Chapter 24: Dress and Stress
Natalya never had an interest in dresses. She did not need to wear anything special to look good, nor did she want a big, poofy dress to interfere with her flying. She had never thought she would willingly step into a clothing shop, and yet here she was, inside of Carousel Boutique to look at a dress. Granted, she was actually here for the pony wearing said garment.
“Would you two stop staring at me?!” Rainbow demanded from the raised platform in the middle of the shop, shooting her griffon audience of two a baleful glare. “And wipe those stupid grins off of your faces!”
“But we’re just appreciating how… fabulous you look,” Gilda replied, the occasional snicker escaping from her beak.
“Yeah, you never looked better, Rainbow,” Natalya added, grinning impishly. “Maybe we should get you to play dress-up some more.”
Rainbow huffed angrily and took a step toward the hecklers. “When I get out of here, I’m going to make you two—Ow! You pricked me, Rarity!”
“It was an accident,” Rarity replied from behind Rainbow, a needle and spool of thread floating beside her in her turquoise-colored magic. “And it only happened because you are moving around so much. Please, hold still.”
“Not my fault! Those two chuckleheads are making it hard for me to concentrate!”
Rarity sighed wearily and glanced over at the griffons. “Natalya, Gilda, while I did allow you two to stay and watch me work, I am well aware that you are mainly here to tease Rainbow. I know that it’s all in somewhat good-natured fun, but I’m afraid that I must request that you two to either behave or leave. You’re distracting Rainbow, and by extension, interfering with my work.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it, Rarity,” Gilda conceded. “It was good while it lasted. I probably should be getting back to Sugarcube Corner anyway. My break kind of ended about an hour ago.”
“I don’t have anything better to do, so I might as well just chill here,” Natalya stated as she sat down and reclined herself on a nearby red fainting couch. She noticed that Rarity seemed to have quite a few of those lying around.
“That’s fine, but again, I must ask you to behave,” Rarity instructed.
Natalya pulled out a Daring Do book from under her wing and held it up to show the ponies.
“No worries. I brought something to keep me occupied.”
“Seriously?” Rainbow uttered in a deadpan tone.
“I’m just catching up on some Daring Do,” Natalya said innocently as she opened up the book and began scanning the pages.
“You had already planned to stay so that you can make fun of me all day, didn’t you?”
“Possibly.” Natalya smirked when she took a brief glance up from her book to see Rainbow’s annoyed face. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep quiet and behave.”
While Rainbow continued to glare at Natalya in suspicion, Gilda chuckled and announced, “Well, I should get going. Before I go though, Rainbow, there is one thing that I need you to do for me.”
“What’s that?” Rainbow asked warily, directing her skeptical gaze from one griffon to another.
Before anyone could react, Gilda suddenly pulled out a small camera from under her wing and pointed it right at Rainbow with a huge grin. “Say cheese!”
“Gilda!” Rainbow roared right as the camera flash went off.
“See ya, Rainbow! I might or might not use this photo against you in the future!” Gilda taunted as she rushed out the door.
Natalya snickered from behind the cover of her book and made a mental note to later ask Gilda for a copy of the photo.
Rainbow started to rush for the door, but she yelped when her body was bathed in Rarity’s magic and was slowly dragged backward.
“Rainbow, please!” Rarity chastised. “I don’t need you galavanting around Ponyville and ruining my work!”
“But Gilda… She…” Rainbow groaned and stomped angrily, unable to properly form words for a moment. With a growl, she finally managed in a low voice, “When I get my hooves on her…”
“Now, now, Rainbow,” Rarity soothed as she nudged the pegasus back onto the platform so that she could resume working on the dress. “There’s no need to make a fuss. I’m sure that if you ask Gilda nicely later, she’ll give you the photo right back.”
Rainbow turned her head to flatly glare at Rarity that practically screamed ‘Really?’. At the same time, Natalya peered over the top of her book to give the same exact expression at the unicorn. Even Opalescence came into the room to regard her owner with disbelief.
