Counting Crows

by VashTheStampede

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rarity, Romance, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 2911

Rainbow Dash decides to pull a prank on Rarity. It backfires.

In her longest and most thought-out and effort-filled setup yet, Rainbow Dash has the perfect prank set up for her friend Rarity. However, once the prank is in its execution, Rainbow Dash realizes perhaps the pony she was pranking wasn't Rarity just for one night, but herself for all these weeks of setup.

Story inspired by the coverart (MisterDavey on Tumblr/DeviantArt) and by Fyeten, my amazing pre-reader and editor. Give her a round of applause for being the only reason I'm a half-decent writer.

Published 2015-02-28 04:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-28 04:20:02 UTC

Accidentally In Love

Rainbow Dash spat into her sink as she tried to wash the remains of the lipstick off. The beauty product felt foreign and simply wrong on her lips, but oh, it would be worth it all to see the look on Rarity’s face. This had been perhaps the most involved setup of any of her pranks yet, and honestly, she’d probably spent a bit more time and money on it than she should have. Still, the lipstick was nasty, but it was really what tied the whole prank room together.

Dash stepped back out of her bathroom and down the hall, entering her temporarily rarified entertainment room. After a good two months of preparation, Rainbow Dash finally had everything ready. An enormous plush doll of Rarity – easily four times the mare’s actual size – was the centerpiece in the room, surrounded by at least half a dozen more manageably sized dolls. On the wall hung a poster of Rarity posing suggestively in some fishnet stockings. Dash didn’t even remember where she got that, or if the image was even real, and not just clever photo-editing. Photographs of her friend’s mane, tail, mouth, horn, and any other imaginable body part were crudely taped up above the cabinet. Oh, the cabinet. That was Dash’s particular favorite part of the room – absolutely as creepy and stalkeriffic as it could be. In a heart-shaped frame sat a single, artistic picture of the white unicorn, with a fresh, red lipstick mark placed perfectly on the glass. Freshly cut roses and rose petals were scattered around the picture, and Dash even had two candles set up, burning next to it. Scattered around the floor were various hoof-made works Dash herself had created – small, elementary-school-esque drawings and arts and crafts, complete with the materials used to make them still strewn about. A custom-printed pillow, a half-dozen copies of a magazine Rarity had posed for the cover of, a commemorative ceramic plate she’d found in a Canterlot shop celebrating the Elements of Harmony. It was ridiculous and absurd and if she was honest with herself, Rainbow Dash kinda liked it.

“And now we wait,” she said to herself, sitting down and snuggling into the giant plush.

Her friend had agreed to come over that evening to watch the latest Daring Do film with her, just the two of them. Rainbow Dash had planned for weeks in advance when just Rarity and herself would have the night off, so none of her other friends could come and ruin it. It would be a little while before Rarity arrived, so Dash decided the best plan would be to blow out the candles for now and light them again once Rarity showed up.

Oh this is gonna be awesome, the Technicolor Pegasus thought.

Rainbow Dash was lazing about on the couch in her front room when she heard her friend calling from down below.

“Rainbow Da-ash,” Rarity’s voice singsonged through the floor of her cloud home, “Are you in there?”

The Pegasus mare rolled off her couch, letting the slightly spongy floor break her fall before standing up. She trotted to the door and stuck her head out, smiling broadly at her unicorn friend down below. Even if she was just setting up a prank, it was genuinely nice to see Rarity. Rainbow loved seeing all of her friends, but Rarity, especially over these last few months, had seemed special to her.

“Hey Rares!” she called down, waving happily. “I’ll be down in just a minute to get you, alright?”

Rarity didn’t say anything in return, she just smiled up cutely and nodded. Rainbow Dash smiled back, and ducked back into her house. She grabbed the book of matches she kept in her kitchen and shuffled into the shrine, re-lighting the candles. She pressed on a section of wall near the window, and a thin sheet of stratus cloud descended and covered the opening. Wow, she thought to herself, that really ties the room together. Alright, time to go get Rarity.

Rainbow Dash buzzed back out her front door and descended, landing roughly next to her friend. Rarity brought a hoof up to shield her eyes from the small amount of dirt the Pegasus kicked up, and gave her friend a mock-offended glare.

“Sorry. How’s it goin’?” Dash greeted her.

“I am doing fine, thank you for asking,” Rarity replied, hugging the Pegasus quickly. “Well, I’ve been here enough times to know there’s no real way to do this and retain my dignity. Shall we?” Rarity raised her hooves toward Dash expectantly. To her surprise, the Pegasus mare instead dashed around behind her and wrapped her forelegs around Rarity’s barrel. The unicorn let out a startled squeak, but did not object to being carried in such a manner. Rainbow Dash was holding her unusually close, so close in fact she could feel the mare’s muscles working beneath her chest, but it didn’t bother her too much. Rainbow Dash beat her wings rhythmically, and the ground began to pull away beneath them.

“You got the cloudwalking spell from Twi, right?” Dash asked, a tiny hint of strain in her voice.

