“Oooh, this one’s pretty!”
Rainbow studied the gown for a long moment. It was a soft purple that seemed out of place amongst the sea of periwinkle and coral dresses next to it, and the harsh fluorescent lights of the store only made it look worse. She tried to imagine Rarity wearing it, but the only image of her friend she could conjure up was of her gagging.
“I don’t think so, Pinkie,” Rainbow said. “It’s not really her style, y’know?”
Pinkie Pie shrugged and sashayed down the empty aisle, stopping and giving the occasional dress a pondering look. Her tail vanished around a display case just as Dash sat down and let her wings fall to her sides.
Rainbow rubbed her hoof against the soft lining of the Santa hat Rarity had set on her head and sighed. She and Pinkie were the only two in the store—aside from the owner, a bubbly yellow pegasus named Clear Water. If it weren’t for the jazzy Hearth’s Warming music being broadcast through the ceiling speakers, the silence would have been deafening.
I really messed this one up, huh? she thought to herself. It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve! All of the good dresses are probably already sold!
“This one matches her eyes!” Pinkie said a few minutes later, poking her head around the display and holding out a baby blue frock with a wide smile.
“No it doesn’t,” Rainbow said pointedly. After all this time, how could Pinkie Pie not have noticed that Rarity’s eyes were ocean blue? Baby blue wasn’t even close! “Rarity’s eyes are way darker than that.”
Pinkie’s face screwed up as she examined the dress. She looked back up at Rainbow and cocked her head. “Are you sure?” she asked, giving her a leery-eyed stare.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Rainbow grunted, sitting. up and rolling her eyes. “Geeze, Pinkie, I can’t believe you don’t know what color your friend’s eyes are.”
Pinkie stuck her tongue out. “Do too!” she insisted. “I’m just not super duper over-specific like some ponies that obviously stare at them way more than me!”
“I do not!”
“Yeah-huh!” Pinkie huffed before bursting into a giggle fit.
“Nu—” Rainbow caught herself and glared at the floor. “Just put it back,” she growled.
“Right away, Dashie!” Pinkie sang, disappearing behind the display again.
Rainbow set her jaw and leaned back against the rack of dresses again. Whatever she got Rarity had to be just as good, if not better, than anything that Rarity herself made. Thinking back on how many outfits the unicorn had gone through back in Canterlot just made her heart sink even more. Rarity had looked so great in all of those outfits; how could Dash ever find something that fantastic?
Canterlot . . . Rainbow had a new level of respect for the city now. Something about it made her smile every time she thought about it these days. She supposed that it was because she was a Wonderbolt now, and got to fly in the annual re-opening of Princess Celestia’s Royal Garden. It was supposed to be a really big deal, but Dash just didn’t see what was so special about a yard full of flowers. Rarity had, though. More than that, she had seen just how much flying with the Wonderbolts during its opening meant to her.
A storm of butterflies raged in Rainbow’s belly as she remembered Rarity proudly storming into the room, dressed in that red trench coat and floppy black hat, and declaring that she was going to find out whoever framed Rainbow “faster than my costume change!” She hadn’t realized how much Rarity’s faith meant to her at the time, but as the day wore on, she grew to need it. Rarity was the rock that held Rainbow together as every new shred of evidence singled her out more and more as the perpetrator.
It was all Rarity, Rainbow knew. Rarity was the single reason why Rainbow’s name was cleared. Rarity was the single reason why she was allowed to fly that day. Rarity was the single reason why Rainbow was still a Wonderbolt; Rarity was the single reason why Rainbow’s dream hadn’t fallen apart at her hooves.
Rainbow had to make it up to her. She had to pay Rarity back for believing in her—for dragging her around the city all day when she could have been showing off her new Femme Mystique Chic line at Sassy Saddles’ boutique. If only there were a dress in this stupid store that was good enough for her!
What kinds of dresses did Rarity like anyway? Rainbow thought hard, but she couldn’t seem to find any parallels between all of the clothes that she wore. It just seemed like Rarity wore whatever she looked good in. Or was it that Rarity looked good in whatever she wore? Rainbow groaned and rubbed her temples with her hooves. This was an awful time to not know anything about fashion.
At least Rainbow knew what Rarity didn’t like: Anything that wasn’t “chic, unique, or magnifique!” Whatever that meant. She sighed as she hoofed through the hangers one-by-one. Why couldn’t Rarity like anything awesome? Or cool? Rainbow could have found something right away and been in and out of this palace of girliness in a flash!
Crash!
“Whoopsies!”
Rainbow whirled around and jumped to her hooves. “Pinkie?” She trotted around the display and searched up and down the aisle for her friend.
“Over here!” Pinkie called back from behind her.
Rainbow looked down the other end of the aisle and groaned. Somehow, an entire rack had been knocked over, and the dresses had collapsed to the floor. A pink tuft of tail was just visible under a hideous green and brown polkadotted sundress. Rainbow groaned. “Pinkie, what did you do?”