Rarity ignored the stares she was receiving while she concentrated on working her needle over the dress. “Of course, if that fails, you could just send Pinkie after her,” she added offhandedly, although a faint smirk graced her face.
“Now that’s more like it,” Rainbow cheered with a devilish grin. “I bet that I can even get Pinkie to help me come up with a great revenge prank for—Ow! Seriously, Rarity?!”
Natalya quietly laughed and went back to reading. It had been a while since she had picked up Daring Do, given how her time after recovering from her wing injury had been split between her training and hanging with Rainbow. It did not change the fact that she had actually been enjoying the adventure series, and she was glad that she had an excuse for some reading time, especially since she had the soothing background sounds of Rainbow’s groaning and moaning.
However, despite her desires to bury herself in the adventures of Daring Do, Natalya found her attention kept flicking back to her pegasus friend.
The dress Rainbow was modeling had a white embroidered collar around her neck, and red flowed over the rest of the pegasus’s body, the gem-decorated hemline stopping just before hitting the floor. There were a number of faint marks on different parts of the dress where Rarity planned to add to, but despite the unfinished work, Natalya had to admit, Rainbow looked good. Despite Rainbow’s usual carefree appearance, the dress somehow gave her a sense of grace and regality.
With her constantly sneaking glances at Rainbow, Natalya’s reading went at a snail’s pace, and about an hour passed before she finally got through one chapter. As she wondered if she could manage another chapter, Natalya noticed that Rainbow was starting to trot in place with an uneasy expression.
“Rainbow, if you don’t stop moving, the next time I prick you won’t be an accident,” Rarity warned.
“But I need to go to the bathroom!” Rainbow whined.
Rarity withdrew from her work, and with a flat glare and an equally flat tone, she asked, “Really, Rainbow?”
“Yeah, I really gotta go! Come on!”
Rarity let out a prolonged sigh of defeat and slowly nodded. “Fine, fine. Let me just quickly get this dress off of you.” With her magic, she helped slip the dress along Rainbow’s body while the pegasus hastily squirmed out of it.
“Thanks, Rarity!” Rainbow chirped as soon as she was freed and then she zipped up the nearby stairs.
“That mare honestly…” Rarity softly uttered while shaking her head. After taking a moment to carefully hang the dress on a nearby clothes rack, she turned to Natalya, putting on a pleasant smile. “Well now, Natalya, I’d say that this is the perfect time to have a little girl-to-girl talk. We have about half an hour before she returns.”
“Half an hour?” Natalya repeated, her eyebrow raised in skepticism. “I’m not sure if I should be more concerned by Rainbow needing that long to use the bathroom or you knowing how long Rainbow needs to use the bathroom.”
“The only thing that Rainbow is going to use in the bathroom is the window,” Rarity stated, pointing behind the griffon with a hoof.
Turning around, Natalya saw an all-too-familiar blur of blue with a rainbow trail zoom across Ponyville’s sky from a storefront window. “Huh… She actually ditched us.”
“Oh, she’ll be back… eventually. Right now, she’s thinking that she will just take a few minutes to stretch her wings, but then she will lose track of time because she’s having too much fun flying around. Eventually, she’ll remember that she has a prior engagement here, fly back to the bathroom in a panic, finally come back down those steps all out of breath, and then make an excuse of having a tough time in the bathroom.”
Natalya snorted in amusement. “So she’s done this a lot, huh?”
“Just about every time I manage to get her to model for me. It’s not always the bathroom; just most of the time. Admittedly, the first few incidents were vexing, but now I just feign ignorance and let her have her bathroom break.”
Natalya nodded and put down her book. “Alright, I guess that I can chat for a bit. What? Was I not good enough yesterday at the pet thing?”
“On the contrary, I enjoyed your sharp wit, and I have to give due respect to somepony who likes to get straight to the point. No, what I wish to speak to you about is a revelation that I had during our conversation at the pet playdate. It actually concerns both you and Rainbow.”
“Then why not bring it up yesterday at the park or even while you were dressing her up a few moments ago?”
