Rainbow Dash finally dresses in style
Rainbow Dash hovered at the door of the Carousel Boutique, butterflies in her stomach. “Maybe I should just…” She turned to fly away, but she stopped after a single wingbeat. She had been putting this off for moons! It was a quiet day during a slow season in the fashion cycle. Maybe nopony would even notice her. Steeling herself, she flew up to the door. She landed and tried to open the door quietly.
Ring!
How could she have forgotten that the Carousel Boutique had a bell at the door?! She stood in the doorway, paralyzed. The boutique was before her, dozens of unique dresses on display. Nopony was around, not even Rarity, although the shop was open. She cautiously stepped into the shop, staying on the ground. Her wings made too much noise. She looked at the dresses, trying to figure out how they were arranged.
“Good afternoon, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow was so startled, she let out a whinny. “I didn’t mean to startle you, dear,” Rarity said. She was walking down the stairs. She wore her red glasses, implying that she had been designing or sewing.
“Who, me?” Rainbow said. “Startled? Never.” She chuckled awkwardly.
“You seem a little on edge,” Rarity said. “What’s going on?”
“Going on? Nothing’s going on.”
“Nothing?” Rarity said. “Then… why are you here?”
“Oh, just, uh, you’re my friend, and I wanted to visit you,” Rainbow said.
“Right,” Rarity said suspiciously. “Well, I’m working on a dress, so I’ll be upstairs unless somepony comes in to shop.” She started up the stairs.
“H… w…” Rainbow stuttered. Rarity didn’t think she was here to shop. Good. But she wanted to look at the dresses, and those were downstairs. But she couldn’t let Rarity get suspicious. She hesitantly flew up the stairs. “So, what are you working on?” Rainbow said, trying to sound casual.
A mannequin stood in the middle of the room. Fabrics were piled up all around it, and dozens of crumpled up papers were scattered around. “I don’t really know, yet,” Rarity said. “Twilight’s coronation is over. I already have my fall line ready. I don’t need a new design. But I feel like… I’m close to something. Something dazzling, something fabulous!”
Rarity levitated a pink sheet of fabric and held it up to the mannequin. Using the dexterity of her levitation, she was able to wrap it around the mannequin and fold it into a rough dress shape, although she hadn’t cut or sewn anything yet. “Hmm…” she mumbled, focused. She floated a paper with a drawing next to the mannequin.
Rainbow Dash watched with uncharacteristic curiosity. It had all started during their attempt to break through the security at the Canterlot Castle, when Rainbow had needed to distract Zephyr Breeze. Much to Rainbow’s chagrin, Rarity had decided the best way to distract him was to dress Rainbow up all fancy and get her to flirt with Zephyr Breeze. It had worked ridiculously well. Zephyr was an absolute stallion-foal, definitely not Rainbow’s type. But Rainbow had caught a glimpse of herself in a dusty old mirror in the hallways under the castle. Though she had faked disgust, taking off the outfit immediately, she… liked the way Rarity had made her look. The pink dress draped over her flank, the eye shadow, the white shoes, her mane so carefully brushed. She was supposed to hate it. Looking pretty wasn’t cool! But somehow she liked it. She wanted to look like that again.
It had been moons since then, but the image in that dusty mirror was still burned into her brain. The day after their attempted heist at Canterlot, Rainbow had almost gone straight to the Carousel Boutique. But she was overcome with shame and dashed away just before opening the door. She couldn’t let other ponies know that she had enjoyed looking pretty. She had to be cool! Over the years, she had realized that some of the “coolness” boundaries she had set during her teenage years were kind of pointless. There was nothing wrong with going to the spa or reading a good book. But looking pretty? Frilly dresses, makeup, styled manes? No, that was too far! Even if she secretly wanted to, she could never let anypony know…
“I’m sorry I can’t stop working,” Rarity said, looking over at Rainbow. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but since you’re here, and there’s really nothing else for you to do… Would you like to stand in for my mannequin?” She smiled sweetly.
“Huh?” Rainbow said, shocked.
“It’s just, I need inspiration, and you’d be a much better model than that piece of plastic,” Rarity said. “I mean your colors, darling, there’s a lot to work with there. You might be the inspiration I need.”
“I, uh…” Rainbow hesitated. This was exactly what she wanted! She wouldn’t have much success picking out a dress for herself and trying it on at home. She didn’t know the first thing about fashion—beside what was clothes and what wasn’t. But if she said yes, the façade was already broken. Rainbow Dash from one year ago never would have agreed to act as a model. She couldn’t let Rarity know she was actually interested in fashion.
