Rainbow Dash's Foolish Prank

by Troyjan

Some Regrets

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, burst into uncontrollable laughter. The three began hysterically rolling around the floor, wheezing for air between their howls. The laughter that they had been struggling to hold in for the past several minutes, and was finally let out. Starlight let out a hearty laugh herself while Flutter Shy softly giggled. Even Rarity couldn’t restrain herself from a brief chuckle.

Spike shot up onto his feet and looked around the room frantically. He squinted his eyes in response to the now brightly lit room. “Hey, w-what’s going on?”, he stammered. He regained his sight and his eyes focused onto Rainbow Dash, who had just mustered the composure to stand upright on her hooves. “Sorry Spike”, she snickered. “There was no test”.

Rainbow Dash held up her camera, with the newly captured image on the digital display (digital imaging technology had been widely available in the public market for a few years). On the pixelized screen, Spike saw an image of himself sprawled out on the floor, with his limbs out, his belly up, and his eyes closed. While image that Rainbow Dash had captured of Spike did not include any part of him that would have violated any Equestrian laws, the part of Spike’s torso that was visible in the image still made for a rather lurid scene. Taking another look at the picture, Spike noticed that there were red letters etched into the black circular carpet that he was laying on, complimented by a red arrow pointing at him. Spike looked back down at the carpet he was standing on to see the same red letters and arrow, stitched into it. The bright red text spelled out the word ‘HIMBO’.

“MAN, this is priceless!”, Rainbow Dash wailed.
Spike immediately figured out what had happened. There was no secret tradition, there was no initiation, and there certainly was no test he had to go through. He had been tricked. Spike was immediately flooded with shame and humiliation, completely extinguishing any other feelings he would have felt. He tapped his claws together, lowered his head, and looked away from Rainbow Dash. The scales on his face were still burning the same bright red color, but now for a different reason. “Gee, how embarrassing”, he murmured. Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, and Pinkie Pie continued howling in laughter. Flutter Shy and Starlight were still giggling. Rarity, however, was silent.

“We sure appreciate having you around Spike, but not that much”, wheezed Applejack.

“You’re certainly still our friend Spike, but not that kind of friend”, added Starlight Glimmer.

“Yeah, your super awesome, totally legitimate, highly intensive, coming of age ceremony, party, was never supposed to be that wild. Those kinds of parties are for different kinds of occasions. Just ask Cheese Sandwich if you ever see him again”, suggested Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash was still bawling. “He actually believed that all Stallions have to-” laughed Rainbow Dash before cutting herself off. “And he actually lied down, right in the middle of-”, she continued. “You should have seen the look on your face, Spike. Oh wait, you can!”. Rainbow Dash held up her camera to Spike once more.

Spike continued looking down at the floor, now sliding his tail back and forth. “I should have known better. I’m going to leave now”, he murmured. Without another word, Spike quickly crept his way towards the front door, and continued through it.

“Spike, wait”, Rarity called out.

But she was too late. Once out the door, Spike quickly opened his wings, hunched down, jumped up into the air, and flew off as fast as he could. Rarity watched Spike fly away, and vanish into a distant spec in the upper atmosphere. If Spike had any shred of dignity left in him that moment, it was certainly hard to tell. After a few more seconds, Rarity slowly closed the door and turned back inside. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were still grinning ear to ear, looking over the display on Rainbow Dash’s camera. Rainbow Dash was still snorting, finally getting control of her laughter. Gaining some composure, she looked back at Rarity. “Hey, you were great back there, Rarity! You totally killed it. We couldn’t have done this without you”, complimented Rainbow Dash.

Rarity did not respond to Rainbow Dash’s remark. She knew why she did this. She knew exactly why she agreed to Rainbow Dash’s plan. It was because she wanted to feel as alive as she once had.

When Rarity began her career in fashion, she would often model some of her work to live audiences. It was certainly a bold thing to do. When Rarity did, she would not just be revealing her finest clothing, but her life’s work. Her finest pieces would be put on full display to the largest and most critical audiences within the entire industry of modern fashion. Most of the time, Rarity’s boldness would be rewarded in cheerful admiration, fame for her talents, and record high clothing sales throughout the following days. Of course, there were a few times when her own designs made her a subject of notoriety, but Rarity would always be able to recover and learn from the rare failure eventually. Every time Rarity had dared to model her own work, the fashionista would feel nearly uncontainable excitement as she put everything she worked for on the line. No other experience, situation, or the even the threat of death itself would come close to the intensity she would feel when she strode along the catwalk in front of an audience.

But in her most recent years, Rarity simply had not had any opportunity to model. Make no mistake, Rarity’s name was certainly not becoming irrelevant in any way. Far from it actually. Holding the title of “The Element of Generosity” from one of the six elements of harmony, and being one of the friends by Twilight’s side who had saved her county of Equestria numerous times, had given Rarity a pseudo-celebrity status. And more importantly than that, Rarity was also the head of her own business which was now the most successful clothing franchise in all of Equestria. The days when Rarity’s talents as a clothing designer and seamstress were forgotten by the general public, were long ahead of her. But her time as a model was a different story.