“Because I do not believe that Rainbow is ready to talk about this. In fact, she might not even be aware of the situation that she is in. I fear that if I bring this issue to light, she might get defensive, or worse, make a rash decision that will have dire consequences. I’m only bringing this up with you so that you can keep an eye on her.”
Natalya frowned. “Is something wrong with her?”
“Not wrong, per se, but more of a… sensitive matter that you should treat with care.”
“Alright then. So what’s the deal with Rainbow?”
“Now, keep in mind that I am not one hundred percent sure that this is actually true, although I still believe that the likelihood is quite high, given my observations. Furthermore, I want to—”
Natalya rolled her eyes. “Would you just hurry up and spit it out?”
Rarity pursed her lips in annoyance before taking a deep breath. Looking directly into the griffon’s eyes, she stated, “I believe that Rainbow is developing feelings for you.”
Natalya paused for a moment, not sure if she had heard the unicorn right. “What?”
“Rainbow might be developing feelings for you,” Rarity repeated. “As in romantic feelings.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Natalya snapped. Seeing Rarity reel back in surprise, she stopped to take a slow, calming breath and then asked, “Why do you think that Rainbow is falling for me?”
“Well, Rainbow has been spending an extraordinary amount of time with you.”
“Most of that is me bugging her about the Sonic Rainboom. Even then, so what if we hang out a lot? We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Of course, but even you must admit that the two of you are nearly inseparable. I dare say that lately, you’ve seen more of her than I and the rest of her other friends combined.”
“Whatever… That’s still not enough to make me believe that Rainbow is falling for me.”
“Then what about all of the things that she has done for you? Besides showing you the magic of friendship and helping you learn the Sonic Rainboom, which I must also point out is her signature move, she has treated you rather extravagantly, such as, setting up a private tour of the Wonderbolt Academy.”
Natalya slowly nodded. “Okay, I’ll admit that Rainbow has been super cool by doing all sorts of stuff for me, but again, it’s not like it means she’s in love with me. I’ve heard all sorts of stories about the six of you, and I know that you guys have done big stuff for each other too.
“Seriously, if all it takes to fall in love with each other is spending a bunch of time with each other and do a couple of big gestures, then you would’ve paired up with one of your other friends a long time ago.”
“Believe me, I’ve heard the gossip,” Rarity commented, along with a roll of her eyes. “Honestly, after all we’ve been through, I would be more surprised if there weren’t any rumors about relationships in our circle of friends. Did you know that some ponies have even written romance stories about us?”
Natalya grinned mischievously. “I wouldn’t mind reading some of those.”
Rarity frostily glowered at Natalya, but she lost some intimidation from the slight red growing in her cheeks. Clearing her throat, she swiftly continued, “Anyway, this isn’t about me or the others. We were talking about you and Rainbow.”
“Still? I thought that I made a pretty decent argument that this love junk thing is going nowhere.”
“Ohhh no. You’re not getting off so easily,” Rarity declared, eyeing the griffon with a determined glare. “While you do make some valid points, I still believe that Rainbow has become enamored with you. Did you see how she smiled at you when she was talking about you yesterday at the park?”
“Uh, yeah? I was right next to her. Didn’t seem like there was anything different with her.”
“That’s because you don’t have a fine eye for detail like moi. It was brief, but when she talked about you, I saw how her eyes lit up and had the dreamy smile of somepony smitten. Even her voice had nothing but admiration and reverence for you. Those are clear signs that Rainbow is in love.”
“Uh huh…” Natalya uttered in a bored tone. “So what makes you such a love expert?”
“I’ll have you know that I’m well-versed in the art of love,” Rarity defended, proudly sticking her nose up in the air.
Natalya narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized the unicorn. “Then I guess that means you’ve gone on a bunch of dates, huh? How many?”
Rarity flinched but kept her haughty pose. “A lady does not disclose such private details.”
“So that’s a big zero then,” Natalya interpreted, smugly grinning at the unicorn.
Rarity went on the defensive with a withering, deathly glare that silently threatened many stabbings with her needle, but Natalya was not perturbed and maintained her self-satisfied smile.
