The most dramatic chapter
Rarity tried to school her features. She could almost feel wrinkles forming from the small scowl she wore as she stomped down the darkened street that led to that ungracious lout's home.
The cold night air caused a chill to run down her back, but it did nothing to dampen her anger. Her left rear hoof sank a fraction of an inch into not-quite mud, and when she stepped again, it sent a small clod of damp earth flying into the folds of her dress. That featherbrained idiot would pay for ruining her dress, too. She'd put that puddle there on purpose just to spite Rarity.
"Hi, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie called. A moment later and she had bounded up next to Rarity, keeping pace while bouncing on all fours. "Are you headed to Sugarcube Corner too? Because if you are, you're totally going the wrong way. The only things this way are train station and the park and the rainbow pond and Dashie's house and Berry's home and—"
Rarity controlled her features perfectly at the mention of that uncultured barbarian's name. Why, she was the perfect picture of grace, poise, and elegance. A lady would never let a tiny thing like rage fit to light the sun itself show upon her features. And Rarity certainly wasn't enraged. So what if a certain pegasus had left her waiting in her home for hours? Waiting for the most beautiful creature on Equestria to arrive and spirit her off to an evening of dancing and dining.
Rarity ignored the pain in her jaw. She'd need to talk to Bon Bon about those sweets. Soft mint was supposed to soothe the stomach and be soft. Well, her stomach was a roiling pit of sourness, and her teeth hurt. Obviously she'd changed the recipe and Rarity was having some reaction to it. She certainly wasn't sick with worry. She was angry. Not very angry. A small, proper, ladylike amount of anger.
Pinkie skidded to a halt, her eyes going wide as she recoiled from Rarity. "Oh, um." Her voice trembled slightly. No doubt she had felt some sort of Pinkie Sense warning her that she was treading perilously close to the not-in-the-least-bit-sensitive topic of that—that jerk. That was certainly the only answer. A lady certainly wouldn't let her anger show to a dear, sweet, and bubbly friend like Pinkie Pie. That Pinkie blanched and looked away from her face was just a coincidence. "Oh, I see it's a bad time. I think I hear Gummy calling." And Pinkie vanished in a puff of sugary displaced air.
The remaining steps didn't take Rarity long. Too soon, she found herself by the small rainbow pond—it was actually more of a puddle being only a few strides across—that formed from the runoff of the spectacular home of that vile fiend. The rainbow fall itself stopped a good dozen paces short of the ground, but despite the evidence of her eyes, a small puddle inevitably formed under Rainbow Dash's front door step. For some reason, somepony had left a haphazard scattering of gardenias around and in the rainbow puddle.
"Rainbow Dash!" she called, startling the crickets to silence. Sure it was a bit loud and perhaps her voice had a slightly ragged quality to it. Due entirely to the cold, of course. Cold that was, now that she thought about it, the domain of Ponyville's weather team. The team Rainbow Dash had trained specifically to spite Rarity. "I know you're up there!"
Silence greeted her. Then the crickets started up their songs again. Still, Rarity waited for a response. She had waited this long tonight already, what was another few minutes? But waiting had its dangers. As time passed, her anger lessened. As her anger lessened, her fear grew. Was this whole nightmare of a night somehow her fault?
Two weeks ago, Rainbow Dash had burst in through her door—her door, not her ceiling!—after knocking and blurted out the question Rarity had been hinting she wanted to answer for months. She'd rather imagined that Rainbow would have worn a nice dress, of course. And brought her flowers. Or at least done something, anything, with her mane. The stupid, silly, wonderful, amazing, beautiful pegasus hadn't even had a date in mind when she asked. Rarity had to suggest their first rendezvous herself. It had taken far too many hints that had been far too blunt to communicate her interest to Rainbow Dash, but she hadn't had to outright ask for the date.
It had been too much. Rainbow had seen how overbearing and fussy and high-maintenance she was and had decided it had all been a mistake. Rarity had pushed her friend—and that was all they'd ever be now, she was sure—into something she didn't want.
She’d dealt with heartache before and it seemed she’d be forced to deal with it once more. But Rainbow could have at least told her. A first date may not be much of a commitment, but it deserved some courtesy. Even if it was Rainbow Dash she expected said courtesy from.
Rarity seized that spark of anger. "Fine!" she yelled. "But you can't ignore me forever!"
Fortunately, she'd come prepared for this eventuality. If that mare was low enough to stand her up, it stood to reason she wouldn't exactly come out to greet her. She maneuvered the stylish bag that was part of her ensemble. Normally she'd keep emergency cosmetics inside, in case she needed to touch up her eye liner or perform an emergency perm, but she'd brought different accessories tonight.