No matter how carefully Rarity maintained her appearance, she could not make herself look any younger as the years passed by. She would still wear her newest dresses, hats, and accessories for photo shoots, and would have those photos used for marketing material, along with all the other mares and stallions she hired to model her work. But slowly and gradually, Rarity noticed that she was appearing less and less on catwalks, and that her own marketing department was using her face less and less. All of this, in favor for younger, fresher mares. New faces and bodies were entering the industry, making room for themselves as they pushed away yesterday’s competition. Rarity was still at the peak of her clothing design career, and her beauty product lines were just getting started. But her days as a relevant model were already past her. Yet, her desire to be admired remained. It had been years since she last modeled, and Rarity was willing to do nearly anything to feel as alive as she once did, just once last time.

Of course, Rarity still had her dignity and self-respect. She couldn’t just put on anything in front of any pony, just for the pursuit of attention. No, she had to earn her attention for the right reasons, in the place, at the right time, and in front of the right audience. Rainbow Dash’s plan had offered her all the right circumstances for Rarity to show off her outer beauty to her. Spike made for the best audience. All her other friends just merely contributed to that audience.
It was Spike, the once tiny dragon who had fallen in love with her from the day they had met. The one who always set aside time to assist her in any way, from everything to running important errands, to simple chores. The one who always claimed how beautiful she was, not matter how ugly she felt in a particular moment. The one who would do nearly anything to please her. The adult dragon who still offered to make some of her material deliveries for her. Spike was the perfect audience for Rarity, just as much as he was the safest audience. After all this time, even after everything that had happened between them, there was no way Spike would think anything but the best of Rarity.

All this time, Rarity knew how Spike felt about her. And all this time, she still knew in both her mind and heart that she did not feel the same way towards him. Spike was a dragon, was several years younger than her, and was just not what she wanted in a stallion. This truth had always gnawed away on Rarity’s conscious.
Then one day, still years ago, Spike had gone and made his move. He asked Rarity out on a picnic, in which Spike had clearly intended it as a date. He did everything he could to make his best impression, as they had their picnic in a secluded place. And then, after they were ready to leave, Spike had gone and done it. He poured out his heart, confessed everything, and asked Rarity if she would be his mare friend. All Rarity could do was tell him the truth. Even to this day, Rarity vividly remembered watching Spike fly away from her, as he was unable to hold back the tears upon being told that he will never win the heart of his most beloved mare.

Things were different between the two ever since then. The two continued carry on as friends the best they could. Rarity and Spike had changed over those years, met new individuals, and made their own accomplishments. But what happened between them that day could not be changed.

All of this resurfaced through Rarity’s mind as she saw Spike soar away from her once more. Rarity’s feelings of burning passion and excitement of being admired just minutes ago, had now completely faded. Taking its place were shame, regret, and disgust of her own actions. Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash, who was hovering above the floor in front of her, still snickering underneath the forehoof she held over her mouth.

“RAINBOW DASH, THAT IS ENOUGH!”, shouted Rarity as she stared at her friend. “I can’t believe you, dragging me into this hurtful trick that you call good fun, and humiliating Spike like that!” Rarity looked around the room, glaring towards her other friends. “YOU SHOULD ALL BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!”, she shouted once more, before taking a breath. Then, Rarity looked down at her own forehooves. “I’m ashamed of myself too. I shouldn’t have done that to Spike”, she muttered.

“Gee Rarity, leave it to you to be so dramatic”, said Rainbow Dash, rolling her eyes. “It was no big deal. It was just a joke, and now it’s over.”

“It was not just a joke!”, retorted Rarity. “Can’t you see that Spike was hurt and utterly humiliated. It was cruel of us to mess with his feelings just for our entertainment”.

“Oh, calm down Rarity. We all know how Spike used to feel about you, but he has gotten over that by now. Well, for the most part that is. I’m sure he’ll recover in a day or two and be right back to the way he was”, responded Rainbow Dash. Rarity was more than vexed. That last phrase, ‘the way he was’, really angered her. The youthful, innocent dragon that Rarity had met all those years ago, was already long gone. There was no way for Spike, or any of them for that matter, to ever go back to the way they were, no matter how much they wanted to.

“UH”, Rarity scoffed. “Well, if it makes no difference to you Rainbow Dash, do what you want with Spike. Just leave me out of it!”, said Rarity as she turned away and began to walk towards the stairs. She paused and looked down at herself, looking over the fishnet stockings on her forelegs. “I’m going to get changed. I look like a…”, said Rarity, before she clenched her teeth, stopping herself from completing that last sentence. Reaching her stairs, she marched up them towards the second level of her abode.

“Whatever”, said Rainbow Dash with an agitated huff.

“So…”, said Pinkie Pie, looking around. “Does this mean that this party is over?”, she asked.

“YES, PINKIE IT’S OVER!”, shouted Rarity from upstairs, before loudly closing a door.

“OK then. So… what do you all want to do now?” asked Pinkie Pie. An awkward silence hung in the empty room.

“Um, I agree with Rarity. I think we took that a bit too far”, Flutter Shy whispered, looking down at the floor. “Maybe we should do something to make up for it.”

“Well, when the time comes, I’m sure we’ll think of something. But for now, I have other stuff to do today. See you all later”, said Rainbow Dash, as she walked to the front door and opened it. And without another thought or care, Rainbow Dash raced off into the sky and out of sight. Then, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Flutter Shy, and Starlight Glimmer left Rarity’s estate.