Eventually, Rarity relented with a sigh and confessed, “Fine, I will admit that I might be lacking in actual dating experience. Still, that doesn’t mean I’m lacking knowledge on the subject. I have read my fair share of romance novels, and because of all of the socializing that I do, I have picked up many social cues, including ones that deal with love. So while I might not have first-hoof experience with matters of the heart, I believe that I’m still at least more qualified than you about recognizing the signs of love.”
Natalya shrugged. “If you say so. Still think that this is just a pointless waste of time though.”
Rarity sighed. “Natalya, I understand your trepidations, and in truth, I got sidetracked trying to convince you of Rainbow’s feelings. Whether you believe that she is falling for you is not the main issue here; taking care of her is. As I said earlier, I am well aware that I might be blowing this out of proportion, but I’m only doing this because I’d rather err on the side of caution.
“You see, Natalya, love can be a wondrous thing, but it can also be devastating. A few wrong words can easily leave behind a grievous wound. You don’t want to accidentally hurt Rainbow, do you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then all I ask is that you exercise a bit of caution around her. Even if it’s not love, it’s clear that she cares deeply for you, and taking the time to put a little more thought into your words and actions can go a long way.”
Natalya sighed in resignation. “Fine. I guess that it’s not a big deal if I try to be more careful.”
Rarity bowed her head in gratitude. “That’s all I ask for. Thank you, Natalya.”
“So on the off-chance that you’re right and she does go all lovey-dovey on me, what do I do if she asks me out on a date? Do I just say yes?”
“Well, that depends. If I may ask, do you share the same feelings, or at least see a possibility that you could be marefriends with Rainbow?”
Natalya immediately opened her beak.
“And before you outright say no,” Rarity swiftly added. “I saw you sneaking glances at Rainbow the entire time she was modeling for me. Please take a moment and think carefully about your answer.”
Natalya grumbled but complied with the bossy unicorn’s instructions. There was no doubt in her mind that she was close to Rainbow. After all, the pegasus was both her first and best friend. She was also aware how much the plucky pegasus had improved her life. Despite the lack of winning and competing since coming to Ponyville, Natalya felt happier, and she had Rainbow to thank for all of that. It was getting to the point where it was hard to imagine how her life would be without her best friend.
Did she care for Rainbow? Without a doubt.
But did she love Rainbow?
“I don’t know,” Natalya eventually answered.
Rarity smiled faintly. “Then that means there’s a spark within you. Only time will tell if that spark will either ignite into a passionate flame.”
“Was that from one of your romance novels?”
Rarity did not answer for a few seconds, but she eventually pouted and slowly admitted, “Yes… Regardless, the point still stands that you do at least feel something for Rainbow.”
Natalya sighed heavily and dragged her paw down her face. “First friendship and now love… Why do you ponies have to make things so complicated?”
Rarity giggled. “Because friendship and love are both well worth the effort.”
A knock on the door drew their attention, and Rarity promptly made her way toward it. “I suppose that this would be a good time to end this topic,” she declared. “I know that I gave you a lot to think about, Natalya, but I really am just trying to help. I do think that you and Rainbow are perfect together, and you would make each other really happy if you decide to take your relationship further. Of course, that decision lies solely between the two of you. If you need any help or even just need me to lend an ear, my door is always open to you.”
Natalya mumbled out a quiet “Thanks,” as Rarity opened the door, revealing a pony standing next to a box about half their size. Oddly enough, the pony was wearing a cloak that covered their head and entire body, but Natalya was able to make out the light blue-green face of a mare from behind the hood.
“Hello there. How may I help you?” Rarity greeted the mysterious mare.
“Sup. Are you Rarity of Carousel Boutique?” the cloaked mare asked.
“I am, but I’m afraid that I am closed for today. If you come back tomorrow, I will be more than happy to help you find a more fitting ensemble than your, um, current attire.”
“I’m not here to shop.” The mare tilted her head towards the box. “I got a delivery here.”
“Delivery? You mean the special fabric that I ordered?”
“Um, I think so?” The mare glanced around at her surroundings and even up into the air. “Look, you can check it out before you sign if you want, but could we do it inside?”
