarity patted a hoof against Spike's head ridges. "As long as I have wonderful friends like you and McIntosh, I know that my life will be filled with 'great guys.'" She spun for the curtains at the back of the room. "But ta-ta for now!"

Outside, the wind had really picked up, Twilight's wings wanting to open as the gusts buffeted her pinions. "Well," she said as Applejack pulled the door closed after the others. "I guess we need to find Rainbow and—"

"Didn't I tell you?" Rainbow dropped into the space between Twilight and Pinkie, her eyes glassy and shining in the not-quite-noontime sunlight. "Now, we'll need rope and firefly lanterns and ninja suits if we're gonna get the truth!"

"Ninja suits?" a scratchy voice asked from off to her left, and Twilight glanced over to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders coming around the curving wall of Carousel Boutique, Scootaloo in front and shaking her head. "It's like ev'rypony's here to get their Nightmare Night costumes today!" she said.

"Well?" Sweetie Belle tossed her mane. "Rarity's the best!"

"Shhh!" Apple Bloom held a hoof up to her lips. "Will you two be quiet? Mac said he didn't want nopony to know, remember?"

"Oops." Scootaloo gave a sheepish smile. "Forget I said anything, everypony!"

"Hold it!" Rainbow spun through the blustery sky and landed right in front of the smaller pegasus. "What's this about Big Mac?"

"Nothing!" Apple Bloom more squeaked than said, but Rainbow had her attention fixed on Scootaloo as sharply as a hawk regarding a mouse.

Scootaloo swallowed so hard, Twilight could see it travel down her throat. "He was just—" She pointed a hoof around toward the back of the boutique.

"Rainbow," Twilight started, but Rainbow was already leaping to the front door, flinging it open, and bounding inside.

Galloping after her, Twilight instead ran smack into her, her wings puffed out and her head drawn back. And at the far end of the showroom, both of them turning to face the front, their eyes going wide and their mouths dropping open, stood Rarity and Big McIntosh.

Twilight felt her own jaw loosen, and then light flashed over the entire scene. Thunder crashed, Twilight already losing track of how many times she'd given a startled jump so far today. Something that sounded like hissing started up, and Twilight spun to see rain falling thick and fast from a suddenly cloud-covered sky.

"What the hay?" Applejack shouted from outside, then she rushed in pushing Fluttershy ahead of her, water pouring from her hat brim, Pinkie and Spike at her heels; beyond them, Twilight could see ponies running for cover all up and down the street. "Ain't any storm scheduled today, Dash!"

"Never mind that!" Wings slashing the air, Rainbow shot into a hover, one front leg snapping out to point at the two staring back at her. "What was it you just said, Rares? Nothing going on with you and Big Mac?"

"No, Rainbow!" Rarity's mane, so perfectly coiffed just a few moments ago, was beginning to frazzle around the edges. "It isn't—!"

"More lies!" Rainbow's voice cracked, and standing right beside her, Twilight couldn't help but notice how she was shivering. "Just like always happens when a stallion comes into the picture!"

"What?" The look on Rarity's face wavered back and forth between shock and anger. "Rainbow, we're not—!"

"Whatever!" Rainbow jabbed a hoof at her own chest. "Me, I've got a freak Everfree storm to deal with right now! And who knows? Maybe I'll let it blow me clear back to Cloudsdale! Or Fillydelphia! Or Manehattan! Or...or anywhere that isn't here!" Spinning, she rocketed over the others and vanished into the darkness outside.