Forgive me for being unladylike...
The bright rays of the afternoon sun shone upon cerulean feathers and illuminated Rainbow Dash’s prismatic hair in a breathtaking array of colors. As Rarity’s eyes gazed upwards to the lone pegasus high in the sky, marveling the magnificent sight. Somersaulting and corkscrewing, the light blue mare displayed her prowess in the art of flying. Even from afar, Rainbow Dash’s aerial performance told the trained eye that she was one, only to be rivaled by the best of the best.
Rarity followed the vanishing rainbow trail, her friend left in her wake and watched her slowing down to a more moderate speed, allowing the alabaster unicorn to obtain a clearer view of her athletic form. Unoccupied by any task, Rarity’s sapphire eyes idly wandered over the stunt flyer’s sleek body, savoring its every inch. No matter how much effort the designer put in her appearance and how successful she was with it, in terms of natural beauty, she envied Rainbow Dash.
Seemingly satisfied with the amount of her exercise, the pegasus descended towards the ground, landing on a hill beside the path Rarity was ambling along. Not giving a single care about the world, Rainbow started to stretch out her warm muscles, showing off her well-toned shape and yawning heartily, observed only by her white-coated friend. Unintentionally or not, the stretching involved some rather… suggestive poses and provoked some rather lecherous thoughts in Rarity’s mind and caused her to lose herself in the sight.
Much to her chagrin, a pothole on the path briefly robbed the unicorn of her balance and roused her from her daydreams.Compose yourself! She’s your friend. A lady does not think about her friends like this! she thought when she realized what she had done. With a gracious puff, Rarity cocked her head in a dignified manner, throwing her mane back and continued her trot towards the pegasus, who had agreed to accompany her. Despite the designer’s efforts to banish them back into the depths of her mind, the mental images of her however, remained. Not as vivid as before, but still enough to paint fine red hue across her muzzle.
Oblivious to the ongoing struggle between Rarity’s self-discipline and fantasy, Rainbow arched a back for a last delightful time and sat back on her haunches, waiting for her friend to catch up.
“So, why did you want me to come with you again?” Rainbow Dash asked as soon as Rarity was within earshot.
“Didn’t I explain it to you?” Rarity stopped in front of the athlete with a puzzled expression.
“Nooo… All you did was asking me yesterday if I could help you today when I was sleeping on a cloud, tell me to come here at 3 o’clock and run off when I said I have no other plans. You could have at least given me enough time to wake up completely or at least tell me what you need me for…”
“Oh… I’m so sorry, my dear! I was just horribly stressed yesterday. I am swamped with orders and had to find someone to help me as fast as I could,” Rarity replied embarrassedly.
“’It's no big deal, Rares. My afternoons are pretty much always free anyway.” Rainbow waved off the apologies. “Now, what’s your problem?”
“Well… You see, I ran out of gems again and need to get new ones from the mountains. I could do it by myself, but I can carry only so much alone. Also, I would be busy all day until I have enough and here is simply not much time for me to complete all of my commissions. Besides, it gets a bit lonely…” Rarity sheepishly scratched on the ground.
“Ah! Gem hunting! Doesn’t Spike usually help you with that?” Dash shot her friend a confused look.
“Usually, he would, but Twilight needs him for an experiment about dragons in general and baby dragons in particular. I think she said something about testing durability of some kind,” the unicorn tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Anyway, he’s not available and you were the next best pony to ask.”
An eyebrow rose on Rainbow’s forehead. “Gee, Rarity... thank you ever so much for only picking me because I was the next best!”
“I… uhm…” Rarity stuttered, taken by surprise about the unexpected outburst.
Rainbow burst into laughter at Rarity’s awkward stammering, earning a nasty glare from the unicorn as she realized that she had been the victim of a prank. “Just messing with ya! But do ya have any tools with you? Because I’m not gonna dig through the dirt with my bare hooves!” Rainbow Dash asked with her trademark smirk.
“I do!” Rarity’s horn flared up in her distinctive pastel blue aura as she lifted one of her two pairs of saddle bags from her back and floated it towards her friend. Inside were various tools like a shovel and a pickaxe, she had used for quite a long time to mine gems before Twilight and Spike came and she got a willing helper for all the dirty work. When she was younger, Rarity had even named her pickaxe. ‘Notch’ had served her well since she was just a filly.