Out came her copy of their old friendship journal. Twilight's spell for walking on clouds was detailed in one of the appendices. Out came a cache of balloons and helium. Pinkie had stored them inside the exterior molding on her boutique. "For balloon emergencies," she'd said. Rarity had no idea what sort of use Pinkie Pie had intended, but she had a need and this was an emergency.
It took mere minutes to inflate the balloons and tie them about herself as she'd seen Pinkie do on numerous occasions. She was forced to use her magic to keep herself upright, something Pinkie obviously had not needed, but Rarity soon found herself pulling level with Rainbow's front porch.
Her horn lit and a pair of needles popped balloons two by two until she began to drift downward. Her hooves tingled and they sank an inch into the cloudstuff before finally encountering something like solid ground. Rarity shifted weight from one hoof to another, uncertain if the cloud would actually hold her.
Rarity considered. She could keep the remaining balloons and have an assured way down, or she could rely on somepony else to help her down. Or she could fail to renew her spell and fall in a dramatic plummet, cursing that brute with her final breaths.
She'd leave behind scores of wailing ponies. Twilight would give the eulogy, in full royal regalia of course, and all of her friends would attend, dressed in the finest of black mourning attire. The somber tone would hold until mid way through the speech, when Fluttershy would begin weeping and set off the whole crowd. Rainbow Dash would throw herself upon her tombstone and refuse to leave for days, pining away for the mare she'd led to her doom. Rarity shook her head and cut loose the balloons.
After marching up to the door, Rarity paused. Did pegasi knock? Rainbow Dash certainly never did, but she wanted to be poli—no. No she did not want to be polite. She reminded herself she was furious. And a furious pony did not demurely knock on the door. Especially when she'd been rebuffed once already.
Rarity charged through the door, puffing it into vapor. "Rainbow Dash!" she cried, falling into a low crouch and trying to look every way at once. The interior of the home shone with dark blues and purples as the moonlight filtered through the layers of clouds that formed the walls and ceiling. Rainbow was not going to elude her, even in this dimness. She needn't have bothered. The room was empty.
"Rainbow Dash! Stop hiding and explain yourself this instant!"
"Go away, Rarity!" The voice sounded scratchier than usual. The charming rasp had stiffened into something rawer. Rarity's ear swiveled, trying to locate where the absolute villain was hiding herself.
"I will do no such thing!"
"I'm warning you!" Rainbow's voice cracked, ruining any weight the threat may have had. It did, however, pinpoint Rainbow's location.
Rarity narrowed her eyes at a spot on the ceiling. She was sure that despicable menace was right there. She glanced around at the open first floor of Rainbow's home. There didn't seem to be any easy ways up. She supposed that it made sense that pegasi homes would forgo stairs or lifts, and Rarity had already abandoned her balloons outside. Well, if there were no readily available way up, she'd just have to make one.
Rarity jumped. The floor gave under her a bit, flexing downward and then springing back. She jumped again. Three times she leapt, each time the floor bowing and rebounding, sending her higher. The final bound sent her sailing through the ceiling in an explosion of fog and humidity.
She crashed to the floor, then scrambled to her hooves. Cloudstuff stuck to her face. With a brief burst of will through her horn, she sent it flying away from her. It took her several moments to realize the shape in the corner of the room near the bed was not a haphazard pile of blankets or sporting equipment. Rainbow Dash was there, sitting on her haunches.
Rarity's breath caught in her throat. A breeze stirred the curtains, letting a moonbeam stab inwards and illuminate Rainbow Dash. She looked awful.
What had once been a dress, no, a full formal gown, was wrapped around her, twisted so that one wing stuck out a front leg hole. A bulge in the peytral indicated the other was trapped against her flanks. The skirts were in total disarray, and the train had become tangled with her tail. A small pile of assorted belongings lay scattered about the floor, surrounding the pegasus. Rarity recognized the knit cap and scarf she'd given Rainbow for her birthday. The hearts embroidered along the edges had been one of her less subtle attempts to prod Rainbow into wooing her. Rarity had been sure Rainbow Dash had lost those. Finally, Rainbow Dash had placed the cutiemark saddlebag Rarity had made for her over her head.
Chills shot down her spine. "Rainbow Dash?" Her voice quivered as she spoke. Surely that had been because she was still so very angry with Rainbow and not because she was worried. "Darling, what happened?" She didn't sound angry, but then a lady wasn't supposed to wear her emotions on her sleeve.