“Oh yes dear. I may be forgetful sometimes but I’m not stupid,” Rarity replied, leaning her head back into Rainbow’s neck.

“Great,” the Pegasus replied, and set her friend down on the cloud balcony outside the front door, and landed next to her. Rarity stumbled for a moment as the springy “ground” took a moment to catch her, before a blue hoof caught her gently in the side to steady her.

“Thanks,” Rarity said with a smile, “I don’t think I’ll ever get fully used to that.”

“I don’t blame ya, even a lot of Pegasi who are born outside of Cloudsdale never really get their ‘cloud legs,’” Dash responded with an exaggerated bounce, before pressing open her front door and ushering her friend inside. “Can I get your saddlebags for you?”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” Rarity said, ducking her head as Rainbow Dash lifted the saddlebags off her and placing them… in a box with Rarity’s name on it. “Has that always been there?”

“What? Oh, yeah. You never noticed it before?”

Rarity just shook her head. Dash shrugged, and turned around, a wicked grin spreading on her face as she walked towards the movie room.

“Come on in, Rarity,” Dash offered, striding into the shrine room as though it were perfectly normal. Rarity, on the other hoof, stood stock still in the doorway, eyes scanning the terrifying tribute to her… everything. Even the parts of her there shouldn’t be tributes to. Like her tongue. Seriously, what was up with that? Rainbow Dash, for her part, was struggling to hold back her laughter. She grinned and chewed on her lower lip, watching with glee as Rarity’s utterly mortified expression searched the room. The poor unicorn was practically in shock. Everything was going perfectly.

“Rainbow Dash…” she began uncertainly, gingerly stepping into the room behind her friend, “I… um…”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked as she turned around and threw herself down against the stomach of the large doll. She scooped up a couple of the smaller plush toys around her and snuggled them close. “Come on, sit down,” she added, scooting to the side and patting the ground next to her.

Rarity swallowed and nodded, walking around and through the… her-related paraphernalia strewn across the floor, and took an uncomfortable seat next to her friend. Well, she hoped Rainbow Dash was her friend. This was a little weird for friends. Celestia’s sake, Rarity thought, I know she’s the Element of Loyalty but this is a little ridiculous.

“Can I get you anything to drink, or a snack or something?” Rainbow Dash offered, snapping Rarity back to reality. The white mare slowly managed to pull her eyes off her own flank plastered along the wall, and finding the deep magenta pools of Rainbow Dash’s loving eyes staring at her. Rarity involuntarily twitched back just a hair, but to her credit, managed to maintain her composure.

“I… no, thank you, let’s just… watch the film shall we?”

“Alrighty,” Rainbow Dash replied to her friend, flicking out her left wing and turning on the projector. She extended her other wing and her right hoof and wrapped them around Rarity, pulling the already startled unicorn in close. Rarity stiffened under the contact, but did not object. Dash sighed contentedly, only half to further freak out Rarity. The white unicorn’s fur on her own, the warmth of her body next to her, the rapid beat of her heart… I could get used to this, Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

Wait what?

Rainbow Dash had to admit Rarity was pretty, but then again, so were all of her friends. Rarity stands out, though. Especially her eyes. Wait, wait, where are these thoughts coming from? It’s all a prank, right? Did… did I prank myself? Rainbow Dash’s thoughts ran wild and she side-eyed a glance at Rarity. The mare was focused intently on the movie beginning on the screen, conspicuously so, and Dash thought she could see the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks. She’s adorable when she’s embar- no, ok, just focus on the movie.

An hour and a half later, as Dash had been expecting to be quivering with barely-restrained laughter, she found herself genuinely snuggled up next to the still-uncomfortable Rarity. Where she’d expected to find glee in her friend’s discomfort, she instead found genuine happiness in the mare’s touch. At some point Rarity had apparently decided if this was how it was going to be, she might as well reciprocate, and had lazily flung a foreleg around Rainbow Dash’s neck as well. It was warm, and soft, and it moved slightly in time with the unicorn’s breathing, and smelled nice, just like the rest of her. At that point Dash had realized she’d completely stopped paying attention to the movie.

What the heck, brain.

“Well, that was quite… nice, thank you Rainbow Dash, but really, I think I must be off now,” Rarity said, standing up abruptly as the credits began to roll. Rainbow Dash slid off the unicorn’s flank before she could catch herself, and, had they been on the ground, very well might have given herself a concussion with how hard her head impacted the cloud floor.

“R-right,” the Pegasus replied as she puller herself to her hooves. “I, uh, I’m guessing you’ll need some help out?”

Rarity sighed heavily and nodded as she headed to the door. Her horn flared briefly and her saddlebags levitated to her back, and she stepped outside into the darkness. Rainbow Dash gingerly placed her hooves on Rarity’s shoulders and lifted her gently, making as little contact as possible. For her part, the white mare held her head up and closed her eyes, smiling as the light wind blew in her mane. Rainbow Dash set her on the ground softly and landed next to her, unsure of what was to come next.

“Goodnight, Rainbow Dash. Thank you for having me over,” was all Rarity said, before turning back towards Ponyville and her own home. Rainbow raised a hoof and opened her mouth to say something, but retracted both actions before making any attempt to gain Rarity’s attention. She turned to her own house and flew lazily upwards.