“Okay. I guess they’ll do.” Rainbow nodded. “Where are we going? There are not many gems here after all, I think.”
“Actually, I wanted to explore a cave I discovered recently. I sensed a large amount of gems in there but I had already enough to carry at the time. It’s about two, maybe three kilometers ahead and a bit off the track but I’ll find it for sure!” assured Rarity.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go. You wanted gems!” Rainbow grinned and slowly flew ahead.
Amused by her friend’s straightforward and jovial manner, Rarity laughed and closed up to her. Just as the two of them, they hadn’t spent much time together yet, so they both enjoyed the rare opportunity to talk to the other alone. Although they started with their favorite topics, their respective forms of art, namely dresses and flying, they soon drifted off to various other topics like the newest gossip of Ponyville and national news.
Alas, as pleasant as the conversation was to them, they eventually arrived at their goal, an old trail that branched off the main path into a small forest at the foot of a mountain, and set their hooves on it. Their chatter lapsed into silence as the two friends wandered along the narrow trail, amazed by the untouched beauty of the forest far off of any trading or tourist routes.
The sparse trees allowed flowers and bushes to grow underneath them and small critters of all kinds were hushing away from the ponies as they strode through the woods. A gentle breeze swaying their manes and stirring up dry leaves on the ground.
After about five minutes of silently walking and admiring the scenery, the pegasus and the unicorn finally reached the dark entrance of a cave to which the trail had led them.
“This must be it. I sense a lot of gems in here. It must be full of them!” Rarity cheered out in delight, her horn aglow with her distinctive gem finding spell.
With a joyful laugh, the unicorn broke into a gallop, leaving an amused grinning Rainbow Dash in a dust cloud behind her.
When she reached the opening in the mountainside, the Rarity slowed her pace and entered it with cautious steps. Once the darkness of the mountains inside engulfed her, the unicorn channeled her magic to light up the tip of her horn, bathing her surroundings in an azure light. A short tunnel stretched itself before her, at its end a crossway, each new path ending in the unknown.
“Looks like it’s a tunnel system… Where do you wanna go?” asked the cerulean pegasus who had followed her closely.
Silently casting her search spell once more, Rarity let her head sway between the two tunnels until she finally stopped, her horn pointing at the left one.
“This one,” she stated simply and proceeded to explore the chosen path.
Quietly, they two mares walked beside each other, listening to the echoing clip-clop of their hooves on stone, waiting for the tunnel to widen or come to an end. A few minutes later, they reached a narrow passage, a crack in the otherwise solid rock, through which they could see a large hollow space. Not hesitating for a moment, the unicorn took a step ahead of the pegasus and squeezed herself through the passage.
As she did, Rarity gasped in amazement.
Behind the crack in the wall, there was cavern, so huge that Ponyville’s town hall would have fitted in it at least four times. Stalagmites towered high up and stalactites hung down from the ceiling.
And as if this alone wasn’t enough to mark this as a masterpiece of nature, gems and minerals of all sorts glittered and gleamed on the walls and the ground, some of them illuminated by Rarity’s magic light, other glowing on their own accord.
Filled with wonder, the unicorn didn’t even notice her friend stepping beside her and gaping at the marvelous sight with equal astonishment.
A faint trickling of water sounded through the cave, and as the two friends looked around, they saw a small stream of water gushing out of another crack on the far side of the cavern and flow off into a hole in the ground.
“Do you think there has ever been someone in here before us?” Rainbow’s voice broke through the silence.
Withholding an immediate answer, Rarity took her time to marvel the beauty of this cave a few more moments and mused about the question.
“It is possible, my dear. I would actually like it very much to be the first one to have seen this masterpiece of nature.”
Suddenly, loud clattering filled the cavern and the designer spun around, startled by the loud noise, just in time to see Rainbow Dash empty the second saddle bag of tools on the ground.
“What? You said you need gems!” the pegasus defended herself, when she was hit by an accusing glare.
“Ah… You are right. Sorry, I was simply washed away by this place. You do understand, don’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I might come back some other time and go deeper but we are here for a reason. Let’s get started!” Rainbow grinned and tossed a pickaxe over to her pale friend.
“Of course. I’ll mark the spots for you.” Rarity batted her eyelashes towards her friend in a most innocent manner, casually ignoring the mining tool lying before her well-trimmed hooves.
