Rarity
How does one go about asking their best friend on a date they don't even want? For that matter, which friend should she ask?
Rainbow thought quietly, kicking small puffs of cotton-candy-like water vapor off of her cloud. She rubbed her wings gently against her sides, a habit she often exercised when deep in thought. This, and mane-chewing. She was such a mess that hair often wound up in her mouth without her putting it there, so gnawing on it was rather a natural tendency. Of course, chewing sometimes lead to biting it clean off, leaving the pegasus with wildly different length strands of hair that stuck out at odd angles, but only near her face.
This trait only added to Rainbow Dash's generally disastrous appearance. Rainbow Dash could not possibly attract any member of the equine race in the state she was currently. In fact, Rainbow actually found her mind drifting towards a shower for more than just a quick rinse-off of sweat.
Most of the time, she would jump under the spray for a minute or two, enough to make the B.O. wash away, then leap out and shake herself dry like a dog. The question was, did she own shampoo?
Who was she kidding? This would never work. Rainbow was beyond hope. She might have had a prayer of getting a stallion (he'd need to be just as dirty, if not worse, as she was), but mares? Worse yet, her friends, who knew each one of her disgusting habits?
Wait! That was it! She'd just tell her friends about Discord's plan! Then they could back him into a corner with the elements, or Rainbow Power, or whatever it was now!
Rainbow was proud of herself for realizing this flaw in Discord's plan (of course, it would have taken Twilight less than three seconds to solve this one, and it had taken Rainbow the better part of an hour to put the pieces together), and immediately scanned the ground for her nearest friend.
The spire of the Carousel Boutique caught her eye, and she glided down off the cloud, breaking into a swift gallop as soon as the ground would allow.
"Hey!" Rainbow burst into the Boutique, the little bell above the door jingling out of control. Rarity's blue magic silenced it for her, appearing from around a corner.
"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity looked confused. "What's the matter? Are you alright?"
"You'll never believe this!" Rainbow trotted close to Rarity, panting hard from the running. The unicorn faked a choke.
"Yes, dear. Please take care of that... er... halitosis before you get so close."
Rainbow was momentarily confused, but pressed on. "So, while I was practicing, I saw D-D--" Rainbow stopped, a strange stutter stopping her words. She started again. "I've been c-c-- cur-- by D-Dis-- DATE!" suddenly came out, and Rainbow slapped a hoof over her mouth.
Rarity's brows furrowed. "Excuse me?"
"I have to-- to--" she struggled to get the words out, to explain the dire situation to her friend, but it was as if she truly could not say them. "PRETTY!"
Rarity held back a chuckle, her face contorted but somehow still elegant. "Are you attempting to compliment me?" she asked, a hint of humor tangled with her light Bittish accent.
Rainbow made small, panicked sounds too soft for Rarity to hear.
"You are, aren't you?" She swallowed her chuckle and gave Rainbow a rather condescending pat on the head that made her feel like a dog. "That's very kind of you, but you didn't need to rush over."
"You don't understand! I--"
"I understand perfectly. You're trying to ask me out on a date in your strange, tomboy-ish way." She grinned knowingly, turning back to her work.
"N-no! I was just--"
Rarity finally let out her little chuckle. "I accept. Where are you taking me? I'll need to stop working soon, anyway. The natural light is gone."
"Uh..." Rainbow was paralyzed by her jumping to conclusions. They were technically correct, but...
Rarity chuckled again, her voice akin to peeling bells.
"Er.. the Hayburger, I guess?" Rainbow rubbed the back of her head absent-mindedly, searching for a distraction or excuse of some kind. This wasn't how this was supposed to ho at all!
Rarity's face turned from a grin to a pout in record time. "You've got to be joking. What about that Prench restaurant down the street? The one Gustav opened?"
Rainbow winced at the thought of eating such expensive food... in such small portions.
Wait... are you supposed to have money when you have a marefriend? Rainbow suddenly felt her stomach sink. She'd certainly gotten herself into a fine mess with this one.
"Um... how about we just... stay out all night and watch the stars? Like.. on a hill?"
Rarity's face lit up, shockingly. "Oh! How romantic!"
"Really?" Rainbow smiled. "Great!" Maybe this romance stuff was easy than she thought.
"Oh, my goodness! I have the most wonderful blanket for us to lay on! Let me go get it!" Rarity rushed off, neglecting her work to go on a date.
Rainbow sat down hard, realizing the serious repercussions of this stupid game for the first time. If she seduced the wrong pony, one that she wasn't happy spending time with, she'd have to tell them that she didn't really love them.
Rainbow sighed. Her night was starting to sound like a bizarre soap opera. She supposed it rather was, but the only viewer, the only one in on every secret, was Discord. Not to mention that this was going to last much longer than the duration of the night. This could potentially affect her whole life, after all... for better or for worse.