A mound of clothes shifted around, and a figure like some monstrous cotton-dress-pony raised from the pile. It shook its head, and a pink muzzle wormed its way out of a leg hole. “I was trying to reach that dress up there!” she said, giggling and pointing at a ponyquin mounted on the top shelf near the wall. “Isn’t it super pretty?”
Rainbow bit her tongue for a moment to take in the sight, and was glad she did. The dress Pinkie was pointing to was a gorgeous black and gold ball gown that looked soft enough to sleep in. She could already see Rarity wearing it to next year’s Grand Galloping Gala, or to a fashion show, or even just to a play. She’d look stunning. Rainbow knew she would.
“It’s perfect . . .” Rainbow whispered, taking a step toward it and letting out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding.
“Yowchie!”
Rainbow jumped in surprise and pulled her hoof back up. She looked around and saw Pinkie, now a few more feet away and massaging her tail with a pout. “Heh, sorry?”
“It’s okay,” Pinkie said, biting her lip. “You didn’t mean to.”
“Here, lemme help you with that.” Rainbow pulled at one of the dresses, and several of them fell off of Pinkie and joined the rest of the pile. “We’ll clean this up, grab that dress and get out of here.” She pushed on Pinkie’s shoulder and added, with a smile: “And we’ll stop by Sugarcube Corner and get some hot chocolate, okay?”
Pinkie’s face brightened immediately. “Only if we get the ones with the marshmallow snowponies!”
“Deal! Now help me clean this up before Clear freaks on us.”
As it turned out, cleaning up Pinkie’s mess was a bit more involved than Rainbow had initially thought. They couldn’t just hang the dresses back up without setting the rack back up first, but Pinkie’s fall had shifted it over, and it was now standing precariously atop a mound of linen. Together, they carefully extricated the expensive dresses from under the stand, and hung them back up one at a time.
When the last dress was hanging happily back on its hanger, Rainbow lept into the air and dashed to the ponyquin wearing the gown. She tried to figure out how to take it off, but she couldn’t see a zipper or ties or anything. After a few long moments, she shook her head, scooped the whole ponyquin up in her forelegs, and carefully hovered over to the counter.
Clear looked up from her magazine and blew a strand of her bright blue mane out of her eyes. “Fin’lly pick somethin’?” she asked around the piece of gum she was chewing.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said with a nod. She shifted on her hooves. “But I can’t figure out how to take it off this dress model.”
The shopkeep studied the dress and raised an eyebrow. “Goin’ with a Hoity Toity, huh?” she asked, blowing a bubble. “I din’ know you had the coin fo’ somethin’ like that, Rainbow Dash.” Her eyes narrowed. “‘n fact, las’ I heard, you don’ even like gettin’ dressed!”
“It’s a special case!” Rainbow said quickly. Her eyes drifted to the clock, and her heart skipped a beat. Twilight’s Hearth’s Warming party was supposed to start in less than an hour! “Look, can you get it off for me?”
“Sure thing,” Clear said, pronouncing the word “sure” like “shaw” and making Rainbow’s nostrils flare. “Bu’ firs’ ya gotta gimme two ‘undred bits.”
Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Two hundred?” she exclaimed. That was almost a full two weeks pay! “But I spent everything I have earlier today! I don’t have that kind of money!”
“Thin I guess ya ain’t gettin’ this here dress, are ya?” Clear blew another bubble and leaned back in her chair.
A chill ran down Rainbow’s spine. She had to get this dress or she’d have no gift for Rarity! Well, no good gift, at any rate. “But I need it!” Rainbow cried, jumping up and placing her hooves on the counter. “Please! Can’t I take out a loan or something?”
“A loan?” Clear snorted. “You mus’ve eaten too many gumdrops this morning! I never give out loans!”
“But it’s Hearth’s Warming!” Rainbow pleaded. “I need it for a present!”
“An’ I need’a keep my business open!” Clear said firmly, slapping her hoof on the counter. “No deal!”
Rainbow’s eyes stung. Now what was she going to do? Why had she even come here? After her big purchase this morning, she knew she didn’t have any money left until friday! She felt a gentle hoof land on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, Dashie,” Pinkie said softly. “We can figure something out.”
Dropping off the counter, Rainbow pushed the hoof off of her and skulked toward the door. “Just forget it, Pinkie. I’ll just have to—I don’t know.”
“Wait a mi’t,” Clear suddenly said. Rainbow looked back to see the shopkeeper leaned over the counter, leering at her. “Those th’ new Wonde’bolt two-sixties?”
Rainbow blinked and pulled at her new goggles around with a wary frown. She had nearly forgotten about them. They were still hanging loosely around her neck from her talk with Pinkie earlier. “. . .Yeah? Why?”
“I’ve a cousin who talks ‘bout that group all the time,” Clear said, eyeing them hungrily. “Says she’s goin’ to the ‘cademy nex’ month, but she can’ afford the high-brand goggles she needs for it.”