“Uh-uh! You said you wanted me to HELP you. Not doing everything for you. I’m not Spike.” Rainbow shook her head and smirked, pointing her hoof at the pickaxe.
This rather bold statement provoked a slight huff from the alabaster unicorn. With a dignified pout, she raised her nose in the air and to the side, closing her eyes to show her displeasure. Unfortunately, her colorful companion remained unfazed, even as she cautiously open one eyelid just enough to see Rainbow leaning back against a stalactite, obviously waiting for Rarity to show some work effort.
A not so ladylike groan escaped the designer’s mouth and an azure aura appeared around the pickaxe’s handle. Shooting her shamelessly grinning friend a death glare of the highest level, Rarity lifted the tool and flared up her horn a bit more to search for the nearest gem deposited in the cavern. If she had to do the dirty work as well, she would do it at least good.
Soon, they had established an effective workflow. As soon as Rarity would find a rich deposit, she would mark it for Rainbow Dash and proceed to find the next one so that she wouldn’t run out of work. When she was two or three of them ahead, she would divert some of her attention to more accessible gems embedded into the surface of the cave walls.
Every once in a while Rarity threw a covert glance towards her cerulean friend, secretly marveling Rainbow’s athletic form as she dug up the rare minerals for her. Pleasant warmth crept up her chest and face, as the unicorn enjoyed the magnificent view, causing the frivolous images from before to reappear in her mind again, free of Rarity’s restraints this time.
For quite a bit, the unicorn indulged in her mild voyeurism, until something struck her odd. Rainbow had stopped digging up gems and instead broke something else out of the cave wall. It wasn’t clear to Rarity what kind of rock exactly it was but it looked rather dull and ugly to her. Nothing she would ever use for a dress and Rainbow must have known it just as well. So why would she still mine it and put away into her saddlebags?
“Rainbow, darling, since when are you collecting minerals? Do you have hobbies you hide and don’t tell us about?” Rarity approached her friend.
Startled by the unexpected question, Rainbow spun around, desperately trying to hide the pale red stone she had just picked up behind her back. A horrified expression spread on her face.
“No! Nothing! I… I just thought this rock… looks cool! Yeah! That rocks looks kinda cool and wanted to keep it!” the pegasus stammered, nervously shuffling her hooves.
Rarity curiously tilted her head and kept her eyes locked on Rainbow. She didn’t really buy the rushed explanation, but was it worth to pry further? The pegasus was clearly uncomfortable with the topic. Eventually, Rarity decided to let it slip, for Rainbow’s sake.
The cerulean mare had already so much done for her, it would be only impolite to pressure her about a triviality like this. Dash had probably just a different taste than Rarity in these little things.
“I suppose it… has aesthetical value,” the unicorn remarked with carefully hidden traces of doubt.
“I know, right? It’s pretty cool!” Rainbow emphasized her point with a bit more confidence than before. “I think I’ll take it home.”
“So you want to decorate your house with minerals? Oh, Rainbow, my dear, have you finally acquired a sense for beauty?” Rarity inquired with a sly smile.
Letting the brash pegasus keep her private space was one thing, passing up a golden opportunity like this another. Teasing Rainbow Dash was just too much fun.
“Yeah, I’ll… Wait. What? NO!” the pegasus protested vigorously, “I just thought this rock looks cool, nothing more! I’m not suddenly into all that glittery stuff…”
“Of course not. Your secret is safe with me, darling.” Rarity winked and turned around, slowly walking off, swaying her posterior a bit more than necessary.
Behind her, Rainbow let out an exasperated groan. Winning a verbal duel against the alabaster unicorn was almost impossible. Everything you said could and would be used against you. It was hopeless as trying to beat Rainbow Dash in a straightforward race in the air.
So, instead of trying to argue her way out, she simply sighed in defeat and trotted towards the next marked spot. At least, that was what she intended to do.
Suddenly, the trickling of water that had previously filled the cavern was drowned out by a faint rumbling and the ground started to shake beneath their hooves. The tremors ended as quickly as they arose, though they lasted long enough to throw Rarity and Rainbow off balance.
The last rumble faded away and the two mares exchanged a fearful glance.
“That was an earthquake, wasn’t it?” Rarity’s anxious voice broke the silence.
“Yes. I think we should get out of here. Fast.”
“Agreed!” the unicorn nodded and started to move towards the narrow passage they had used to enter in a quick pace. Rainbow followed suit.
