Doing Well by Doing Good

by Baal Bunny

Three

Cursing her all-too-distinctive jasmine perfume, Rarity considered staying put and remaining unresponsive. But, well, another matter that Rarity had found herself to be rarely mistaken about was the behavior of those ponies who had become her dearest and closest friends over the last few years. Indeed, Rainbow was already stepping closer to the rhododendron bush, her wings flaring to no doubt lift her into the air so she could get a better vantage.

"Yes, Rainbow," Rarity said with a sigh, firing her horn to clear a path as she stepped back out onto the sidewalk. "It is I..."

Her gaze on the concrete, Rarity didn't know—or rather, she didn't want to know—what expression Rainbow had on her face. "Huh," that scratchy voice said. "You wanna tell me why you're out here in the middle of the night wearing the Mare-Do-Well suit?"

For another half a heartbeat, Rarity thought about making something up. But really, what could she possibly say? What story could she fabricate when the truth sounded odd enough to be fiction?

"Well, if you must know," she said, and removing both the hat and the mask, she carefully folded the second over the crown of the first, settled herself to sit on the sidewalk, and told Rainbow plainly and straightforwardly how she'd come to learn that Filthy Rich's wife had lost the Azdariz Diamond. "And I'm determined to find it," she finished some moments later, "before the mad searching that's likely to begin when the news is made public tomorrow."

Rainbow had stayed completely blank-faced throughout the entire recitation, and as the night's silence drifted down around them again, Rarity had no idea what to expect. Would Rainbow react with anger since Rarity was dredging up this unfortunate episode from Rainbow's past? With derision since she was engaging in this childish bit of dress-up? With a scolding since she was trying to cheat other ponies out of the opportunity to find the Azdariz for themselves?

But instead, Rainbow said, "Okay, I'm in."

Rarity stared. "I beg you pardon?"

"I mean, c'mon!" Rainbow waved her wings. "I took Cloud Kicker's night shift this week 'cause her folks're visiting from Cloudsdale, but unless there's a storm brewing, night weather's the absolute boringest." A grin spread over her face, and she rubbed her hooves together. "So tracking jewel thieves? Yeah, you bet I'm in."

"Thieves?" Rarity could only blink for a moment. "Rainbow, the diamond was almost certainly not stolen. Fashionably Late's just, well, careless is perhaps the kind word for her. Growing up in luxury, she's never had to do without anything, so she's never had to pay much attention to what she does have."

"Hey." Rainbow poked Rarity's chest. "Don't you be badmouthing Shony."

That got Rarity blinking even more. "Shony?"

"Sure, she gets a little snooty sometimes, but—"

"Shony?" Rarity felt like a sewing machine that wouldn't quite take thread from its bobbin. "Are you honestly telling me that you know Fashionably Late well enough to call her by a nickname?"

Rainbow folded her front legs across her chest. "When we do our fundraiser every year to help out any ponies who lost stuff or got hurt 'cause of the weather, Shony's right there pitching in. She gets all her rich friends to come, pays to put the dinner together, and she's, like, the biggest donor all the time, too."

Suddenly, the costume seemed much too warm around Rarity. "I...I had no idea."

"And how's this for thinking?" Rainbow sprang into a hover and stretched her neck to whisper right into Rarity's ear. "If Shony had just lost this diamond, then somepony would've found it by now. And if somepony'd found it, they would've turned it in to City Hall or to Twilight at the castle, right? It wouldve made the papers, too, I bet." She reared back, spread her hooves, and shouted, her voice echoing all along the street, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Some guy finds a great big—!"

"Shhh!" Leaping up, Rarity shoved her right hoof into Rainbow's mouth, wrapped her left front leg around her neck, and dragged her to the ground. "Ponies are trying to sleep, you know!"

With a little flip, Rainbow broke away from Rarity's grip, her grin more abashed than usual. "But you see what I mean?" she asked in something closer to a midnight tone of voice. "If it was just lost, we would've heard about it when somepony found it. But we didn't, so that means we're dealing with thieves."

Rarity tried her best neither to raise her voice nor to scowl. "Or perhaps it's fallen someplace difficult to access. Down the storm drain or in the river or somewhere similar."