"Go away." Rainbow's voice was quiet. "Please." The strain in her voice echoed in Rarity’s chest. She reminded herself that she was furious with R—with that brigand. It was just enough to keep her from rushing forward to hug the pegasus. “I don’t want you to se—just go.”
Rarity almost did it. Rainbow Dash's begging tugged at her heart in a way her wheedling, cajoling, demanding, or whining seldom had. There was a raw pleading quality that made Rarity think of a single stitch placed too far and bearing the weight of the whole seam. If just a little more pressure were applied, the thread would stretch or snap. But she knew, knew, that her friend needed her. Rarity took a step closer. Her horn once more glowing with sapphire light, she gently lifted the bag from Rainbow's head.
She gasped, dropping the bag to the floor with a muted thump. Shades of blue makeup were smeared across Rainbow's forehead and around her eyes. Pink and red slashed her cheeks. A purple blob surrounded her mouth. A black spiky strip was stuck to her cheek. After a second glance, Rarity identified is as a fake eyelash.
"I'm sorry," Rainbow whispered. "I tried, but—" Dash's voice broke and she looked away from Rarity. "You deserve somepony better than me."
The motion revealed a broken-off brush head tangled in the back of her mane. A jewel-inlaid copy of Rainbow's cutiemark peeked out between the strands of entwining hair. Rarity had given that to her last year. And the blush had been a present for her last birthday, along with the eyeshadow and lipstick.
Her eyes swept over the floor. There was the mirror she'd given Rainbow two years ago for her birthday, and the bottle of imported perfume she'd gifted Rainbow upon becoming a Wonderbolt trainee. Rainbow Dash had kept all these? But she had never, never, used any of them.
The layers suddenly fit together. Rainbow Dash had never used them, until tonight. "Rainbow? Did you— did you do this for me?"
Rainbow barked a single sardonic laugh, sharp as a razor. "I guess. I tried, but both of us know just how worthless I am at this." She awkwardly hopped to twist away from Rarity.
"Rainbow." Rarity gently, softly, turned Rainbow's chin to face her. "Why on Equestria didn't you ask me to help?"
Rainbow starred in her eyes. Rarity's heart skipped a beat as she noticed unshed tears forming. "I wanted to do it right, this time." Rainbow's free wing rubbed across her face coming away with shades of blue and purple and pink. "I screwed up so bad when I asked you out... I know you love all the fancy things ponies do in those mushy plays. I just wanted to do things the way you wanted. I wanted to try. Not make you do it while I complained the whole time."
"Oh, Rainbow." Rarity brought her into a hug, heedless of the lipstick rubbing against her collar. This was her fault. She'd opened her mouth and complained when this sweet, amazing mare had overcome her own trepidation to ask her out. She'd complained, and now her friend and prospective date was berating herself and calling herself not good enough. "You silly, wonderful, gorgeous, beautiful mare."
"I'm getting makeup on your dress—"
"Forget the dress. I never meant for— I didn't— Oh Rainbow Dash, I'm so sorry! You are too good enough for me! I fear that I might be the mare falling short."
"What?!" The air was filled with a tearing sound as a sleeve trapping Rainbow's forelegs together gave way. Rarity found herself pushed back far enough that her muzzle bumped against Rainbow's. "You, fall short? You're amazing, Rarity! I'd do anything to have a real shot at a pony like you! It's me who isn't good enough."
"Rainbow Dash." Rarity glared at her. "Do you think that I said yes to you because I didn't feel you were worthy? Look at you! You give me the very thing I've wanted for months, and I ruin it by finding faults and pushing you to— to—"
"Yes! Look at me! I have no clue what in Tartarus I'm doing! I'm as far from that prince you want as it's possible to get! How can I be awesome enough to deserve you if I can't even get dressed for a date without screwing it up?"
"Well, yes, darling. You are quite a fright." When Dash looked down, Rarity used a hoof to lift her chin back up to face her. With a smile, she said, "But you did this to make this date special? For me?"
"Yeah."
"Then it is special, Rainbow." Rarity used a ribbon from Rainbow's dress to dab at the pegasus's eyes, drying them and removing some of the excess eyeshadow there. "No prince has ever done anything quite like this for moi." She found that her own eyes were in need of drying as well. "And if you would indulge me the teensiest bit, you'd allow me to give you several pointers before you escort me next week."
Rainbow Dash's head snapped up and her wide eyes fixed on Rarity's. "Pointers? What, next week? You're giving me another chance?"
"Quite." No other pony had ever tried quite so hard to give Rarity the things she wanted as the pegasus before her. "And the most important one is that I said 'yes' to Rainbow Dash. I want Rainbow Dash. You will never have to hide who you are to make me happy."