“Yes, yes of course,” Rarity complied, swiftly moving away from the entrance. “Natalya, would you be a dear and help bring it in?”
Natalya sighed, but she did as she was asked and helped the cloaked mare push the box inside while Rarity hastily pushed aside some empty clothes racks to make room. As soon as the package was inside of the boutique, Rarity opened the box with her magic and squealed in delight when she peered inside.
“It is my fabric order!” Rarity cheered as she held up and inspected a piece of violet fabric that faintly shimmered in the light. “I didn’t think that it would come for at least a few more days. Thank you for getting this to me so quickly!”
The delivery mare smirked, and one of her hind legs kicked the door close. “That’s just how I do things.”
While Rarity continued to dig through the box, the delivery mare quickly shed her cloak, uncovering her body. Natalya immediately noticed the mare’s pegasus wings first before moving on to the slicked-back mane style with stripes of yellow and orange and the small saddlebag on the mare’s side.
“Whew. I was boiling in that thing,” the pegasus stated after she kicked the cloak aside.
“Then why wear it?” Natalya queried. “If you ask me, kind of makes you suspicious to walk around all covered up like that.”
The pegasus scoffed. “Whatever.” She turned to Natalya with an annoyed frown, but her expression softened when she eyed the griffon up and down. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you Natalya, that griffon who won a bunch of flying competitions?”
“Yeah.” Natalya smirked slightly, feeling some pride for being recognized for her accomplishments. “What? You a fan or something?”
“As if,” the mare said with an amused snort. “I’ve been in a few flying contests too, and it pays to scope out the competition. I’ve seen your picture pop up a couple of times from the contests you won, and I even heard that you flew in the air relay race at the Equestria Games.”
Natalya nodded. “I did.”
“Surprised an ace flyer like you only got third place. Let me guess: your teammates sucked and lagged behind everypony else.”
Natalya nodded again. “Pretty much.”
The mare let out a hollow chuckle. “I know the feeling. Sadly, that’s just how it is. You can be the best, but if you get stuck with somepony, they’re just going to bring you down.”
Natalya was about to agree with the mare’s statement, but she paused when images of a certain pegasus flashed through her mind. “Yeah, I can sort of agree with that. It’s just that there may be a time when you get lucky and end up with a really great partner.”
“Yeah, fat chance that will ever happen,” the pegasus uttered bitterly.
“It’s all here!” Rarity exclaimed joyfully, drawing the attention of the flyers. “This is going to put me way ahead of schedule. Again, I must thank… you?” She paused and stared at the now-naked mare with a perplexed expression.
“Uh, is something on my face?” the delivery pony asked.
“Oh, forgive me for staring. It’s just that you look familiar. Have we met before?”
The mare shrugged. “If we did, I don’t remember.” She then pulled out a small slip of paper from her saddlebag, along with a pencil, and held them up to Rarity. “Since you got everything, you mind signing it off so that I can go? I really need to head out.”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity complied, taking the offered items in her magic. After signing her name with a big flourish and giving the items back to the pegasus, she added, “I really am grateful for you swiftly bringing my package here. Would you spare me one more moment so that I can reward you for your prompt service?”
The mare grinned widely. “About ti—Er, I mean, yeah, sure, no problem.”
A familiar voice suddenly came from upstairs, saying, “Hey, Rarity. Sorry for taking so long. I was having a really tough time in the bathroom, and…”
Rainbow finally came back down the steps, but she froze, her eyes wide with shock, when she saw the delivery mare.
“Lightning Dust?!” Rainbow cried out.
“Rainbow Dash…” Lightning growled, scowling at the new arrival.
Natalya’s eyes shot wide open as she stared at Lightning. This is Lightning Dust? Rainbow’s old partner from the Wonderbolt Academy?
“Wha… What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked slowly.
“My job,” Lightning curtly answered.
“Your job?” Rainbow glanced at the box. “Wait, you’re a delivery pony?”
Lightning rolled her eyes. “No. I take on courier jobs. Ponies pay me to take stuff to wherever I decide to go.”
