"She's totally a princess."
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Well My Marefriend's a Princess!

"She's totally a princess."

Rainbow Dash walked through the soft streets of Cloudsdale, her hooves light against the bouncy cloudstone surface. Her head hurt like hell, and as usual she was happy to get away from her parents, even if she had enjoyed her time with them.

Their relationship had drastically improved over the last couple of months, but she still found it immensely difficult to deal with more than a few hours of their company. This time it had been the baby photos: For some reason which she couldn't quite fathom, she had to be subjected to a complete and unabridged history of her life near every time she walked through those doors.

The fact she was walking didn't escape her, she knew why too. She would happily maintain that her mental exhaustion had somehow translated to physical exertion if anyone asked her, but in reality she was fully aware that she liked walking on clouds, and anything that happened to be made from them. She always flew when she was down on the ground, but in Cloudsdale she had walked before flying, and something about the texture and feeling of clouds was a strange, homely pleasure to her.

So it was that she took pleasure in the walk, feeling a pep in her step as she trotted away from the suburbs and towards one of the city's main plazas. She was considering buying a sculpture for her home, as strange as that may have sounded to anyone who knew her. Again, it wasn't something she would admit out in the open, but Rainbow happened to enjoy interior decor. Visiting her parents had once again reminded her that her home was pretty spartan in contrast, especially considering its size.

Rainbow considered what she might want in her bedroom as she walked. Something to do with pegasus culture, maybe? Vague images of prominent Wonderbolts flashed through her mind, then she thought of other pegasus legends from the time of the EUP. The idea of one of those heroes greeting her every morning sounded pretty rad, so she banked on that idea. And maybe a portrait of Cloudsdale, for totally nostalgia unrelated reasons.

Brass house played through her headphones as she threw herself into a more animated walk, feeling her mood heighten with each step as her headache faded. As much as she loved her life, it was nice to be home for a moment.

Skipping around the corner, she entered one of Cloudsdale's marketplaces; street vendors were still out and about trying to pedal faux-antiquities and tourist merchandise alike, but she paid them little mind. Cutting through the epicentre of activity, she found exactly what she was looking for, a store by the name of Home Rich: Specialists in all things design, furniture, and home accessories. It was a locally owned business, but even still they sported a large building, and it had been there since she could remember.

She had gone in once or twice with her parents as a small filly, but she had never been interested in any of the delicate items inside. Rather, her parents had had to stop her from zipping around the shop and breaking things on at least one occasion. Rainbow felt a little more adult as she walked through the doors on her own, those memories were almost like another life now.

The bell rang as she walked into the store, and a friendly looking older mare approached her almost instantly, clearly a greeter. Rainbow quickly stashed away her headphones in an attempt to catch what she was saying, but to little avail. Thinking fast, Rainbow offered a few words of greeting. Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick—she hadn't made an idiot of herself.

"Was there anything in particular you were looking for today, young lady?" the greeter asked in a kind, weathered tone. Her eyes shone as if she would rather be nowhere else, and it made the place feel all the more inviting. No wonder they had her working the door.

"There is, actually," Rainbow smiled, finding that the warmth of the old mare's voice was contagious, "I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for, but I know I want some kind of sculpture, or maybe even a statue. Something heroic that also looks pretty artistic, if that makes sense?" Rainbow could feel herself rubbing the back of her neck. "...Sorry, I'm not used to these places. I hope I'm not being too confusing."

The old mare actually reached out a hoof and lightly swatted at her. "Oh, nonsense, filly. If you've come in for a look, then by all means look! This isn't one of those pompous and impersonal establishments that stands there breathing down your neck until you've made your mind up. Explore! Have a look around! And if you have any questions, or see anything that you like, you just come and get me."

Rainbow didn't know how to react; she had never been hit so affectionately. She simply nodded, the smile plastered to her face as she went off to explore the large store, the elderly mare calling out for her to 'have fun!' from behind.

Slow places like this could be neat too. Not everything had to be going past at breakneck speeds to be appreciated, and this little slice of heaven was proof. The ponies here seemed so peaceful and content, there had to be something cathartic about decorating your home.

Rainbow walked past sleek wallpapers and expensive plates, oak wardrobes and quirky lamps. It was a wonderful bazaar, and in the distance she saw a truly stunning painting of the town, clearly marked at forty bits.

She strolled over to it, only to be confronted by the greeter once more. "Lovely piece this one, deary. It's a local artist, she only makes one of each. If you're looking for something specific to remind you of home, this is definitely the one for you! I'll tell you what," she leaned in, giving the other customers a conspiratorial glance, "I found a lovely sculpture of Bearox the Swift in our store room, it's priced at a hundred and fifty bits, which I know may sound pretty hefty! But if you'd like that piece, I'll throw the painting in for free."

