"Hey, Soarin!" Rainbow Dash called.
Soarin's ears perked up at the sound of his marefriend's voice across the square. He looked over to see her waving a beckoning hoof. He trotted over to her, returning her warm smile.
"Hey Dash. What's up?" He leaned over to give her a quick peck on the cheek, but was disappointed once again when she leaned away from his gesture of affection. Confused, he asked, "How come you never let me do that?"
Rainbow leaned in and brought her voice to a whisper. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Could we discuss this at my place? I've already gotten us lunch, we can talk about it over that. Not that it will be any easier....."
"What!?"
"Don't worry about it, just follow me."
With that, she turned away, and flew off. Soarin began to question if there was anything he had messed up on their last date. Was it the fact I talked about other mares? Did I stare at that waitress for too long? Seriously, if she didn't want me to piss her off she shouldn't have taken me to the one diner where the waitresses wear skirts! Shaking out of his negative thoughts, he took off towards Rainbow's cloud home.
Walking through the door, he prepared himself to apologize profusely as he sat down in front of Rainbow.
"Listen, if this is about me and Spitfire, I prom--"
He was cut off by Rainbow's dismissive hoof. "No, it's not about Spitfire. Listen, I haven't been entirely honest with you. Do you remember how we met?"
"Yup! I asked you if I could be your date for the Gala after your first show with the Wonderbolts, you got super excited, said yes, and we've been dating ever since. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Nothing! There's nothing wrong with that at all. It's just that, I never told you my side of the story." She sighed heavily and continued. "Just after I joined, my friends threw me a big party to celebrate my acceptance into the team. Rarity pointed out that I had never really looked for a coltfriend at all in my life. In all my time as Twilight's friend they never actually saw me show an interest in finding a good stallion and settle down. I just told her that I didn't really want to be in a relationship because it just wasn't my thing. She brought up a good point though. I had never tried it, so who am I to say that I don't like it?
"So, I went to the show with every intention of asking you if you wanted to be my date for the Gala, but you asked me first which I thought was really sweet. The only problem is, now that I'm in a relationship, I find it really.........boring. I don't know why I feel this way, but in the months that we've been I never felt like I wanted to interact with you in the way that most couples do, like kissing or cuddling. You're a great friend and a cool guy to hang out with, just not to date."
She had been staring at her plate the entire time fiddling with her food. Looking up, she met the eyes of a very confused stallion.
"So........are we breaking up?" Soarin said out of genuine curiosity, still unsure of how to read his marefriend's emotions.
Rainbow looked into his lost puppy dog eyes and said with conviction, "Yes. we can still be friends, but I'm never dating anyone again."
Rainbow awoke the next morning feeling more refreshed than usual. She suddenly recalled the events of yesterday, and instead of feeling guilt, grief, or any other emotion that comes with a typical break up, she felt completely unchanged. It was as if she had never been through the agonizing ordeal that is making a five-month-long relationship crumble to pieces.
She felt nothing, and it scared her to death.
She decided to seek out the advice of a friend -- one who had experience with romance and breakups -- and found herself knocking on the door of Carousel Boutique.
"Good afternoon, and wel-- oh, it's you Rainbow Dash! Come in!"
She trotted in and closed the door behind her. "Hey, Rarity. Could I talk to you about something?" Rainbow Dash said with a subtle anxiety in her voice.
"Of course, my dear. Anything at all. You didn't break up with Soarin, did you?"
"Actually, I did. but--"
"Oh, Dashie you poor, poor thing! Is that what you wanted to talk about? It's okay, I'll help you through this--"
"Actually, that's just it. I think there's something wrong with me. I should feel guilty or sad or......something a normal mare would feel after breaking up with her coltfriend, but I don't. It's as if the last five months never happened and I didn't enjoy being with stallions........wait." Rainbow thought for a moment, and then her eyes widened as the final blocks began to fall into place and she realized the far too plausible truth.
"What's the matter dear? You look as though you're going to faint from shock."
I don't enjoy being with stallions in a romantic setting, but I enjoy being with mares in a friendly setting. What if that means.......oh, crap. This is bad. This is really bad.
Rainbow backed away from Rarity, beginning to hyperventilate. "I'm not gay. I'm not gay. I'm not gay...." she muttered repeatedly under her breath.
"What's that?" Rarity said, now with a very concerned look on her face. "Really, Rainbow Dash. I've never seen you get this worked up over--"
She suddenly flew out of the boutique, leaving Rarity dazed and confused.
"I think I'll give her a little bit to calm down. I'm sure it's just a delayed reaction to what happened yesterday."