Rarity appeared once more, holding up a meticulously hoof-stitched quilt made from scraps of each of her failed gala dresses. Rainbow spotted the patches made from her shimmering gown and smiled.
"Isn't it just lovely? The dresses may have been hideous onstage, but they're just gorgeous in this quilt, hm?" She smiled, holding the quilt up for Rainbow's approval.
"It's... pretty, Rar," she choked out.
Rarity's eyes poked out of the top edge, fishing for more.
"Erm... they sure looked beyond hope on us..."
Rarity raised an eyebrow slightly.
"But, you can make anything pretty. That's what I like... about... you?" Rainbow finished hesitantly.
"Aw!" Rarity rushed forward, throwing her hooves about her friend's shoulders. "So thoughtful!"
Sure did take a lot of thinking... Rainbow agreed silently.
"Alright! Let's go, then!" Rarity grabbed Rainbow's hoof, pulling her out the door.
The two ponies walked slowly through the streets, heading for the outskirts of town. Rarity leaned against Rainbow slightly, blathering on and on about some fashionista nonsense while Rainbow thought carefully about the situation ahead of her. What should they talk about? Should she hug her, or should they just sit next one another? Speaking of which, should they sit or lay down? Should she talk about herself, or Rarity, or something else entirely?
"... what about you, Rainbow?" rarity, looked expectantly over at Rainbow.
"Hm?" Rainbow panicked, worried that she had already blown this date.
Rarity just laughed. She was kinda cute when she did that. "I said, what do you think about that new group, Imagine Equines?"
Rainbow laughed a bit, too, hers much rougher and more of a snort than Rarity's. "I'm, uh... I'm more of a showtune gal, really."
Rarity squinted up at Rainbow. "Really? But you said--"
"I know. It's kind of... embarrassing. Haven't you noticed how much I love to join in on those random songs?"
Rarity giggled. "I guess you're right. Why do you like them so much?"
"Oh, I've got a spectacular reason: a lot of popular songs are, like, complete nonsense, you know? Like, the lyrics make zero sense or just repeat the same thing over and over a million different ways. Showtunes tell you a story. Well, part of a story, anyway," Rainbow explained. She was pretty sure that was more than everything else she had sad to Rarity that night combined. "But I like rock, too."
Rarity laughed, loud and hard. "That's so strange. How is it I didn't know that about you?"
Rainbow shrugged. "I don't really... like, talk about myself with you guys."
"Why is that?"
She shrugged again. "I guess it's because all of you guys have other important ponies in your life: siblings, parents, teachers... I've just got a flying turtle. Which is cool, don't get me wrong, but..."
Rarity was quiet. "Well, what about Scootaloo?"
"She's got a family of her own. As much as she feels like my sister, I can't ever really feel like hers. I'm too old, it's too late..." Rainbow hadn't ever fully realized how sad that made her until she said it out loud.
Rarity was still quiet, just looking at Rainbow's face. She then turned her gaze down to her hooves.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to--"
"Non, no!" Rarity interrupted. "Don't apologize! I... I want to know you. Really. Go on, talk about yourself. What do you like to do besides fly?"
"Erm... well, I like to write."
"You do?"
"Mm-hm." She paused to think. "Stories, poetry... songs, sometimes..."
"Poetry?" Rarity repeated.
"Y-yeah..." Rainbow felt her cheeks grow hot.
"Could I hear some?"
"Um..." Rainbow swallowed.
"Hooves in the clouds
She's stuck on the ground.
Horn on her head or a bare spot there,
No matter what, the wind's still in her hair."
Rarity was quiet, contemplating the surprisingly deep poem.
"It's about how all ponies are the same... sort of... I can't really explain it, but it's how I feel." Rainbow averted her gaze from Rarity's twinkling eyes, looking up at the buildings as they grew fewer.
"I think I understand. That's very... well that's very poetic of you, Rainbow." Rarity tittered at her little joke.
Rainbow forced out a small snort. "Heh... thanks."
They walked in silence after that, each pony just thinking about the other, but in very different ways. Rainbow still had a tornado of questions swirling about in her head, while Rarity seemed to be actually enjoying this fake date.
Another few minutes of this slow walk brought them to the edge of town. Ponyville rested in a bit of a valley, so it was rather easy to find a comfortable incline they could rest the quilt on. Rarity excitedly pulled it out and laid it down on the grass, being sure to smooth out all of the wrinkles before inviting Rainbow to lay down.
Rainbow carefully sat down, then rolled onto her back, her softly rising and falling stomach exposed to the air. Rarity joined her, relaxing on her side and inching close to Rainbow.
"Do you know any constellations?" she asked.
"Erm..." Rainbow scanned the sky. The stars had never made shapes for her. Sure, they were pretty, but... "Those three make a pretty good triangle," she said, pointing.