"Half of one, six dozen of the other." Tossing her mane, Rainbow drifted upward again, her wings a blur. "Either we're fighting jewel thieves, or we're hunting for ancient treasure. Hey, and if we're lucky, maybe we'll get to do both!"

The tiniest needle-like ache started jabbing into Rarity's temple. "This isn't a Daring Do novel, Rainbow."

Rainbow poked the clasp holding Rarity's cape in place. "Last time I looked, I wasn't the one wearing the costume." With a laugh, she zoomed off toward the town square. "You coming, Mare-Do-Well?"

"Rainbow!" Once again, Rarity barely managed to choke off her yell; levitating the mask and hat, she took a step to follow her friend, but she couldn't concentrate fully on her gem-finding spell if she was busy floating all this paraphernalia around. She couldn't leave the hat and mask here, either, as that would break up the ensemble and spoil the entire look. So with more than a few grumbles, she wrenched the mask over her head, shoved the hat into place, and raced off into the darkness after Rainbow Dash.

Comments

[Lurks-no-More]

"Half of one, six dozen of the other." Tossing her mane, Rainbow drifted upward again, her wings a blur. "Either we're fighting jewel thieves, or we're hunting for ancient treasure. Hey, and if we're lucky, maybe we'll getta do both!"

Rainbow Dash has the correct adventurer's attitude.

[Baal Bunny]

5951602

A co-worker of mine:

Always said "half of one, six dozen of the other" instead of the actual "six of one, half a dozen of the other," and I've always wanted to work it into a story somewhere. And now I have!

Mike

[Corejo]

This'll be fun.

[MustReadMore]

5952367 Just a quick nitpick on the way you comment, you're using incorrect grammar when you do this

A person somewhere:

Went to the movies.

It's no big deal and may just be how you organize things or something but I can hardly ever resist nit picking.

[Baal Bunny]

5988258

It all goes back:

To my days of learning to type before computers had been invented. The formal letter style that I learned called for the salutation to be followed by a colon and for the body of the letter to follow after two carriage returns and a five-space indentation. So I've kept doing that for all these decades even though it makes no sense.

Mike

[Solitair]

5997968
If you don't mind me asking, what's it like to come into this game with so many years behind you?

[Baal Bunny]

6055014

I'm quite enjoying it:

I've been writing my own stories for so long, too, that writing fanfiction like this, working with an already existing set of characters and settings and all, has been an interesting experience. It's made me look at the whole process of writing in a different way and I think has helped me with my own stuff.

Mike

[Knight of the Raven]

Nice seeing more of Rainbow Dash, even though I'm surprised she shortens her words that often. But then again this gives her a voice most distinctive from Rarity.

I liked Fashionably Late's hidden depth as organizer and biggest donor of the fundraiser to repair damages from weather - especially that it might just imply the Element of Generosity herself doesn't bother with that particular fundraiser - and the concept of the fundraiser itself. It's also nice to have Rainbow Dash care so much about it, whether 'it' refers to Rarity badmouthing Fashionably Late or to repairing the damage done.

And I loved that Rarity's voice continues in the narration, with lines like "Rarity felt like a sewing machine that wouldn't quite take thread from its bobbin" and "The tiniest needle-like ache started jabbing into Rarity's temple."

I liked these lines;

night weather's the absolute boringest

Suddenly, the costume seemed much too warm around Rarity.

And here are a few comments;

What story could she fabricate when the truth sounded odd enough to be fiction?

To be FiMfiction, to be more specific.

With derision since she was engaging in this childish bit of dress-up?

Necessary dress-up is never childish.

Fashionably Late's just, well, careless is perhaps the kind word for her

Euphemism power.

And if somepony'd found it, they would've turned it in to City Hall or to Twilight at the castle, right? It wouldve made the papers, too, I bet.

Because obviously no one would ever keep an expensive jewel they found for themselves, right?

"Half of one, six dozen of the other."

"What's upsetting you, darling?"

"She's always using common phrases wrong."

"Oh, cry me a table Twi."

[FoldabotZ]

And now, the Dynamic Duo is born!