Stepping back into her house, Rainbow Dash made her way back to her movie room-turned-Rarishrine. She sighed as she looked into it and picked up one of the small dolls near her hoof. She smiled down at it sadly and walked over towards a wall, and attempted to bang her head against it. The soft, spongy cloud gave under the impact, not providing the painful feedback she was hoping for.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…” she said to herself.

It had been six days since the movie night in, and Rainbow Dash had made a remarkable effort to avoid Rarity whenever possible, despite being unable to get her friend off her mind. Today, though, she awoke at the early, early hour of one in the afternoon, and she knew she had to set things right. Hopping out of bed, she hovered through her house to the bathroom and took a quick shower. She didn’t even need to towel off – flying fast enough did that for her. Like a rocket, she tore from the bathroom and out the front door, zooming towards Carousel Boutique fast enough to leave her trademark rainbow trail behind her. She stopped short of barreling through the entry to the fashion store, rubbing her mane down with a hoof and shaking off any remaining water. She inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily, and knocked on the door.

“Come i-in,” Rarity’s voice sang from within the shop. The blue mare swallowed heavily, and pressed it open to walk inside.

“Rainbow Dash! It’s so unlike you to come here of your own free will,” Rarity greeted her cheerfully. “So unlike you in fact I’m rather inclined to ask why you came.”

“I’m sorry,” Rainbow Dash said quickly.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m sorry,” Rainbow Dash said again, “For last week. The movie. That was meant to be a prank but the more I thought about it the more I realized it really wasn’t funny, and the more I thought about you.”

Rarity arched an eyebrow inquisitively, but said nothing.

“I, uh… I think I’m in love with you, Rarity.”

“You what?” Rarity blinked.

“Don’t make me say it again.”

“Rainbow Dash, I must applaud you for your commitment to this…” Rarity paused for a moment and gestured with a hoof, “‘prank,’ but really-”

“This isn’t part of the prank anymore!” Rainbow Dash yelled, eyes screwed shut. She had meant to stomp a hoof emphatically, but it kinda just rose and fell dejectedly. “I… I don’t know how or why but… I did, I really, honestly fell in love with you. You’re all I’ve been able to think about since you came over for the movie last week. I… I don’t know what else it might be. I look at you and think about you and feel all fuzzy inside. I’ve never been good at talking about feelings and stuff but… I don’t know anything else I could be feeling.”

“Rainbow Dash, you must forgive me if I’m a little… skeptical of this confession,” Rarity began. It was the truth – she really was uncertain if she wanted to believe Dash, but on the off chance that it was, she desperately wanted to avoid hurting her friend’s feelings. Besides, Rainbow Dash did have a certain… unrefined beauty about her. She certainly wouldn’t be opposed to giving it a shot, but she wanted to be sure she wasn’t being hoodwinked again.

“I don’t blame you, to be honest,” Rainbow Dash felt the color rising in her cheeks now, and she looked away sheepishly, “I guess… well, you know how they say the more you think about a pony the less attractive they become? Well, the more I thought about you and watched you and collected stuff about you… the more attractive you became to me. Every little thing you do is so… so… I don’t even know, Rarity. I was gonna throw all that stuff out after you left that night, but I just haven’t been able to bring myself to do it. When I embarrassed myself so badly in front of all those ponies three days ago I went home and cried on top of that giant doll of you, and it just… it made me feel better. And heck, I hope you know me well enough to know that me admitting I cried to you means something.”

“You… you’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” Rarity said quietly.

“Of course I am! There are a lot of things I’d joke about, but my friends, you… this isn’t that kind of thing,” Rainbow explained.

“Well,” Rarity started, “I… can’t say I share your feelings, Rainbow Dash.”

“I really didn’t expect you to,” the rainbow-maned mare hung her head.

“But-”

Rainbow mane flung wildly as Dash’s head snapped back up. “But?”

“But, I would not be unwilling to have a go at it,” the fashionista continued, “You are one of my closest friends, Rainbow Dash, and it means a lot to me that you’d admit the silliness of this prank and come to me so honestly and openly like this to tell me how you feel. And, if I’m honest with myself, you do have a distinct… je ne sais quoi about you. Would you be willing to try as well, no matter how it may turn out?”

“Absolutely!” Rainbow Dash was practically yelling now, her confession having gone so much better than she had ever anticipated.

“Very well, on one condition though,” Rarity mulled over her thoughts aloud, a playful smile rising on her face.

“What? Anything!” Rainbow Dash cried.

“You will model for me tomorrow, and you will wear a dress of my choice on our date.”

“It’s a deal,” Rainbow Dash said without a moment’s hesitation.

“Oh Celestia, you are serious about this.”

“Duh! I already said that!” Dash lunged forward, pausing for a moment before wrapping herself around Rarity. “Can I hug you?”

“Of course you can hug me.”

“Thank you,” Rainbow Dash replied, pulling her friend into a deep hug and not letting go for a long time.