They didn’t get very far however. The two friends had only managed half of the way, when the walls shivered again and a loud, spine-chilling, cracking noise echoed through the cavern.
“RUN!” Rainbow screamed and darted forward.
Rarity didn’t need a second call. Tossing every bit of dignity and grace aside, the unicorn broke into a gallop, stricken with fear.
For the first time in her life, she felt true panic. Everything that wasn’t herself, the crack in the wall or anything in between faded from her vision as she run as fast as her legs would allow it to reach it.
Time seemed to stand still as the entrance slowly grew bigger. Too slow.
Mere meters before it, a sharp pain shot through Rarity’s head and the world became black.
The next thing she recognized was that the tremors had stopped. Out of pure reflex, Rarity lifted her head and opened her eyes and immediately regretted both. Pain flooded her head, mostly coming from her right temple and her vision was blurred as if she had drunk more than one glass of wine too many.
A groan left her as she rested her head against the cold stone of the cave’s floor again, cursing the falling rock that must have caused her this injury.
Then, Rarity felt a warm hoof touching her shoulder and noticed a faint noise, maybe mumbling. Forcing her eyes open once again, she saw Rainbow kneeling before her in the dim light of the crystals that were illuminating the cavern, the pegasus’ lips moving as she slowly spoke to her.
The words barely broke through the thick haze that clouded the unicorn’s mind but a few key words made it through.
“…too late… got hit… entrance blocked… you… help…understand me?”
Not trusting her voice, Rarity nodded ever so carefully to avoid another wave of pain. Rainbow Dash seemed a bit relieved at that and briefly looked to the ceiling. Then her gaze became inquisitive and she opened her mouth again, producing more hardly understandable words.
“…perfume… you? …flacon?”
Rarity blinked uncomprehendingly. Even in her dazed state she realized that it was rather unreasonable to ask for a perfume. However, Dash seemed to be serious about the request.
“…need bottle… anything… get us out!”
The whole situation became more and more absurd but the unicorn remembered that she had indeed one, hidden inside a pocket of her saddlebags that was filled with cosmetics for emergencies. Again, Rarity nodded and pointed her hoof at her bags that lay beside her. Rainbow had probably taken them of her back.
Immediately, the pegasus grabbed them and searched them for the perfume. Soon, she had found what she was looking for and held the flacon in the air and screwed off the cap after inspecting the label.
Slowly, Rarity’s mind and vision became clearer and she could make more of what Rainbow was doing. It still didn’t make any sense to her, though.
The perfume had been put aside and now Dash was repeatedly beating something on cave floor with a rather large rock she had picked up. After a while, she stopped hitting and grinded it, whatever it was, between the rock and the floor to dust. Once she seemed satisfied, she picked up the flacon again, filled it with the powder she had just produced and sealed it with a strip of cloth that apparently stemmed from one of the saddlebags.
Rainbow approached Rarity again and held the flacon in front of her face.
“Rarity, do you think you can ignite the cloth with your magic?”
The voice was still faint but understandable now. Thinking straight was still a challenge though.
“I think… maybe…” Rarity mumbled.
“Okay. I’ll carry you behind that stalactite and then you ignite the cloth. I’ll do the rest and get us out of here.” Rainbow stated, wearing a strangely confident grin.
“How? I thought the entrance is blocked?”
“Oh, we don’t need it. I’ll make us another,” Dash assured her friend, “Trust me, I’m an engineer!”
“What? What do you mean you’re-“ Rarity was boldly interrupted as Rainbow Dash picked her and the bags up and flew to her previously indicated target. Once there, she carefully set the unicorn down on her wobbly legs, supporting her until she had found her balance.
“Okay. Now set it on fire, but only the tip!”
Still confused and dazed, Rarity decided to simply trust her friend on this one and channeled her magic into her horn, concentrating on a simple ignition spell. With a bright spark, the piece of cloth caught fire.
Suddenly, the headache and haze around the unicorn’s mind returned with full force, only this time she felt nausea rising too. Her knees gave in and Rarity sank to the ground. Her gaze turned upwards and she recognized Rainbow doing something up on the ceiling.
Soon, the pegasus was done and bolted back to Rarity, pulling her into the cover of the natural limestone pillar and wrapping her blue wings around her.
An ear-shattering explosion rocked the inside of the mountain, amplified by the caverns walls, followed by stones and debris crashing down left and right beside them and hitting the stalactite they were cowering behind.
