Three Seasons

by shakealchemist

A Tour

Rarity had just finished breakfast when there was a knock at the front door. 'It couldn't be. This early?' Rarity hurried to the door, full of hope. Opening the door to see an exhausted and sleepy-looking Rainbow Dash.

"Sup?" Dash greeted, her eyes blinked slowly and out of sync. Her mane was a mess and her fur was matted on top of it all.

"Oh my, darling you look absolutely dreadful. Did you get any sleep?" Rarity asked taken aback by her appearance. Dash had never been one for making herself presentable, but this was a whole new level of that.

"Not much. Cloudsdale is a moving city, so I had to get up early to make sure you were still in flying range. Didn't even have time to shower."

And just like that, a stench most foul assaulted Rarity's nose.

"Hey, is that pancakes I smell? You got any left? Cause I'm starvin'!" Dash said perking up a bit. She stepped inside and was suddenly grabbed by Rarity. "Whoa! Hey, what's up?!" Dash asked, finding herself being dragged along.

"You are taking a shower. We are not going to be going around town with you looking . . . or smelling, like that." Rarity declared, tossing Dash into the bathroom. "You may have pancakes afterward." She added, closing the door after her.

"Fair enough." She heard Dash's reply.

Rarity let out a breath before inhaling some fresh air. 'Right, there's no leftover pancakes. So I better go make some more.' Dash would be so grateful, she could picture it in her mind. Dash would get out of the shower all wet, her mane straighten out lying flat against her head covering half her face. Her visible eye half-lidded, giving her a suggestive look as she stepped toward her, as the steam from her shower followed in her wake.

"Need to go or are you just waiting on Dashie?" Cookie Crumble's voice snapped Rarity out of her daydream turn fantasy.

"Oh, no. I was . . . just thinking. Silly me. Rarity laughed, embarrassed. "By the way, could you help me make some pancakes?' She added.

"Oh? Wanna make something special for your marefriend huh?" Cookie asked smiling.

"Rainbow and I are just good friends." Rarity corrected, hoping she was only being teased.

"Well, alright. Let's get cooking, shall we?" Cookie led her daughter down to the kitchen to get things started.

Rarity felt anxious as she set the table for Rainbow Dash and herself. She wasn't the best cook, and even with her mother's help, the pancakes had come out a little misshapen. She had decorated them with various berries and top them with whip cream. While her mother had praised her effort, Rarity couldn't push the creeping feeling of failure. She felt a hair in her mane fray out of place. She quickly smoothed it back right as Rainbow trotted into the room.

"Aw, sweet! Looks good." Dash flew to her seat and wasted no time scoffing down the pancakes.

"Thank you." Rarity said relaxing. She took a seat herself to start eating her much smaller helping.

"Mah, hank-" Dash started while chewing.

"Dash! Don't talk with your mouth full, it's rude." Rarity stated, fixing her with a glare.

Dash took a moment to finish chewing then swallowed before speaking. "Sorry, but as I was saying, it should be I thanking you. These pancakes are awesome!"

"You're welcome." Rarity couldn't hold back a grin as she carefully cut her lone pancake. She had already eaten after all, yet wanted the reason to sit with Dash without it seeming weird. So Rarity mainly watched Dash speed through pancake after pancake as she daintily ate her own. She didn't strike up a conversation since Dash always had her mouth full and she didn't want her to stop since she must've been starving at the rate she was going.

Licking her plate clean once she was done Dash looked up to Rarity. "So . . . time to get dressed then?"

"Go ahead and head on up to my room darling. I'll be there once I'm finished." Rarity said with a nod and Dash flew off. Once she was done with her own plate, Rarity cleaned the dishes before heading upstairs. Upon entering her room she was greeted by a sight she was not quite sure how to react to. "Oh my-, Rainbow, I didn't mean to- . . . I didn't know you were . . . uh . . ." Rarity fiddled with her words as she covered her face with a hoof.

"Wow, way to make me feel self-conscious about my preening Rares." Dash said, feeling embarrassed by her reaction.

"Oh, is that, uh . . . normal to do in front of other ponies?" Rarity asked curiously, putting her hoof down to see Dash was just sitting there now. 'And on my bed too . . . is that gross?' She wondered to herself.

"It's not like it's intimate. It's like washing your hooves." Dash explained.

"Oh, my apologies. I've never seen a pegasus do that before. So I didn't know." Rarity said with an understanding nod.

"Well, it's important to clean out dirt, straighten out, and pluck out bad feathers." Dash explained further.

"But you do that with your mouth?" Rarity questioned with a shutter as she sat down next to her on the bed.

