"I'm just saying that lightning bolts aren't really...fashionable, darling."
Spitfire couldn't help but roll her eyes. She'd always thought lightning bolts looked pretty cool, and she wasn't about to let anypony change her mind on that. It didn't matter whether it was a fashion expert like Rarity or some other pony; the lightning bolts were staying, and that was all there was to it.
"We're the Wonderbolts, Rarity," Spitfire said as calmly as she could. "Therefore, we have lightning bolts on our uniforms. It's a trademark." The idea of bringing in a fashion expert to help redesign the Wonderbolts uniform had sounded brilliant at first, but now that it was actually happening, it didn't seem quite as fantastic an idea as she'd initially thought.
"But they're garish, Spitfire," Rarity insisted, tapping a hoof against the fluffy cloud floor. Tapping a hoof on clouds was odd, and it wasn't just because she couldn't normally stand on them. The lack of a distinct tap tap sound was disorienting, but she had to admit that the feeling under her hooves was pleasantly soft. "I do see your point about the name, but..."
"But?" Spitfire asked. She wasn't about to let up on this, but she wasn't so pigheaded as to not even listen to suggestions.
"But," Rarity continued. "This many lightning bolts is just..." She clicked her tongue a few times; a habit she'd recently picked up and even more recently acknowledged as uncouth, but one that she often found herself coming back to regardless when she was trying to innovate fashion in that special way only she could. "...Overwhelming."
"We're the Wonderbolts," Spitfire responded, shaking her head slightly. "We're supposed to be overwhelming. Gotta grab everypony's attention, you know?"
"Oh, but of course!" Rarity responded. "Believe you me, I know very well what it's like to grab everypony's attention. There's a way to do it and a way not to do it, though. There's a large difference between a carefully-constructed parade of lights and a haphazard fireworks production."
"Are you calling the Wonderbolts a haphazard fireworks production?" Spitfire shot back, frowning. "Everything we do is perfectly organized!"
"I promise I wasn't, darling," Rarity said, taking a step back. An angry Spitfire was a bit more intimidating than she'd expected. "Of course your team is well-organized. And your uniforms should reflect that, instead of looking like an overabundance of blue with random lightning bolts tossed on. Just let the master do her work, hm?"
Spitfire lowered her sunglasses, giving Rarity a little glare. Rarity was a pleasant sort most of the time. She'd been spending more time around her recently ever since Rarity and Rainbow Dash had made their relationship official, and for the most part she enjoyed it. Of course, their time together didn't typically consist of talking about fashion. The topic came up plenty, but it wasn't always the sole topic of discussion like it was right now. She hummed to herself as she looked over the uniform in front of her. She didn't quite agree with Rarity's opinion of how much blue was "too much," but perhaps it could use a little difference in its color scheme. A little difference which she believed was alleviated by the lightning bolts, but apparently that was a problem too. There was no pleasing that mare.
"I take it that displeases you," Rarity said, taking note of the glare. She gently placed a hoof on Spitfire's shoulder. "I'm not trying to say your previous design is bad, darling. I'm just saying it could use a bit of an update. Some more glitz, more pizazz."
"Glitz?" Spitfire asked. "I thought you didn't want it to be overblown."
"There's a stark difference between glitzy and overblown, darling," Rarity responded.
Spitfire brought her sunglasses up again to mask a rolling of the eyes. The word "darling" was beginning to lose all meaning to her.
"So what would you suggest, then?" Spitfire asked. "Since we apparently can't use blue or lightning bolts." As much as she liked Rarity as a pony, her patience with this meeting was beginning to run thin.
"Hmmm..." Rarity mused. She walked in a neat circle around the uniform, deep in thought. "I don't mean to speak poorly of your design choices, and I suppose I can see the importance of including lightning bolts in it. But the way it's done just seems so...well, it just seems like it could be improved upon. Something else that could be added, but for the life of me I can't seem to figure out what it is."
"If you can't think of an improvement, then why does anything have to be improved at all?" Spitfire asked.
"Because it does, Spitfire," Rarity said simply.
"But why?" Spitfire groaned, quite exasperated. "The uniforms aren't the most important part of the presentation. That award goes to our flying skills."
"What?" Rarity gasped. "Spitfire, do you really not understand the importance of your appearance? It's a total package! You need to perform your best and look good doing so if you truly wish to make your shows unforgettable!" Rarity's patience was beginning to run thin as well. She was nowhere near used to practicing her craft with a pony who didn't understand the importance of fashion, and the fact that Spitfire was beginning to show her frustration was not helping matters.
"But how does that make any sense?" Spitfire shouted, staring daggers at Rarity. "Our skills don't change based on what we wear! We don't fly in better formations because we're wearing vertical stripes instead of horizontal! Our aerial tricks don't just up and improve because the bottoms of the leggings are yellow instead of blue!"
Spitfire instantly regretted shouting at Rarity like that. She really was just trying to help, after all. She didn't deserve to be yelled at. Her gaze softened as she allowed her emotions to level out. She opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped when she saw Rarity frozen in place, a faraway gaze crossing her face. She had clearly been too harsh.
"Okay Rarity, I'm so-" Spitfire began, but her sentence was quickly interrupted.
"That's perfect!" Rarity exclaimed. "It breaks up the monotonous blue and keeps your lightning bolt motif without the deliberate overuse of the bolts themselves! Such a simple change, and yet it makes such a tremendous difference! You're a genius, Spitfire!"
Spitfire raised a brow, then grinned proudly. She wasn't sure why that made such a tremendous difference like Rarity had said, but she certainly did feel good for coming up with it.
"Now then," Rarity said, smiling a devious little smile as she placed a hoof on the rear of the uniform. "Perhaps we could see about making this area a bit more accented, hm?"
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash finally piped up as her flank was rubbed. "Not in front of Spitfire, Rare! And are we almost done here? My legs are starting to get stiff."
"Patience, cadet," Spitfire said to Rainbow, giving her and Rarity a little grin. "Just let the master do her work."