Rarity barely noticed her high-pitched screams of terror and pain, or how Rainbow pulled her tightly to her chest, protecting her from the falling rocks.
As horrid as the experience was, it lasted only a few seconds and when it ended and the dust settled, a ray of sunlight pierced through a new opening in the ceiling.
Sadly, Rarity didn’t see it. Her consciousness faded away again, the exertion of using magic in her dazed state and the shock of the explosion took their toll, clouding her mind in a soft black haze. The last thing she remembered before she fainted was how a pair of hooves placed her on a warm, furry surface and the flapping strong wings, carrying her in the air.
The familiar scent of her home’s interior filled Rarity’s nostrils and her coat brushed against her silken bedding. Her eyes flew open when she felt a gentle tugging on the side of her head, remembering the anguish she had suffered before she lost her consciousness. However, a dull, throbbing pain in her temple was all she experienced.
“Oh! You’re awake! How do you feel?” Rainbow’s voice claimed the unicorn’s attention.
Rarity looked around, recognizing her bedroom in Carousel Boutique. As suspected, she lay in her bed, a blanket covering her from her chest downwards while Rainbow stood beside her, holding the end of the bandage she had been wrapping around the unicorn’s head. Earnest concern was written into the pegasus’ eyes.
“I am… okay, I suppose. Thank you,” Rarity replied a bit unsure.
“Good, then… Seems like the rock didn’t hit you too bad. No concussion, I think, you were only out for about twenty minutes. Lemme finish patching you up and take some rest. You need it.”
Rainbow’s tone choked off any kind of protest and soon the bandage was applied and fastened. With a satisfied nod, Rainbow Dash stepped back and smiled.
“There you go. You need anything else?”
During the treatment, Rarity had remained silent, reflecting about what events had led to her current situation of Dash taking care of her in her own home. While she was principally filled with joy to receive the beautiful pegasus’ tendance to her wounds, more than one thing struck her more than a bit odd and she expected some answers.
“Well, I’d like you to ask you a question or two. Could you do that?” Rarity pleaded, batting her eyelashes.
“Yes, I’ve got your saddlebags and the gems out of there too. Don’t worry. Can I bring you something?”
At first, Rarity was surprised at the sudden answer. The bags had been the last thing she’d think about after being trapped in a cave, so why would Dash dismiss her request with a triviality like this? Did she really deem her so petty, or was there more behind it? Rarity decided to pursue the matter further.
“Thank you, I appreciate it but in fact I wanted to ask something else. How did you get us out of there? I mean, I didn’t catch on with everything due to that dreadful boulder.”
“Uhm… after you were knocked out, the entrance got blocked but I found another small crack in the ceiling. I made it bigger and carried you out of there to bring you here. You know the rest,” Rainbow explained flatly.
Do I really have to tear every little bit out of your nose? Rarity furrowed her brows and stared into Rainbow’s blank expression. If you want it to be like this, you can have it.
“And how exactly did you… make the crack bigger?”
“The usual way. Like everyone else does it in a case like this.”
“And how does that work?”
“Do I really have to tell you? It’s kinda complicated and I don’t wanna.”
Grrrr… Different approach… “Then tell me, why did you need my perfume to do it?” Rarity asked slightly peeved.
“I… uh… didn’t?”
“So if I take my bag search for my perfume, I will find it there?”
“No, of course not…” Rainbow stopped, realizing she dug herself in and groaned. “Fine! I’ll tell you…”
“Much appreciated!” A gleeful smirk adorned Rarity’s mouth as she leaned back into her pillow.
Sighing at her verbal defeat, Rainbow took a deep breath and started. “I pulverized a malfurite crystal and filled the powder into the flacon and mixed it with the perfume because of the alcohol in it, it creates an extremely powerful explosive and I found out that there was labrochite ore in the wall, it has a pretty unique taste and smell, which is explosive by itself. So basically I blew a hole in the mountain. I just needed you to ignite the fuse.”
Rarity’s mouth hung agape. Never had she expected a serious technical explanation from Rainbow she couldn’t understand, yet it seemed like the pegasus was as familiar with the topic as she was with the Wonderbolts training routine.
“How do you know all this? I thought you were only so knowledgeable when it comes to flying or weather.”
“I… urgh… It’s common knowledge?” A crooked grin accompanied Rainbow’s statement.