"Rarity..." Rainbow Dash looked close to tears again and she crossed her neck with Rarity's and wrapped a leg around her. "Do you mean it? You really like me?"
"I do, darling." She noticed the broken hair brush again. From this close, she could also see the numerous split ends that had trapped the bristles, spelling doom for the brave implement. "Although, perhaps I could also like a version of you who indulged in slightly more mane care."
Rainbow Dash pulled away, her lips showing the faintest hint of the wonderful smirk. "That sounds like you want to go to the spa."
"Only a little! Just an hour, or three, and your mane will be in tip-top shape. Perhaps you'll take me next week?"
Rainbow Dash snorted. "The spa's not a date. Even I know that. It's more like an afternoon thing with your gal-pal."
"Oh!" squealed Rarity. "I accept! How's tomorrow?"
"What? But I just said—" Rainbow Dash paused, then chuckled. "You're going to absolutely ruin me, Rarity."
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle sat outside Sugarcube Corner still nibbling on the last remnants of breakfast. As was their tradition for the morning after a sleepover, Pinkie had made the trio breakfast cupcakes of her own invention. Apple Bloom had never inquired too closely what exactly made them breakfast cupcakes as opposed to muffins, but she was sure Pinkie Pie had a reason. She was equally sure she didn't really want to know what that reason was.
"Yuck!" Scootaloo's voice broke Apple Bloom from her woolgathering. "Are you seriously saying you want to go out with Rumble?"
Sweetie Belle nearly choked on a bite of muffin. "What?! I never said that! I just said it was cute the way he tries to get Silver Spoon's attention."
Apple Bloom swept her plate up protectively as Scootaloo jumped up on the table and leveled a hoof at Sweetie. "You said that you wished somepony would do that for you!"
"Somepony!" cried Sweetie. "Not Rumble!" Sweetie Belle's gaze unfocused and her lips curled up in a smile. "It would be so romantic!"
Scootaloo make hacking, choking sounds as she fell dramatically back onto her seat. Privately, Apple Bloom agreed with Scootaloo more than Sweetie Belle. It might be romantic, but she'd be more embarrassed than delighted to have a colt follow her around all day, singing limericks to her beauty. Besides, Rumble wasn't a very good singer.
"Colts are gross," Scootaloo said. "Dating is gross. Kissing is double gross." She made a face that reminded Apple Bloom of the time Twilight had helped Spike cook pancakes and used salt instead of sugar. "What do you think, Apple Bloom?"
"I reckon kissing and stuff is pretty gross." She considered for a moment. "At least until you find a pony you wanna do it with. Then I reckon it's probably pretty fun."
"Ugh!" Scootaloo made another barfy face. "That romance gunk is just too lame."
"Rarity says if you keep making faces like that, it's gonna get stu..." Sweetie trailed off. \
Apple Bloom followed the gaze of her suddenly wide eyes up and to the left. Her eyebrows raised at what she saw. Why was Rainbow Dash carrying Rarity down towards Sugarcube Corner? In a gown? Why couldn't they hear Rarity complain about the way her mane was whipping in the wind?
"Yeah, yeah," said Scootaloo. "I've heard that before, but have you ever seen a pony with their face like that?" Scootaloo glanced between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle before looking over her shoulder just in time to see the pair land. "Oh, hey! Rainbow Dash!" She jumped up and down, excitedly waving her forehoves.
Rainbow either didn't hear or pretended not to. She turned to say something to her passenger just as Scootloo was ramping up for an even louder greeting. That greeting never came as Rarity leaned forward and planted a light kiss on Rainbow's muzzle. The pair trotted into Sugarcube Corner without noticing the Crusaders. For their part, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat in stunned silence.
After long moments, Scootaloo spoke. "Sweetie Belle, did your sister just kiss my idol?"
"I—I think she did!" Sweetie's voice cracked. "Oh, that must be the special thing Rarity had to do last night!" She began to giggle. "Rainbow Dash must be the pony she's been trying to court for the last three months! And she finally did it!"
Apple Bloom smirked at Scootaloo. "I guess that 'romance gunk' isn't that lame after all. If'n Rainbow Dash is doing it and all."
Scootaloo glanced down at her plate for a moment. When she looked back up, her eyes held an intensity that Apple Bloom hadn't seen since they'd gotten their cutie marks. "Hey, Sweetie Belle," she said. "How you doin'?"
Sweetie starred in stunned amazement. Then her own eyes narrowed. She tossed her head and began to stomp away.
"Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked. "I said—"
"Nope!" declared Sweetie Belle. "Nope, nope, and nope!"