Tough Love

Rarity walked closely beside Rainbow Dash, supporting her as they slowly made their way towards the Library. She had gone around corralling the rest of the Mane 6, excluding Fluttershy, to discuss her friends’ date later that day. During that time, Rainbow Dash relieved herself in an attempt to quell the pain in her stomach. The sensation was mostly gone, but it was still enough to cause Rainbow Dash great discomfort.

As the duo came in front of the library, they could already hear their friends chatting noisily, no doubt about the newest couple among their ranks. Rarity knocked on the door thrice and was soon greeted by a cheerful Twilight Sparkle.

“Hello girls. Oh wow Rainbow Dash, you look great!” She complimented as she led the two inside.

As soon as they entered, the library went quiet as the Mane 6 just stared in awe at Rainbow Dash. She looked stunning with her hair slightly permed and with a tad bit of makeup done by Rarity. She looked great but felt quite the opposite. It felt as if someone had bucked her stomach and the pain never went away. But she had to hold it in! She didn’t want to disappoint Fluttershy and miss their first date. That would be lame. So lame.

Pinkie Pie broke the silence. “Wow Rainbow Dash, you’re so pretty! Not that you weren’t pretty before.”

“Isn’t she? We spent all day getting her pampered at the spa and ready for her date. I added the makeup back at the Boutique as a finishing touch. Doesn’t she look marvelous?” Rarity said as she marveled at her work. The cost of the spa and the time it took to apply the makeup were worth it, she thought.

“She sure does Rarity. Getting a makeover and a date, I never knew you were so passionate when it came to romance Rainbow Dash!”, the studious unicorn commented.

Applejack was surprised and proud of her normally narrow-minded and tomboyish friend as well. “Well, ah’ll be! Look at you, prettyin’ yourself up for your date. Who would’ve thought that our Rainbow- um…you alright there sugarcube?”

The colorful Pegasus was doubled over and looked very uncomfortable. At first it seemed as if she were just embarrassed from the praise her friends had given her, but Applejack could tell something was wrong.

Rarity noticed soon after. “Oh dear, is it the stomach pain again?” The rest of the party looked confused and so Rarity explained. “You see girls, Rainbow Dash and I were at the spa earlier and we were eating a few of those delectable snacks they serve now. Poor Rainbow Dash didn’t realize they had cheese in them and ate a hoofful, and you know how bad she is with dairy.”

The girls looked uncomfortable being reminded of Rainbow Dash’s lactose problem, however the awkward feeling was overcome by their worry. Applejack spoke up. “Maybe this ain’t such a good idea sugarcube. Ah think you should call the date off if you ain’t feelin’ up to it.”

“Tsk tsk tsk. Oh Applejack. Good ole naïve Applejack.” Replied Rainbow Dash in a smug tone. Applejack raised an eyebrow at this but let her continue. “I can’t just disappoint Fluttershy like that! Don’t you see? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a date with the Dash! It would be selfish for me to call it off and leave her hanging. Just think of how it would hurt the poor girl.”

“Do you even know what naïve means?” Asked the farm mare before conceding. “Ah guess you’re right. Ah reckon she would be mighty disappointed at that.”

Pinkie Pie, who was unusually quiet from worrying about her friend, bounced over and went right in Rainbow Dash’s face. “So Rainbow Dash~ ” She said with a smirk that indicated she knew a dirty secret. “You and Fluttershy are like a thingy now.  What’s going on? Give us the deets! C’mon spit it out! Tell us tell us tell us!” She blurted out each word in rapid succession, only taking a breath after she was done speaking.

Twilight teleported Pinkie to her side and gave Rainbow Dash some space. “Slow down Pinkie. She’s still in pain from those deadly snacks at the spa.”

“It’s cool Twilight. I was going to tell you girls soon anyways and I’m feeling a lot better now. So, it all happened yesterday early in the morning.” The friends leaned in closer as Rainbow Dash began regaling her captive audience with how she and Fluttershy became a couple.

“I was sleeping in after the night I announced the tornado business when I hear a knock on the door. I open it up and there was Fluttershy, standing there looking all nervous and avoiding eye contact with me. I knew something was up so I let her in my house to chat since I knew she would be uncomfortable outside where anyone could hear us. I asked her why she came to me so early in the morning, and that’s when she asked me.”

“Wait, wait, hold on.” Interrupted Twilight. “So Fluttershy, the scared of her own shadow Fluttershy, asked you to be her marefriend?”

Rainbow Dash looked annoyed that her story had been interrupted and rolled her eyes. “Well, okay fine. She was GOING to ask me but she kept mumbling and wouldn’t come out with it. I got impatient so I just agreed and set up this date today. Happy?”

“So you didn’t even hear her out?” asked the skeptical, purple unicorn.

“I didn’t need to! You should’ve seen the look on her face. She was all blushing and trying not to check me out and stuff! She so wanted me but was too shy to ask, and so I threw her a bone and took initiative. I was all, ‘Hush now, quiet now baby. Don’t be shy. I know what you want and the answer is yes.’ Then she was all, ‘Oh, Rainbow Dash!’ And then she gave me this huge hug, and when I hugged her back she melted in my arms and it was so awesome! No kiss though.”

“Wow Rainbow Dash, that’s sooo romantic!” Said Pinkie Pie as she swooned in a dramatic fashion with an arm over her eyes.