Oh, come on! Not again! Rarity groaned internally. You’re not getting away with this. It. Is. On! “In my whole life I have never heard of that and I’m pretty sure they don’t teach things like this in any school I’ve attended!”
“I grew up in Cloudsdale!” interjected Rainbow.
“So did Fluttershy and she never talked about advanced chemistry. If that’s true we can visit her and ask her about it. Shall we do that now?” was Rarity’s the provocative reply.
“Okay, I lied. I just… played a lot with chemistry sets when I was a foal!”
The response consisted of an unconvinced and reproachful look.
“A lot?” added Rainbow, a hint of desperation in her voice.
“You and I both know that these kind of chemistry sets don’t teach you how to make explosives…”
“I read it in a book!” Now, Rainbow’s eyes were almost begging Rarity to stop digging deeper.
Rarity though, already smelling her sweet victory, remained relentless. “Then please tell me, my dear, what kind of book you read contains instructions to create dangerous substances, let alone samples of the necessary ingredients, since you seem to be familiar with them? I’d like to read it as well!” Rarity’s smile was as full of sarcasm as it was sweet as sugar.
In a loss of words, Rainbow simply stared at the sneering unicorn. After a few seconds, she let her head drop and sighed yet again. “Remind me to just leave next time…”
“Maybe I will. If you tell me what you are trying to hide so desperately!” Rarity grinned broadly.
“Okay, okay, I will! Just… just give me a moment.” Rainbow’s hoof found its way to her forehead while she collected her thoughts.
“When I still lived in Cloudsdale, my parents wanted me to have a good education. They knew how much I love the Wonderbolts and want to be part of their team but they also wanted to give me another option, in case my flying career would end prematurely or I lose interest in it. So they sent me to a college and afterwards a university. ‘Advanced Chemical Engineering’ was my field of study. The Cloudsdale Weather Factory pays some of the best engineers in Equestria and my final degree should grant me a place there when things go sour with the Wonderbolts.”
Left speechless by Rainbow’s revelation, Rarity blinked a couple of times, trying to process what she had been told.
“So you finished university? That would mean you have…”
“…a Ph.D. Yes, I do.” Rainbow nodded solemnly and took a deep breath. “Please don’t tell anyone else about it, though. I’d like to keep it a secret.”
“But that’s incredible, darling! Why in Equestria would you want to hide something like this?” Rarity protested against her friend’s request. She simply couldn’t comprehend why Rainbow would want to keep it to herself.
“Uhm… You know… At first I didn’t tell any of because I didn’t think it was important, just a hobby of mine, sort of, but mostly it was and still is something personal. I mean, I did it in case my flying career fails but there is not much room for doubt in my image, so why would anyone need to know?” Rainbow cracked a slightly bitter smile. “And afterwards, when we became friends, you already knew me as the daring and awesome stunt flyer who always tackles problems head-on. Tell me, Rarity, would you have believed me if I told you I have a Ph.D. in chemistry?”
Taken aback by the question, the unicorn fell silent. She hadn’t expected something like this but now that she thought about it, the thought seemed rather absurd and if she wouldn’t have witnessed it first hand, Rarity would have probably laughed at the claim, thinking Rainbow would be joking.
“I guess not…”
“See? I just didn’t see the point in telling anyone of you. I always told myself I’ll tell you when we ever need my skills,” Rainbow added seriously, before her expression became thoughtful. “Now that I think of it, it has become some sort of reflex. I don’t even think about hiding it anymore, I just do. Like the mineral you asked me about in the cavern, when I picked it up. I wanted to keep it because it’s rather rare and useful for experiments.”
“Wow… That’s a lot to take in, Dash.” Rarity rubbed the bandages over her uninjured temple.
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry you had to learn about it in this way. I should probably leave you alone now…” Rainbow acknowledged and turned around to exit the room.
“Actually… I would prefer to enjoy your company a bit longer, if you don’t mind.”
Rainbow’s ears perked up at the request. She hadn’t expected that. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, the pegasus saw Rarity smiling sincerely and tapping softly on the empty place on mattress beside her.
A short internal, though clearly visible struggle with herself later, Rainbow Dash returned to her injured friend and hopped on the bed to sit down on its edge, facing the unicorn.
“I guess you want to know more about it, huh?” The pegasus’ voice sounded even in her own ears listless.
“No… no, I was thinking about something else.” A bright laugh accompanied Rarity’s response. “You know, this had been actually the fourth time you saved my life since we met each other.”