The shop bell rang. “Oh, hold that thought,” Rarity said. She trotted down the stairs. Rainbow glided after her. Rose had entered the shop. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique,” Rarity said. “What can I do for you, Rose?”
“It’s terrible, Rarity, just terrible!” Rose said, distraught. “I purchased a new suit to give to Doctor Whooves for Hearts and Hooves Day, and I had this lovely little boutonnière designed to go with it, but then I found out he’s allergic to asters, so I had to…” This was going to go on for a while, wasn’t it? Rainbow felt she had already gone too far, that maybe Rarity was on to her. Her nerves were getting the better of her. This was the perfect excuse to get away.
“Hey, Rarity, I have to go practice my snap rolls,” Rainbow said quietly. Rarity didn’t notice. She was thoroughly engrossed in whatever Rose’s problem was. “Thanks for having me over.” Rainbow slowly opened the door, flying up to catch the bell and prevent it from ringing. Once it was open wide enough, she darted out and flew upwards. In the wind of her flight, she noticed beads of sweat had cumulated on her forehead.
What now? She was tough enough to be a Wonderbolt and the Element of Loyalty, but she was afraid of dresses? After moons of working up the courage to visit Carousel Boutique with the intention of maybe looking at some dresses or even asking Rarity for fashion advice, she had bolted away. Was it worse if she admitted defeat and never came back, or if she came to Rarity again after fleeing the first time?
* * *
Rarity finally finished helping Rose with her suit dilemma. Rose happily trotted out of Carousel Boutique, a bag over her back. “I’m sorry for the wait, Rainbow Da—” She was gone. “Rainbow Dash?” Rarity hurried upstairs. Nopony.
Rarity sat down, befuddled. Something was odd about Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t often that she visited her friends just to visit, but that alone wouldn’t be inconceivable. But the way she was acting… She was uncomfortable or unsettled about something. She also seemed unusually interested in Rarity’s work. Rarity hadn’t missed that Rainbow was looking at the dresses as she was coming down the stairs. And she had been watching Rarity quite intently while she was working with the mannequin…
Could it be? Well, there was only one way to find out.
* * *
Rainbow Dash couldn’t tell if Rarity was on to her or not. The following day, Rarity had found Rainbow and said, “I was delighted that you visited yesterday. I’m sorry I was too busy to attend you properly, but I appreciated the gesture. We must have a proper little get-together. Would you be able to visit me after the shop has closed tonight? I can have some tea ready, and we can chat without me being all distracted.”
It seemed a harmless enough invitation. Rainbow had accepted, fearing that declining would make Rarity suspicious if she wasn’t already. Rainbow’s brain was just on damage control at this point. Convince Rarity that she had no interest in fashion. Then later she could figure out if/how she would continue to pursue her embarrassing new interest. Maybe she could fly off to a boutique in some random town, like Fillydelphia. Ponies would recognize her anywhere in Equestria, so she would still feel ashamed, but at least she would probably never see those ponies again.
She arrived at Carousel Boutique. The shadows were long, the sun low in the sky. The shop’s sign was turned to “closed.” Rainbow hesitantly knocked. Quick, decisive hoofsteps approached the door. The handle lit up with magic, and the door opened. “Rainbow Dash, I’m so happy to see you,” Rarity said. “Come in.”
Rarity led them to the kitchen on the second floor of the building. A tea set was laid out on the table. There was a platter in the center of the table, covered by a silver dome. “Please, have a seat,” Rarity said. She went to boil some water.
Avoid talking about fashion, Rainbow thought. “So, uh, how are you doing?” she said. “It’s been a little weird with Twilight living in Canterlot. I don’t have anypony to rant to about the latest Daring Do book.”
“Ah, I know what you mean,” Rarity said. “Spike was the more frequent visitor here, but I miss them both dearly. At least I get to see them when I visit my boutique in Canterlot.” There was a moment of silence. “And how are the Wonderbolts doing these days? I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to come to any shows recently.”
“It’s no problem,” Rainbow said. She sighed. “Everypony has been tense since the coronation went awry. Spitfire is having us run through stunts dozens of times in a row to prevent any more mistakes, which isn’t a bad idea, but it prevents us from learning more complex routines.”
“Well, it may be a different craft, but I fully appreciate the difficulty of balancing perfection with innovation,” Rarity said. She walked back to the table, levitating a teapot beside her. She set down the teapot and removed the cover from the platter, revealing tea cakes. “Bon appetite.” She poured two cups of tea and passed one to Rainbow.
“This is nice, Rarity,” Rainbow said. “Thanks.”