“So a delivery pony,” Natalya reiterated, earning her a scowl from Lightning.
“So, uh, that means you just decided to come to Ponyville?” Rainbow asked.
“I didn’t come here for you, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Lightning replied. “I only came here because there was a nice payoff for delivering this package, plus I heard the unicorn here is a good tipper.”
“I am both proud and offended by that statement,” Rarity chimed in.
“I was hoping that I could just get in and out without you even knowing I was in town,” Lightning explained.
“Well, this is Rarity’s shop, so there was a pretty good chance that I would be here,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Who’s Rarity?”
“Uh, one of the friends that I told you about? You know, the unicorn standing right there?”
“You think that I care to remember who your friends are?” Lightning shook her head and turned to the door, only stopping briefly to pick up her cloak. “Whatever. This is getting stupid. I’m out of here.”
“Come on, Lightning,” Rainbow pleaded. “I know that you’re angry with me, but can’t we at least talk it out? We were pals back at the academy.”
Lightning whirled around with a seething glare at Rainbow. “Why would I want to be pals with the pony who stabbed me in the back?!”
Rainbow reeled back in surprise. “What? I didn’t do anything like that!”
“You told Spitfire about the accident and put all of the blame on me!”
“Because it was your fault!” Rainbow barked back, no longer using a placating tone.
“I didn’t make that tornado by myself! If anything, you’re also to blame for the accident!”
“Yeah, it’s true that I helped you, but you were leadpony. It was your decision to make that tornado, and I didn’t have much choice because I’m supposed to follow your lead and support you.”
Lightning scoffed. “Yeah, thanks for the support. You were pretty quick to throw me under the carriage.”
“I had to do something! You were getting out of control! It would’ve been another story if you showed some concern about the accident, but you didn’t care at all that you wrecked half the academy or almost killed my friends!”
“Hey, everything turned out fine at the end, and it would’ve stayed that way if you hadn’t cried to Spitfire! It’s your fault that I got kicked out of the Wonderbolts!”
“You were just demoted! You got kicked out because you kept on disobeying orders and messing up other ponies!”
“I was trying to prove that I was better than you since you stole leadpony from me! Spitfire was totally fine with whatever I did until you tricked her! I bet that you only got into the Wonderbolts because you lied your way into it!”
“I got in because of my awesome skills! I don’t have to lie or cheat to get where I am now!”
“Oh yeah? What about Wind Rider?”
Rainbow blinked, her anger replaced by confusion. “The former Wonderbolt? What about him?”
“He was supposed to be in the Wonderbolt show at the Canterlot Garden Party a while ago. Imagine my surprise when I heard that he got dishonorably discharged from the Wonderbolts, and you took his place.”
“I didn’t do anything to him if that’s what you’re thinking. If anything, he did it to himself because he tried to frame me but got caught.”
“Really now?” Lightning said in a mocking tone. “Isn’t Wind Rider the same guy who held the long distance speed record? The same record that you said that you were going to beat?”
“That’s why he tried to frame me!” Rainbow protested. “He tried to get me kicked out to protect his record.”
“Ha!” Lightning snidely laughed. “Likely story. Face it, Rainbow. You only got where you are now because you framed ponies that are better than you’ll ever be. You’re nothing but a fraud!”
Natalya scowled and took a step toward Lightning, but she restrained herself to continue watching the argument in silence. As much as she wanted to give the blue-green pegasus a few good smacks, she did not want to ruin Rainbow’s chances of fixing things with Lightning.
“That’s so not true!” Rainbow protested.
“Then prove it,” Lightning challenged. “Prove to me that you actually deserve being a leadpony over me.”
“Fine!” Rainbow shot back with a growl, only for her to look confused a second later. “Uh, how?”
“Race me. If you beat me, then it might convince me that you’re not a phony. I’ll even listen to whatever you have to say.”
“Then I’ll do it,” Rainbow accepted, determination burning in her eyes. “So, what? Fifty laps around Ponyville?”
“Really? You think that by showing me you can fly in circles is going to impress me? No, we need something more extreme. I remember that you once told me about this gorge not too far from here.”