Pleasantly surprised by the change of topic, Dash joined in with a chuckle. “Is it? I can honestly only remember two times, during the Best Young Flyers Competition and now.”
A mockingly horrified expression crept on Rarity’s face. “You forgot how you saved me during Spike’s rampage when he became so utterly monstrous and greedy? Or when we visited you while you were at the Wonderbolt Academy? How could you!”
Rainbow’s mouth formed a silent ‘o’ as she remembered the incidents. Giggling at Dash’s wide-eyed face, Rarity held a hoof in front of her muzzle. The amusement didn’t last all too long however and she threw the pegasus a curious gaze.
“One more thing though. Where did you learn how to treat wounds like mine? I never took you for a nurse.”
“And I’m not. But you aren’t friends with Fluttershy as long as me without picking up a thing or two about how to take care of all kinds of injuries. Besides, I’ve crashed often enough to learn about it when she patched me up,” Rainbow interrupted herself for a moment before she continued. “Now that I think of it, I haven’t told the others about your accident yet.”
A smile snuck its way onto Rarity’s mouth. Rainbow had obviously put helping her above all else when she carried her to her boutique.
Then, her mind returned to the reason for which she had asked the pegasus to stay and looked heedfully at her friend.
“Anyway… It came to my mind that I haven’t thanked you properly yet,” the unicorn stated and kept her gaze on Rainbow Dash, trying to gauge how she would take in what she was about to experience very soon.
“Don’t sweat it.” The pegasus’ characteristic grin found its way home. “Ya know I’d do it anytime. I don’t really care about how ‘properly’ you thank me.”
“But I do…” The faintest blush spread on Rarity’s muzzle as she drew circles on the sheet with her hoof in an attempt to muster enough courage for what she had planned. Earning Rainbow’s curious gaze, Rarity took a deep breath and opened her mouth for a whisper. “Please forgive me for being so unladylike…”
In a sudden movement, the unicorn wrapped her legs around Dash’s neck and slowly pulled the surprised pegasus closer, staring deep into her magenta eyes until their lips met. Rarity’s tender, yet firm kiss was filled with desire and longing, locked away for far too long and finally set free. It told Rainbow more than a thousand words could have as she hesitantly returned the kiss, giving in to the blazing fire of Rarity’s passion.
Eventually, they broke apart, gasping for air and their cheeks burning hot. While Rainbow still tried to process what had just happened, Rarity kept her eyes at the pegasus’. Her gaze held a mixture of hope, fear and a great deal of gratitude as she began to speak.
“I know this comes a bit sudden, Rainbow, but let me explain… You know I’ve always dreamed of a glamorous prince to sweep me off my hooves, save me from danger and treat me like a princess. Sadly, I learned that the prince of my dreams was in truth the prince of my nightmares.
“But when I look at you, I see the knight in shining armor I truly wished for. The determination in your eyes, when you saved me from certain death during the Best Young Flyers Competition conquered me for you. You would have stopped for nothing to save me.”
Rarity lowered her gaze to the sheets they were sitting on.
“Ever since that day I am in your debt and I’ll never be able to truly repay it but I promised myself to do the best I could. And now, you have saved my life for the fourth time.”
Ever so gently, the unicorn grabbed Rainbow’s hoof and raised it to her chest, pressing it against her heavy beating heart.
“Yet, the only thing I can think of is offering something that already belongs to you for a long time.”
Finally looking up again, Rarity met Rainbow’s gaze, waiting anxiously for the pegasus’ response. She had open up herself to her friend, exposed her deepest feelings and now she hoped for the best.
Rainbow, on the other hand was overwhelmed by the unicorn’s speech. Never would she have thought it possible that the pony in her arms could look so fragile, so vulnerable as she did. Only now, Dash could see how deep Rarity’s affection truly reached and warmth filled her chest.
Trust was something Rainbow Dash valued almost more than anything and Rarity showed her more than she ever hoped for. To her, there was only one possible answer to the unspoken question.
Unfolding her wings, Rainbow enveloped Rarity in another hug, caressing her with her feathers and pulling her close again until their noses touched. A smile from the bottom of Rainbow’s heart adorned her face, telling Rarity her dream of love would be fulfilled as they snuggled against each other.
And again, their lips met, though this time not only with the passion of the moment but also with the joy of young love.