"I'm not too much of a fan of it, and should be doing it more than I already do, but I got used to it. Been preening myself ever since my dad taught me how to. Kind of miss my little filly days when one of my parents would preen me." Dash chuckled. She stretched her wing back out to resume where she left off, but Rarity gently took the wing into her own hooves.

Rarity started examining the wing, looking for said faults Dash had mentioned. "How do you tell if a feather is too damaged?" She inquired.

"There's a couple I already pulled next to you." Dash said, waiting for her to let go so she could carry on.

"So, you prefer it when somepony else preens you?" Rarity asked, plucking out a broken feather which caused Dash to jump up at the unexpected pain.

"Yeah." She answered, settling back down.

"So why not have somepony else do it?"

"Well, it's not like I'd like a stranger do it."

"You have teammates, no? They're all pegasi." Rarity inquired. Seeing no more bad feathers, she started sifting through the rest and removing debris with her magic while one hoof held her wing in place and the other smoothed the rustled feathers back into place with careful, soft strokes.

"It's not something that . . . I mean . . . I-. . . preening another pony is only something you do when you're close." Dash hinted at, embarrassed.

"Oh." Rarity paused a second, then carried on. "Why do they have to be close?" She asked a little lost at the idea.

"Well . . . you preen with your mouth." Dash stated simply.

"I'm using my magic, not that it matters, right? We're . . . close." Rarity said the last word softly.

The realization hit Dash that Rarity was in fact preening her. She had been relaxing, but now she started to tense up. "Well, uhhh . . ." Dash's words turned into a relieved sigh as Rarity's hoof massaged the base of her wing. "Yes, right there." Dash said melting into the covers as Rarity repeated the action.

Rarity had to scooch over a bit as Dash laid down with her wings at full spread. For a small mare, she could take up a lot of space. Yet Rarity smiled down at her lovingly as she continued to message with one hoof and started preening Dash's other wing her magic and free hoof.

"This is nice." Dash understated the feeling of calmness that filled her.

"Is that so? We should go to the spa today. My hooves are nothing compared to theirs'." Rarity suggested as she turned her focus to just preening her, though she kept one hoof gently on her back.

Dash felt the urge to argue that. The fact that it was Rarity doing it was half the joy of it, but Dash lacked the nerve to dare say such a thing. She turned her head to look back at Rarity and made eye contact with her. The look in her eyes spoke of the mood that was now filling the room. Dash quickly hid her face as she blushed.

"Are you alright darling?" Rarity asked, leaning in.

"I-uh . . . yeah. Just, be careful with the wing please."

". . . Of course." Rarity said with obvious disappointment. She removed her hoof from Dash's back. She finished preening Dash's wing with work-like efficiency. Rarity then hopped off the bed and trotted over to the closet. "Now, I ended up making a new dress for today. I think you'll enjoy it." She said pulling a small red dress with a copper trim that sparkled slightly in the light.

Dash got up and went over to her. "Looks cool . . . but uh, maybe it's a bit flashy?" Dash said concerned yet trying to remain positive.

"Nonsense! Here." Rarity helped Dash into it. The dress was backless, leaving Dash's wings free. The gap ended shortly before her cutie mark. The dress was short though and came to an end three inches from the base of her tail. "Very nice." Rarity commented straightening out the dress at its ends. "What do you think?" She asked Dash, taking a moment to check out Dash's flank in the dress.

Dash looked in the mirror. 'Is Rarity- . . .' But as the thought began Rarity's attention moved to making sure the rest of the dress was in order. "Well, I . . . I'm not an expert on fashion . . ." Dash said biting her lip as she checked herself out, pushing her earlier thought away.

"I just want your opinion Dashie. Come on, you've done this a hundred times for me before." Rarity egged her on.

'Yeah, but you don't always agree with what I say about it.' Dash kept to herself before fulfilling her request. "I like that it's short, giving me the freedom to move, especially with my wings free." She gave her wings a little flutter.

"I thought you'd like that. Plus it looks so sleek and attractive on you. I had made a little jacket to go with it, to try and make it look 'cool', but it would cover your wings some. So if you want to pass on it. . ." Rarity trailed off looking at Dash as she paused outside of the closet.

"Might as well try it on since you put the work into it." Dash said while the word attractive replayed in her head on repeat.

Rarity pulled out a smokey gray jacket. "Here." And even though Dash didn't need any help getting it on, Rarity still gave it.

The jacket was worn hung open, it covered her arms and most of her wings, so no flying. Dash still thought it looked cool. "Pretty rad, Rares." Dash nodded approvingly.

Rarity smiled. 'Rad, whatever it means, is a positive word.' "You want to keep the jacket then?" She asked and Dash nodded. "One last thing then." Rarity went up to Dash's side and brought over a maneband with her magic. She put Dash's mane into a high ponytail. "There. Sporty, yet cute." Rarity commented.

