Doing Well by Doing Good

by Baal Bunny

Two

Taking a breath of the midnight air through the mask's fabric, Rarity slid open the window of her darkened showroom and slipped into the space between the wall of Carousel Boutique and the shrubbery.

Yes, this was undoubtedly a silly idea. When it had occurred to her, in fact, as she'd paced and pondered earlier, it had struck her as so inordinately ridiculous, she had batted it away as blithely as Opalescence playing with her toy mouse.

As evening had deepened to full night, however, Rarity restlessly prowling the halls, the idea had kept returning. The outfit had a large enough hat to cover the telltale light of her horn in action; it was dark enough to render her effectively invisible should she keep to the shadows and tread softly; and the cape, she'd always thought, was simply to die for.

She'd kept the costume, of course, carefully hung in the back closet with others of her designs that she couldn't bear to dispose of for sentimental reasons. And with the clock in the hall striking eleven, Rarity had found herself standing in the doorway of that very same closet, her magic rifling through the unfinished or ungainly items stored there till she'd come across those very particular and sleek purples and dark blues.

It took her the rest of the hour to convince herself that she hadn't lost her mind, but only a few moments to don the entire ensemble. Yes, she'd been alone among her friends in not wearing the suit during their chastisement of Rainbow Dash, but since she'd had to work on a very tight deadline, she'd used her own measurements as the template for this original version in order to balance the design elements before producing the outfits that would see actual service in the field, as it were.

Crouching behind the shrubs, she straightened a seam with the slightest of smiles. The Mare-Do-Well outfit still fit her as snugly as the day she'd made it.

Glancing from side to side and pricking her ears, she perceived no other ponies anywhere about. So with another breath, she activated her gem-finding spell—the scan she'd already made of the Boutique and its environs had brought nothing to light but her regular stock of jewels—and scurrying from the bushes to the wall of the building across the street, she began slinking through the shadows toward the town square.

Fortunately, Fashionably Late had always struck Rarity as a creature of habit, visiting the same spots when out on errands either alone or with that appalling child of hers. Unfortunately, as the matriarch of the town's wealthiest family, Ms. Late visited quite a variety of spots: the Gardening Committee met at the gazebo in the park, the Parent-Teacher Association at the schoolhouse, the Library Board of Trustees downstairs in Twilight's castle, the Village Beautification League at City Hall, et cetera, et cetera. The more she thought about it, in fact, the easier it seemed for Rarity's current purposes to eliminate those few places the mare didn't go and work from there.

With her mind focused on putting together an itinerary, she crept along the silent streets while shrugging off the occasional tug of her horn toward the jewelry box of some sleeping pony in whatever house she was passing. That she might be too late, however—it had been a week since the diamond's disappearance, after all—she refused to think about. She would do an initial scan of the town before daybreak, and if she came up empty—

A fluttering of feathers and a clearing of throat behind her made her hooves freeze halfway into taking her next step. Swiveling her head, she squinted over her shoulder through the mask's eyepieces, and her entire circulatory system froze as well. For there, those unmistakable violet eyes narrowing beneath that ill-cropped, multi-colored mane, stood the very last pony Rarity had hoped or expected to see wandering about Ponyville in the middle of a Thursday night.

"Hi," Rainbow Dash said, her body taut and still and making Rarity think of an arrow notched and ready to shoot from its bow. "D'you think I could maybe ask you a couple questions?"

Bolting for the nearest alleyway was a mistake, Rarity knew the moment she did it, but by then it was rather too late. The whoosh of wings made her ears twist, and throwing herself sideways, she ended up tripping and tumbling out of Rainbow's way, the pegasus whisking past with a shouted, "Hey!"

Rarity regained her hooves quickly enough, and galloping down the sidewalk, she searched the street ahead frantically for anywhere she could hide that wasn't a trash bin or the underside of a dusty stoop. The rather unkempt rhododendron bush along the side of the hardware store seemed the best option, so she stretched her magic, pushed as many of the branches out of the way as she could manage, leaped inside, and let the foliage snap back into place.

Two heartbeats later—and Rarity's heart was beating rather quickly at that moment—a flapping of wings brought Rainbow Dash to a landing in the middle of the street, the frown on her muzzle about as ferocious as any Rarity had ever seen there. Rainbow looked to the left, looked to the right, and her forehead wrinkled, her frown getting even more ferocious. Peering through the leaves, Rarity held her breath, and when Rainbow turned slowly in a full circle without her frown lessening, a little spark of hope tingled along Rarity's spine. Perhaps the dark fabric of the costume would keep her safe from detection?

But then Rainbow closed her eyes, tipped her head back, and sniffed. Her eyes shot open, blinked several times, then moved so Rarity found herself looking straight into them. "Rarity?" Rainbow asked.

Comments

[CommisarSilver]

Rainbow dash is part hound?

[Baal Bunny]

5952295

Rainbow Dash knows:

The Rainbow Dash nose.

Sorry,
Mike

[Corejo]

5952357
That was bad and you should feel bad. But this story is good, and that cancels it out.

[Bluedot]

Glancing from side to side and pricking her ears

I had no idea that pricking had another definition other than 'pierce slightly.' Cool.

[Baal Bunny]

5979899

English is:

A fun language.

Mike

[Mehnlo]

5952295 I imagine that Rarity would be pretty easy to smell, what with all the perfume and other cosmetics she would apply to herself, probably anyone who spent enough time with her would be able to recognize the scent of what she puts on herself every day, at the very least.

[QueenMoriarty]

It's spelled Carousel.

[Knight of the Raven]

Again, lovely narration. I liked these lines;

As evening had deepened to full night

her body taut and still and making Rarity think of an arrow notched and ready to shoot from its bow

a little spark of hope tingled along Rarity's spine

[FoldabotZ]

And with the clock in the hall striking eleven, Rarity had found herself standing in the doorway of that very same closet...

That reminds me of the scene in Batman v Superman

[Wild Stallion]

But then Rainbow closed her eyes, tipped her head back, and sniffed. Her eyes shot open, blinked several times, then moved so Rarity found herself looking straight into them. "Rarity?" Rainbow asked.

I find it strangely funny that Rainbow Dash was able to recognize Rarity by smell alone. Not funny in a implausible manner, but funny in a "isn't that intresting?" One.