Rainbow blinked. “You mean Ghastly Gorge? Uh, I guess that could work.”
“Then it’s settled. Tomorrow morning. Ghastly Gorge. We’ll see who’s the better flyer.” Lightning stomped toward the door and opened it, but before she exited the boutique, she glared back at Rainbow and warned, “Oh, and I better not see any of your friends there. Don’t need them messing things up again.”
With those last words, Lightning finally left, slamming the door behind her.
Silence descended as Natalya and Rarity watched Rainbow sigh heavily, her shoulders sagging and wings drooping to the ground in dejection.
“Rainbow, are you alright?” Rarity eventually asked cautiously.
“I’m fine,” Rainbow mumbled. She sighed and then shook her head. “Okay, maybe not really. That… that wasn’t exactly how I wanted things to go if I ever saw Lightning again. I got carried away and just ended up getting into a shouting match with her.”
“It’s not your fault, Rainbow,” Rarity remarked. “She said some horrible things. I guess that she blames you for her expulsion, and that anger had been festering within her all this time.”
“Still doesn’t give her the right to wildly accuse you of all that stuff. I was this close to punching her in the face…” Natalya stated, holding up two talons with barely an inch of space in between them. “Multiple times.”
Rainbow chuckled weakly. “Thanks, Natalya, but I’m glad you didn’t.”
“I know, I know… You still want to try to make friends with her again.”
“Yeah, I need to at least try. I doubt that Lightning will be happy if I beat her tomorrow, but hopefully, she’ll at least cool down enough for us to talk things out without trying to bite each other’s heads off.” Rainbow sighed again and glanced at Rarity. “Sorry, Rarity, but I really don’t think I can do anymore dress stuff today.”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity immediately agreed. “I wouldn’t imagine asking you to do anything more for me after the harrowing situation you’ve been through. I assume that you’re going to go rest up and prepare for tomorrow?”
Rainbow nodded and then turned to Natalya. “And sorry to you too, Natalya. I can’t hang with you today or tomorrow.”
Natalya waved it off. “It’s cool. You just make sure you beat that Lightning.”
“Thanks, guys. I’ll, uh, see you later.” Rainbow smiled weakly at her friends, but it soon collapsed as she trudged out the door.
“I really do hope that Rainbow will be alright tomorrow,” Rarity said out loud after the pegasus left.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Natalya stated.
“But Lightning said that she did not want to see any of Rainbow’s friends tomorrow.”
Natalya smirked. “Exactly. I just have to make sure that she doesn’t see me.”
Rarity chuckled softly. “Fair enough. I wish both you and Rainbow good luck.”
“Thanks, but we’re not going to need it for tomorrow.”
“That wasn’t the only thing I was talking about.”
Natalya rolled her eyes as she silently waved the unicorn ‘good bye’ and exited the boutique. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
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I swear by the love of Gaia, if Lightning Dust pulls some BS I will write a story in which she dies...painfully and slowly...
Anyways, love the chapter!
9460769
Already have my eyes on Fiddling after this one.
eeee natalya needs to snuggle rainbow ^^
Awwww, both Natalya and Lightning Dust have Rarity dead-to-rights in their assessments of her
It's a shame that Lightning Dust only heard of the Wind Rider incident. She would have had a far more appropriate charge to stick Rainbow Dash with if she had heard about how Rainbow Dash essentially sabotaged the weather factory to stop winter...
9538331
Is there something wrong with the phrase "much more"?
Yeah, I'm certainly taking a long time to write out this fic. Life hasn't been friendly with my time and motivation as when I first started writing pony words.
9538954
No, but there's a problem with "much more happier." Gramatically, you can have an intensifier word like "more" or the "-er" suffix, but not both. The right way to say it would be "much happier." I guess "much more happy" is also technically correct but I don't think anyone would ever say that.
I'm sorry to hear about your motivation problems. I understand how that feels, and I hope you can recover from them soon.
9539882
Ah, alright then. I wasn't aware of that rule, so thanks for catching that. It's fixed now.