Dash checked out her mane-do. "Hey, now I'm really digging this look." She waved her ponytail to and fro.

"You know darling, with a little make-up I could make the look complete." Rarity eyed Dash pleadingly.

"Uh . . . no thanks. It's perfect the way it is. Besides, I want to get going." Dash declined.

"Very well, I'll need to get dressed as well obviously. If you would please wait outside . . ." Rarity motioned a hoof toward the door.

'Why?' Dash wondered but rolled with it anyway. When she turned to leave, she spotted her discarded feathers from her preening sitting in a rather neat pile on Rarity's bed. 'Better clean that up for her.' Dash figured Rarity would find them gross. So she scooped them up in her mouth and trotted out of the room to dispose of them. After dropping them in the trash, Dash took a seat on the couch in the living room to wait for Rarity. She figured Cookie Crumbles, who was sitting next to her, would help pass the time.

"Aw, look at you Dashie dearie. Rarity fixed you up quite well. Very pretty." Cookie opened, complimenting her.

"Thank you." Dash replied bashfully. She wasn't used to being called words like pretty or beautiful and such.

"Better enjoy yourself, wasn't too long ago I was just like you. Going out on the town with my friends. That's how I met Hondo. Now I get my satisfaction from getting little Sweetie to go to bed." Cookie said with an expression that told her that's what she'd just done. She then looked about before turning to Dash. "So where is Rarity?"

"Oh, She's getting dressed upstairs." Dash answered.

"Oh, you poor dear." Cookie said with a sorrowful look.

"Huh?" Dash stared at her genially confused.

"Rarity always takes her time. I think she likes to keep her dates waiting. So I've entertained a few of her poor dates before. Usually, they're colts thou'. Then again, she could just be nervous. Wouldn't surprise me with the way she talks about you. You could be a while."

"What? N-no . . . I'm sure she'll be down here any minute." Dash said not knowing how to handle what Cookie told her.

"I'll put some tea on . . . just in case." Cookie said with a knowing laugh as she headed for the kitchen.

* * *

Rarity did some final touches on her eyeliner before checking the time. 'Almost an hour?! Where did the time go? . . . At least I look perfect. Surely I'll blow Dash away in this.' Rarity looked over her short black dress. It covered more than Dash's did, but had a revealing v-neck to show off her puffed-up chest fur. She also dawned matching heels and a ponytail of her own that curled a bit more than usual. 'Not quite in style, but I make it work. Oh! Before I forget. . .' Rarity trotted over to her bed but found the feathers she had been looking for were gone. She didn't really have time to wonder about that though, she had made dash wait long enough as it was.

Leaving her room and going downstairs, her mother spotted her, and with a sly smile called back to Dash. "Dashie Dearie, she's ready for you! And have fun." She added to Rarity before continuing toward the kitchen with two empty teacups.

Rarity could've sworn her mother was implying something suggestive by that, which made her smile. 'Just a kiss is all I'm asking for.' She wished when suddenly Dash rounded the corner.

"There you are! What . . . took . . . you. . ." Dash stared at her stunned, mouth agape. "You look . . . amazing." Dash managed to breathe out the final word.

"Sorry about that darling, but you can't rush perfection." Rarity said with a smirk at Dash's reaction. "So, shall we be off then?" She asked and Dash slowly nodded. Rarity giggled softly before leading her outside. "Rainbow, before we begin the tour, I was wondering if you did anything with those feathers I left on my bed?" She asked cautiously.

Dash had regained her composure by now, yet still had her eyes glued to Rarity. Her question had made her raise an eyebrow though. "Yeah, I threw them out. You weren't going to keep them were you?" Dash joked.

"Wha-what?! No! I mean . . . just one. That's not weird is it?" Rarity blushed at being found out.

". . . No, but you coulda just asked. I would've given you a good one." Dash said craning her head back. She plucked a feather out from what was exposed of her wing with a wince then hold it out toward Rarity. "Here." She said through the feather.

This caused Rarity to pause. "Oh . . ." She almost took it with her magic when she decided to lean in and take it with her mouth.

Dash blushed at this, having their lips so close together. For a second she wondered why Rarity stayed so close when she realized she herself hadn't let go of the feather yet and did so immediately.

Rarity placed the feather so that it stuck out from the neckline of her dress. "Thank you." She said slyly, looking away.

"No problem." Dash said quietly. "So where to first?" She spoke up suddenly, after a moment.

"Hmm . . . Sugarcube Corner seems like a good place to start."