“Well, it was your idea, in a sense,” Rarity said. “What inspired you to come here the first time, anyway?”
Rainbow’s heart beat nervously. “Uh, I don’t know,” she said, chuckling. “Maybe I was feeling lonely ‘cuz Twilight’s in Canterlot.”
“Perhaps,” Rarity said. “But you and I are very good friends, too, wouldn’t you agree? Even though we don’t have as much in common as, say, you and Applejack.”
“Yeah, you’re a great friend,” Rainbow said.
“And I’m sure Applejack would insist that good friends should always be honest to each other,” Rarity said.
She was on to Rainbow, wasn’t she? “Uh, I don’t like where this is going,” Rainbow said uncomfortably.
“And you should know that I am perfectly capable of respecting a pony’s privacy and keeping a secret,” Rarity said. “Which is why you should know that you can safely answer me honestly when I ask you a personal question.”
“Uh…” Rainbow grabbed a tea cake and shoved the whole thing into her mouth. “The’e ‘ea cake’ are good!” she said, mouth full of food, trying to distract Rarity.
Despite that, Rarity’s blue eyes looked right into Rainbow’s as she said, “Rainbow Dash, did you want to try on some of my dresses?”
Rainbow stomach fluttered, and she started sweating. Her worst fears were coming true. Her aura of coolness was crumbling around her. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of if you’ve acquired an interest in fashion,” Rarity said. “Believe me, it’s hard undoing barriers you’ve built up. It took me years to stop acting like a high horse and looking down on interests I considered less refined. But you’ve come such a long way since we first met. Remember how dismissive you were of books when Twilight first recommended Daring Do to you?”
Rainbow swallowed the tea cake, and there was silence. “Well, darling?” Rarity said, her face guileless.
Rainbow looked down. She couldn’t meet Rarity’s eyes as she confessed. “I liked the way you made me look when we were infiltrating the Canterlot Castle. Ever since then, I’ve wanted… I’ve wanted you to do it again. I don’t know anything about fashion, but you know how to make me pretty. And I guess… I like being pretty. At least, every once in a while.”
Rarity made an excited little shriek. It was suddenly clear that she had pent up quite a lot of anticipation. “I knew it!” she said. “Oh my stars, darling, I’ve been waiting for years for you to come around on this.” She stood up and started prancing in place. “You have so much potential, dear! Ponies dream of having a mane like yours, and you don’t even do anything with it. And with your eyes, and your coat, there are so many color combinations to try. Would you like to try something on now?” Her eyes were starry, and she had a huge grin.
So far, dread and worry had dominated in Rainbow’s mind all night. But now the secret was out, and Rainbow was starting to feel a little excited. “Sure, I’d like that,” she said. “I mean, if you insist. But don’t tell anypony, okay?”
“Very well, as you wish,” Rarity said. “Come, dear. Let’s make you beautiful!”
* * *
It had been two moons since Rainbow Dash had first confessed to Rarity that she was interested in fashion. Rarity had certainly enjoyed herself since then. Rainbow visited her shop every week or so to get another makeover. It always made Rarity sad that Rainbow would take off the clothes, remove the makeup, and ruffle her mane every time before returning home. The poor dear was still afraid of anypony else seeing her all dressed up. Someday, Rarity thought, she will finally come to peace with her feminine side. Then, she will always dress in style!
Rainbow was in Carousel Boutique again tonight. She was becoming quite savvy in fashion, now. She put together looks for herself with only minimal input from Rarity. Tonight she was looking more feminine than ever. She had applied mascara and eye shadow. She had painted her hooves magenta, matching her eyes. She had put in little rose quartz earrings. Her mane carefully combed and braided, with a pale pink bow holding it in place. She had a tail bow that matched it and a lightweight, magenta scarf.
“Rainbow Dash, you look absolutely exquisite,” Rarity said, beaming. “It makes me so happy seeing you like this.” Rainbow stood in front of a mirror, smiling and looking at herself from different angles. “No dress tonight?”
“No,” Rainbow said. “I’m just thinking about what I would actually wear in public. I fly everywhere. I can’t haul around a dress everywhere I go.”
“In public?” Rarity said. “Do you mean you’re considering—”
The front door of the boutique suddenly opened. Rainbow Dash whinnied in surprise as Applejack called, “Rarity, do you have a—”
“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?!” Rarity furiously demanded. But it was too late. The damage was done. Applejack’s eyes were wide, fixed on Rainbow Dash.
“I… did it for Rarity!” Rainbow said, blushing profusely. “I-it’s a loyalty thing.”