Rarity laughed. She sure did laugh a lot. "I meant like... oh, Gemini."
"What's a Gemini?" Rainbow asked.
More laughter. "It's a constellation! The twin unicorns. See those two bright stars right there?" She pointed.
"Um... yeah."
"Those are the tips of their horns."
"Hm..." Rainbow gazed at the stars, squinting and moving her head about to try to see the shapes. "I don't see it."
Rarity chuckled lightly, snuggling into Rainbow's side. At first, Rainbow had no idea how to handle something like this, but she soon instinctively put her hoof around Rarity's shoulders. It felt good, calming even, to feel the steady rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed. Rainbow felt important, needed, protective.
Rarity stretched her head up, giving Rainbow a small peck on the cheek.
The spot flared, a strange warmth growing there and spreading across her face and down to her stomach. Was this what love felt like? An upset stomach?
"Thanks," she murmured.
"You're welcome," Rarity replied cheerily. "How'd you like a real one?"
As Rarity leaned over, her lips pursed slightly for a true kiss, Rainbow felt the small feeling in her stomach growing larger. It soon progressed to burning.
Then she realized she wasn't in love.
"Ew!" Rainbow pushed away, rolling off the quilt and part of the way down the hill, stopping herself before she picked up too much speed.
Rarity's face said it all. Her lips still pursed, the rest of her face had melted into a grimace. Her eyes were narrowed to tiny slits as she glared at Rainbow Dash. "What is going on here?"
Rainbow grinned sheepishly. "I tried to tell you--"
"Tell me what?" Rarity spat.
"I..." Rainbow remembered what had happened before when she had tried to share the truth. "I... have... a crush?"
"On... me, right?" Rarity asked.
"Well..." Rainbow's voice reached an insane pitch, cracking loudly.
"Oh, Celestia..." Rarity put a hoof on her forehead. "I know what this is. This was a practice date, wasn't it?"
Ooh, that's good! Rainbow thought. She put on a sympathetic face. "Yeah... Are you mad?"
Rarity sighed. "Well, I'm certainly not surprised. It's happened to me before..."
"It has?" Rainbow asked. She shook her head. "Look, I'm sorry, Rars, I just--"
"No, no. It's fine, really. So-- who's this crush on, then?" Rarity asked, already back to normal.
"Just like that?" Rainbow asked.
"You're my friend. If I would toss you out over something like this, we'd have stopped being friends a long time ago." She smiled, still a bit frustrated, but genuine.
"Whew!" Rainbow exclaimed. "You have no idea what a load off that is..."
"Yes, yes, now spill. Who's the crush?" Rarity all but demanded.
Rainbow opened her mouth to reply, then paused. "Uh... Everypony?"
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4833451
Not specifically. I just thought it would be a good representation of Discord's meddling.
4833156
^^^^^^
Description
^^^^^^
I like this premise. It's going to be good to see where this goes.
But something tells me that the pacing of this chapter was all over the place. Rarity agreed to a date like it ain't no thing, and all of a sudden, she's giving Rainbow Dash a kiss on a cheek. I'm all for Rarity being a romantic, but I don't think even she would rush it. And I think she would have over-reacted at the end there. She would have ranted at Dash, rather than just absorb 'being used'. She would despise it, and would be sure to let Rainbow Dash know. But this is just my two cents.
On another anaylsis, I've seen this was made back in June. "Chapters will be released daily." Huh...
4833604
Well, some more stuff is going to come out later about her... she's keeping more than a few secrets.
Rarity was awfully eager here. It seems like she has either been secretly crushing on Dash for a while now, or she (and possibly the rest of the mane six) know about Discord's little game.
And I can't help but wonder if that quilt is at all symbolic.
4833669
Yeah, I think I may have gone overboard on the symbolism in this fic.
4834880
That just means that high school English teachers will love it!
4834910
Too bad none of them let me write fiction for class!
4834997
Awww man.
For the record, I do like little bits of symbolism like that.
4835165
Thank you. Makes me feel better that some people notice.
4837167
.... XD JAJAJA I LOVE IT 
Sir, you are evil
Rainbow does poetry. Well, I suppose that's not too far fetched.
I understand this version on Rainbow so well, I'm someone whose not very open and doesn't like talking about myself, so when ppl learn things they're always so surprised
Really well written so far, cant wait to read more
Everypony? Really?
Yep!
Seriously darling?
Do you think she's telling the truth?
Yeah, no.
Actually, what Rarity has is what's called a "Mid-Atlantic Accent". It's that accent you hear from people in old movies and radio (like, 50's or earlier). It's a sort of British-American hybrid, and it isn't a regional thing, it's always intentional when you use it. People stopped using it because it was seen as too fake, showy, or upper-crusty, thus why Rarity uses it.
Not too many lines make me burst out laughing, but that one...
Just about sums up how the fandom sees poor Rainbow.