* * *

"Heya there Rarity! Who's that you got with you?" Pinkie asked as Rarity and Rainbow Dash walked in. Pinkie then gasped as she hopped over the counter. "Is she new in town? This calls for a party!" Pinkie pulled a party cannon from thin air and fired it off in front of them, causing the two to flinch as confetti rained down on them.

"No, Dashie is just visiting. I'm showing her around town." Rarity answered, not too pleased looking. She and Dash's look did not call for a coat of confetti.

"Well, that still calls for a Ponyville welcome!" Pinkie claimed excitedly. Before them, the party cannon was replaced with her welcome wagon. "Welcome, welcome, welcome! . . ." Pinkie stared to sing, placing a party hat upon Dash's head as she danced about. At the end of her song, the wagon's horns blasted cake batter and confetti spilled from its oven. "Whoops! Did I mix the two up again?" Pinkie wondered aloud, giggling at the further mess that covered Dash.

Rarity was even more annoyed at her hard work being ruined.

Dash was more of a good sport about it, laughing as she licked some of the cake batter from her own face. "That's quite the show you put on there- . . .uh. . . " Dash started but realized she didn't know the pink pony's name.

"Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie exclaimed, pushing the wagon away and plopping down a fan that blew all of the cake batter and confetti out of the story.

Not questioning it, Rarity was just happy their manes and dresses were spotless once more.

"So Dashie, what brings you to Ponyville?" Pinkie pie asked.

"I'm just hanging out with my friend." Dash nodded to Rarity, amused by Pinkie's wackiness.

"You mean your two friends!" Pinkie corrected, giving Dash a quick hug.

"Yeah, you seem like a cool pony." Dash agreed.

"Yay! So what can I get for my two friends?" Pinkie asked, bouncing back behind the counter. "We've got everything from angel cake to zeppoles!" She announced, proudly waving a hoof toward the displays.

Rarity and Dash rooted over, taking a look at all the different sweets and treats. "I'll take a box of bonbons." Rarity said pointing.

"Why would I put Bon Bon in a box?" Pinkie asked curiously, looking toward a cream coated mare with a blue and pink mane.

"These bonbons, Pinkie." Rarity pointed once more, not sure if Pinkie was making a joke or not, but was humored nonetheless.

"Okey dokey lokey, I'll have that for you lickity split." In a flash, she had the order boxed up and tied with a ribbon. "That'll be twelve bits please, aaand . . ." Pinkie slid over to Dash who was eyeing a cupcake. "A cupcake for my new friend. The first ones are always free." She whispered, grabbing said cupcake and holding it out to her.

"Thanks, Pinkie." Dash took it and licked her lips.

"No problem. Just don't be a stranger, okay? Though how could you, we're friends." Pinkie snorted and laughed.

"See you later Pinkie." Rarity and Dash said farewell before leaving.

* * *

"Sooo, wait . . . is her name Mayor Mare or is her title, Mayor Mare?" Dash asked confused as they walked away from town hall.

"Well . . . I always thought Mare was her last name and Mayor was her title, but I guess I don't really know for sure." Rarity pondered, coming to a stop.

Dash looked around and a certain sign caught her eye. "What's up with this place?" She asked, pointing it out.

Rarity looked up then smiled knowingly. "Quills and Sofas? Yes, the name gets everypony at first, but he has the finest of both. I heard a rumor that it was meant to be quilts and sofas, but an ink smudge led to a shipping error. Such a silly story, true or made up."

"Ha, that is pretty funny." Dash looked to Rarity for what was next, and to admire her beauty as well.

"Oh! Just up ahead, around the corner, is the spa. I go there regularly with Fluttershy. She's a good friend of mine. Her name suits her. I have never-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Fluttershy?! She lives here?" Dash interrupted, shocked.

"Y-yes. She does. In a cottage at the edge of the forest. You know her?" Rarity asked caught off guard by this.

"Yeah. Me and Flutters go way back. We were best buds at flight camp. We should go see her!" Dash suggested excitedly.

"Oh, but of course! I'm sure she'll be so happy to see you again. We could have lunch all together so you two can catch up." Rarity agreed.

"Sounds good, I am starving as well." Dash said clapping her hooves together, and following as Rarity led the way.

Author's Note:

Interesting point, I started shipping Rarity and Dash after rewatching Rarity Investigates week after week when the episode would play before the new episode. Now Rarity and Rainbow Dash have always been my favorite two characters. So I loved having a new episode teaming them up. However, it disappointed me that they were at odds until the end of the episode. so each time I rewatched it, I voiced over it to have them instead, love each other more and more each rewatch. I then wrote a couple of short ship fics before trying to write one that I could make as long as possible. And here I am.

Comments

[LegallyFluffy]

The same episode made me start shipping those two as well, it’s definitely one of my favorites.