Rainbow’s expression softened. She remembered her time at the Wonderbolt Academy all too well—every cut, bump and bruise of it. The reward had been worth the effort, no doubt, but without proper eye protection it would be impossible. “The dizzitron would knock anything short of Skyliners right off your face,” she said with a nod.
“How much you wan’ for ‘em?”
“What?’
Clear rose up higher, her hooves still propped up on the counter. “You ‘eard me. How much fo’ th’ goggles?”
“They’re not for sale! I just got them today!” Rainbow cried incredulously. “It’s the whole reason I can’t afford your dress!”
“Then I’ll trade ya!” Clear declared, spitting her gum into the trashcan beside the counter. “Righ’ here’n now!”
Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat. Was this for real? This could be her chance to get Rarity a real gift—the gift she deserved. But she’d have to give up her brand new, top-of-the-line goggles first. Her eyes darted from Clear to the dress and back. She bit her lip and danced in place. She couldn’t give up her goggles, she’d waited way too long for them. Rarity’s gift would just have to wait until Friday.
But then . . .
The image of a teary-eyed Rarity insisting that it was fine that Rainbow didn’t get her a gift flooded her mind. Her cheeks were wet, but she handed Rainbow a large box, hoof wrapped with a beautiful ribbon and decorated with bright blue paper. Whatever Rarity got her was sure to be awesome, but when Rarity didn’t get anything in return, what would she think?
Your gift is the best way to show the pony you care about how you feel.
No, Rainbow couldn’t show up empty-hoofed. Not after everything Rarity had done for her—she’d sooner take back every present she’d get from her friends before skipping her!
Rainbow closed her eyes and made up her mind. With a deep breath, she exhaled and looked Clear right in the eyes. “Deal.” she said quietly.
Clear’s face could have lit a Hearth’s Warming tree all by itself. “Perfect!” she cheered, sweeping the dress off the ponyquin with a motion so fluid, it was as if the dress wasn’t even sewn together. She held the dress in one forehoof and held out the other expectantly. “Give ‘em ‘ere.”
“Right . . .” Rainbow said, swallowing. Her hooves felt like lead weights as she walked back the the counter. She pulled at her goggles and looked at them one last time. A fleeting image of her and Spitfire ripping through the sky in a crowded stadium darted surfaced, but she quickly squashed it down.
Rarity is more important, Rainbow thought to herself, setting her jaw. Then, she closed her eyes and pulled up with her hoof. The strap pulled against her mane, making her wince a little, but it quickly made it over her head and flopped without ceremony back into the lenses. She set them on the counter and pushed them toward Clear, keeping her eyes locked on the floor.
Clear was beaming. “Thank you!” Her hoof fell onto Rainbow’s, and gently tugged at the goggles. When they didn’t move, she frowned and pulled harder. “‘ey, you’ve got t’ le’go!”
Rainbow grimaced and pulled her hoof up. It trembled in the air as the goggles vanished from underneath, and Clear let out a triumphant cry. She felt a hole open up in the pit of her stomach, but she grabbed for the dress and held it tight against her chest. Now that it was hers, she wasn’t going to let it go until it was safely in Rarity’s hooves.
A smile from Pinkie Pie lessened the void in her belly a little. “Wow, Dashie,” she said softly, wiping a tear from her cheek. “That was so super sweet of you.”
“Y-yeah?” Rainbow grumbled, blowing a lock of her mane out of her eyes. “Well, whatever. I don’t need any goggles anyway . . .”
“Tha’s th’ spirit!” Clear trumpeted, sliding the goggles off of the counter and into a small cardboard box. “Aero Plane’s sure gonna love these!”
The clatter made Rainbow wince, and her lip pulled back into a snarl. “Careful with those!” she snapped, stomping her hoof and flaring her wings instinctively.
Clear blinked. “Wha’? They fragile’r somethin’?”
“No. They’re plastic, but . . .” Rainbow clenched her teeth and shook her head. “Just forget it.” She took one last, longing look at the box on the counter and started for the door. “Thanks, Clear.”
“You’re the best!” Pinkie chirped as she bounced toward the exit.
Rainbow opened the door stiffly, and then almost immediately slammed it shut again as she caught a quick movement in the corner of her eye. “Woah!” she exclaimed. She’d just barely managed to close the door in time. A huge torrent of mud spattered from the road and coated the storefront like a brown waterfall. She could just barely make out a blue uniform and a stacked cart racing away through the gunk. “Stupid mailpony!”
“Is’e at it again?” Clear groaned from the counter, rubbing her temples. “‘e’ll owe me a fortune’n window cleanin’ b’fore th’ day’s out.”
Rainbow huffed and tucked the new dress into her saddlebags with care. She made sure to fold it as neatly as she could, and even used both buckles before she dared open the door again. “C’mon, Pinkie,” she sighed. “Let’s just get outta here.”