Rainbow Dash could hardly believe her luck. She'd thought all her chances of going to the big Wonderbolt show today had been wrecked when the show sold out before she could pick up a ticket. She finally had to resort to a write-in contest, It was beneath a pony as awesome as herself, but when she opened her mailbox yesterday to find her prize ticket waiting for her, she figured that was worth the slightly embarrassing path she'd taken for it. She was even able to overlook the insinuations by the prize letter that they believed the winner to be a child. As long as she had that ticket, none of that would bother her.
Rainbow flew eagerly to the very front row of the balcony. She hadn't even known that the prize ticket would be a front row seat. All she wanted was to go; the choice seating was a very welcome surprise. She quickly located her seat and plopped herself down in it. She had made sure to bring all the Wonderbolt gear she could, uncaring of how campy she might have looked. This was a big event, and she was going to dress for the occasion, even if it made her look silly. Rainbow let out a loud "WOOOO!" and waved her flag, nearly striking the pony next to her.
"My word! Do watch yourself!" the pony next to her said.
Rainbow's ear perked. She knew that voice.
"...Rarity?" Rainbow asked. The two ponies turned to face each other.
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaimed, blushing a bit. "I...was not aware that you had tickets for this event..."
"Yeah, I didn't know you did either!" Rainbow nearly bellowed. "What the hay, Rare? You didn't even tell me that you were going to the biggest Wonderbolt event of the year? You know how much I wanted to go!"
"I will have you know, darling," Rarity replied. "That I was only just given this ticket yesterday, as a gift from my good friends Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis. I helped them with a modeling gig last weekend, and this was their way of repaying me."
"Well that was plenty of time to tell me!" Rainbow insisted, crossing her forelegs. "I would have loved to go!"
"You seem to have gone anyway," Rarity answered, lighting up her horn and fixing Rainbow's Wonderbolt cap, which had fallen askew.
"That's besides the point!" Rainbow said, frowning as Rarity nonchalantly tended to her appearance. "You know how much I love the Wonderbolts, and you..."
"Stop right there, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said calmly. "Are you trying to propose that I should have taken the gift I was given and given it to you?"
"I..." Rainbow started, but then stopped. "...Okay, maybe when you put it that way, it does sound bad." She stared at her hooves, feeling a bit bad. Then she stopped. She didn't need to feel bad. She was Rainbow Dash! The Wonderbolts' number-one fan! She puffed her chest out, full of renewed confidence, and turned back to Rarity. "But I'm the Wonderbolts fan of the group! You know that! You're only here because you got the ticket as a gift!"
Rarity blinked twice. Rainbow grinned triumphantly. There wasn't an argument that she couldn't win.
"I beg your pardon," Rarity said, her voice an odd mix of haughtiness and nervousness. "But I, too, happen to be a fan of the Wonderbolts."
"You?!" Rainbow asked incredulously. She narrowed her eyes. "No way, you're not fooling me."
"That would be correct," Rarity said. "I am not fooling you. It is the honest truth." She smiled an earnest smile to the pegasus, but Rainbow wasn't having any of it.
"Oh yeah?" Rainbow asked. "All of a sudden?" Rarity began to speak, but Rainbow interrupted her. "Then let's hear some proof."
"Proof?" Rarity asked, starting to blush lightly.
"Yeah, proof," Rainbow responded. She smiled a diabolical smile; she was sure she had Rarity now. "Who won last year's Wonderbolt Derby?"
"The summer one or the winter?" Rarity shot back.
"Clever girl," Rainbow said. "Though I bet you don't know either one. How about the winter?"
"Sky Streak," Rarity responded without a second thought. Rainbow raised a brow.
"...Okay, you probably heard me say that at some point," the pegasus said, blowing it off. "But that was an easy one. After Spitfire, who's the fastest Wonderbolt?"
"Fleetfoot," came Rarity's response. "What she lacks in size, she makes up for in speed."
"Okay, I know you heard that from me," Rainbow said, trying her best to hide her surprise. "But here's a really hard one that's sure to stump you!" She cleared her throat, preparing her favorite bit of Wonderbolt trivia. "There was a scandal about 7 years ago where Soarin was accused of indecent activities with a fan. He was later found to be innocent, but in the time between, they put him under a full mask and changed his mane and tail so he would be unrecognizable and still be able to fly on the team without incident. What was the fake name that he went under during this time?" Rainbow smiled proudly, her smile growing even further when Rarity did not answer immediately like she did the other questions.
"...Blue Blitz," Rarity finally answered, a smirk growing on her face. "Although his first performance in said disguise was under the name Blue Blaze, a name which was changed following the performance, as Spitfire felt that there were too many fire-related names on the team."
Rainbow's jaw dropped. She tried in vain to speak, but nothing would happen.
"Do you still believe that I do not belong here?" Rarity asked, allowing just a touch of smugness to enter her tone.
"...I didn't know you knew so much about the Wonderbolts..." Rainbow said, dumbfounded. "Why didn't you tell me?" Rarity blushed, looking down over the balcony.
"To tell the truth..." the fashionista said, tracing a hoof delicately on the edge of the balcony. "I do truly enjoy the Wonderbolts now, but I had initially gained interest in them in order to impress you."
"To impress-" Rainbow began. Then she felt a hoof gently touch hers. She looked down at the white hoof resting on her blue, and smirked a bit.
"Tell ya what," she said to Rarity. "How about we make a little wager?"
"Oh Rainbow Dash, gambling is beneath a lady such as myself," Rarity replied.
"I think you'll like this one though," Rainbow said. "We each choose which Wonderbolt we think's gonna win this next race. Loser treats the winner to dinner after the show." Rarity smiled, her smile so warm and earnest that it was contagious.
"Then I choose Fleetfoot," Rarity said with a chuckle, scootching a teensy bit closer. "I do hope you've brought enough money with you."