Even Applejack was blushing a little. “Wow, now ain’t that somethin’.”

Twilight was now convinced. After hearing the story, she was giddy at the thought of such romance. She was happy for her friend and would give her full support.

Rarity blew her nose after tearing up a bit from Rainbow Dash’s beautiful tale. After settling down, she spoke up.

“Alright girls, it’s time to get down to business. Rainbow Dash doesn’t have very much experience, so it’s up to us, her closest friends, to show her the way! Before I came by your houses and while Rainbow Dash was err… relieving herself, I set up reservations for her and Fluttershy as well as our party at the Pompous Equine. That is where the date shall take place!”

“That fancy place where it’s impossible to get reservations?! How the hay?” The cyan Pegasus and her friends were dumbfounded.

“I have connections and I will only accept the best for your date!” exclaimed Rarity. Everyone in the room was taken aback from such benevolence, but they could expect no less from the Element of Generosity herself.

Rarity continued, “As I was saying, while on her date, I was hoping we could find a way to accompany her and give her advice. I would also like to have front row seats to their first date together.”

“But wait. Do any of us even have experience ourselves?” Asked Twilight. “We can’t really give her advice if we’ve never done any of that stuff.”

The whole room fell silent, the only noises coming from the awkward shuffling of hooves kicking the floor. It seemed that nopony wanted to speak up. Even Rarity was looking a little nervous.

“So none of you have ever been on a date?” asked a bewildered Rainbow Dash.

“Ummmmm… Nope!” chirped Pinkie Pie.

“Me neither.” replied Applejack whose hat was now covering her eyes.

“No, but I have read about dating and I-”

“Not even you Rarity?! I thought you were like super popular with the stallions! With a lot of mares too! What the hay? I even see you flirting all the time!” asked a confused Rainbow Dash.

“Well I do flirt on occasion and I am flattered by all of the proposals and gifts I receive from my admirers, but I have never had a relationship before. I haven’t really given it much thought after the whole Prince Blueblood disappointment.” She replied in a hushed tone.

Rainbow Dash was stumped. She knew her friends were innocent and naïve when it came to romance, but she never thought it was this bad. “Aw jeez guys! Now what? I don’t know what to do alone with Fluttershy! I can’t treat her the same way I treated Gilda! They’re completely different. What if she tries to kiss me and I mess it up? What if I- argh!… Hooo boy, here comes the pain.” The stinging in her stomach had come back and she had to sit down to ease the pain.

Twilight went to the kitchen to get some water for her friend who gulped it down gratefully. She decided to take the reins of the situation and steer it towards Rainbow Dash’s favor.

“Okay girls. I know that we individually don’t have the knowledge to help Rainbow Dash with her date, but together we can make it a success! Applejack, you were taught a lot about table manners and respect from your family right?”

“Yeah, I can help you with that Rainbow. No offence, but you’re kind of a slob when you eat and you ain’t got no manners.”

Before Rainbow Dash could refute Applejack’s statement, Twilight spoke again.

“According to several dating guides I’ve read, nopony wants their date to be boring or awkward. Pinkie Pie, you can help Rainbow Dash let loose and just have fun on her date. Maybe teach her a few good jokes too.”

“Okey dokey lokey! Don’t you worry Dashie, I’ll make sure that you and Fluttershy have a blast!” At first Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure about Pinkie teaching her how to act on a date, but she did always know how to lighten up the mood. She decided that knowing the party pony’s secret would be advantageous on her date and gladly accepted the help.

“Great. Rarity, since you already put makeup on Rainbow Dash, you can teach her about the several utensils she’ll be using, assuming that they have more than one kind of spoon and fork. It would be good to let her know what to order too and maybe even some fancy ciders to impress Fluttershy. We’re also going to need some disguises for when we’re at the dinner with them. As for me, I’ll see if I can find a way for us to communicate with Rainbow during her date.” At first Rarity was startled by the amount of tasks she’d been assigned but agreed after seeing that the tasks weren’t too difficult and that she was the only one who could do them on such short notice.

“Alright girls, let’s do this!”

“Yeah!” They all shouted as they high-hoofed. Rainbow Dash was already feeling better despite the twinge in her abdominals.

“You girls are awesome! This is going to be the best date ever!” she exclaimed as her friends began sculpting her to become the perfect marefriend.

~An hour before the date~

Snowflake was about to head out to town square for a meal when a messenger pony arrived by his home and gave him a message from his manager. The message read that they were to meet at some fancy restaurant whose name he didn’t recognize. He didn’t really like that idea. Snowflake had never gone to any fancy restaurant before. Seeing as how the portions they gave were not nearly worth the price, he had deemed fancy eateries as unworthy of his bits. They were going to discuss his photo shoot along with some of the photographers and his meal would be paid for. “Free food at a fancy restaurant? Not bad”, he thought as he left for town square after thanking the messenger. He had a feeling that this night was going to be eventful, and so our hero flew off to see what the evening had in store for him.

*End of Chapter 3*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I cuss a bit here because it's too hard for me to talk civilized. Don't read if you're weird about that kinda stuff.

Okay, this chapter was not as fun as I wanted it to be because I'm saving the good stuff for the next chapter, which is going to be the tits. So let me give you a reaaaly shitty preview of the next chapter.

They are going to have fun. It's going to be rad. Shit storm. The end. Read it and shower me with praise.