There was no way that this mare wasn't related to Pinkie. Rainbow didn't know anypony that could have possibly gone to their storage room and found her again that quickly, it was uncanny. Still, she knew a lot about Bearox, a pegasus that had once flown fifty ponies to shore from a capsized ship, one at a time without pause. Already knowing she was interested, she turned to the greeter. "Can you really do that?"

"Why, of course I can! I happen to be married to the co-owner, my dear," she winked.

Never had Rainbow wanted a new grandmother more than right then. "I don't need to see it, I'll take it! Where do I pay?"

"Oh, if only all ponies made their minds up as easily as you!" she chuckled, turning and beginning to walk away. "If you queue at the counter, my husband will happily serve you. Tell him that Mrs. Bliss sent you, and mention the painting!"

"Mrs. Bliss, painting. Got it!" Rainbow quickly found her way to the queue, even if she was walking in more practiced and delicate strides than usual to avoid knocking anything over. If she had one small criticism about the store, it was how little walking space there was, what with all of the items they featured inside.

Rainbow joined the back of an eight pony queue, noticing that most of the ponies there were middle-aged. Rainbow was sure she would have once seen a place like this as tremendously uncool, but so much time spent around Rarity and Twilight had likely been a factor in her change of heart. It didn't matter what anypony said, there was something placid and tranquil about the store. It had a pleasant ambiance, what with the quiet, civilised chatter and the smooth classical playing in the background. The sound that made it the most homely was the bell, and every time she heard it ring, it made up for the crawl of the slowly shortening queue.

Still, Rainbow wasn't immune to boredom. After ten minutes had passed and the eight ponies in front of her had reduced to five, she found herself pony watching, taking an interest in just who walked in and out, trying to guess what they might be looking to purchase. It might not have been much more entertaining than queuing, she knew, but it was at least a way to pass the time.

A suited stallion entered, he was probably looking for a present for his wife. Soon after it was an older couple, likely in search of kitchen designs or some such. A young mare—about her age—entered the store, her coat strikingly aqua and her mane a silvery white.

Rainbow's jaw went slack. She didn't care what this mare was shopping for, she cared that she recognised her. How many years had it been since she had seen her? At least seven? Rainbow hoped it could have been many more.

The mare in her line of sight was unmistakably Tidal Wave, an old classmate from flight school. Rainbow could identify her as easily as a new bruise or welt, and she was just as welcome as either of those things.

Not even bothering to think, Rainbow shot to the side of the queue, scrambling out and into a side display, nestling herself between a collection of expensive plates and a large dresser. Poking her head a few inches out of her clearing, she attempted to shoo off the ponies from the queue giving her odd looks with a hoof, holding a hoof to her lips and miming quiet.

Thankfully, they appeared to take it in. Most all of them returned to looking ahead, though one or two still gave her an odd glance at times. Okay, so she was hiding in the corner of a home store, she knew that much. What she was going to do from here? No clue. Maybe it would be alright, maybe she would just leave, and everything could go back to normal. She'd grab her purchases and leave, and be sure not to come back to this store again anytime soon if she could help it.

When two minutes passed and it was clear that wasn't going to be the case, Rainbow reevaluated her options. What was she doing, anyway? Cowering away from her like a filly when she had no reason to? She wasn't scared of Tidal Wave, she never had been. She just really freaking annoyed her.

This was stupid. She should just get out, face her, and get this over with. Yeah, that's exactly what she was gonna do. She took a step out out of her hiding spot, and upon seeing a flash of silvery mane, instantly found herself prying open the dresser, stuffing herself inside and closing the door.

"You just reached a new low, Rainbow." Her voice reverberated when she spoke, it served to remind her a few times just how silly she was.

Around twenty seconds after she had entered there was a stab of light; Mrs. Bliss stood before her with an oddly impressed look on her face. "What an innovative way to check the size of a unit! I only wish I had thought of it sooner. Surely, if you can fit a pony in your dresser, what can't you fit? I like your style, filly, you'd make a good salespony."

Okay, that had to be the most unlikely save in the history of anything. Trying to peek past Mrs. Bliss for any sign of Tidal Wave, she gave her most sheepish grin and nodded fervently. "Uhh, yeah! Exactly what I was doing! Hope you don't mind, I just like to get all of my, uhh, pony-size specs in before I choose a model, you know what I mean?"

Mrs. Bliss' smile dropped by a millimetre, the effect was profound. "I was humouring you, filly. Now be a good pony and get out of my unit."

Rainbow felt so chastised by the kindly mare's stern voice that she instantly apologised, getting up and closing the door behind her. She was rewarded by a single pat on the head, which instantly calmed her nerves.

Unfortunately, in all of her theatrics, she had completely forgotten about the reason that she had chosen to hide in the first place. That reason was currently staring at her with a large grin forming.

"Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow could feel Tidal's eyes narrowing, focusing on her.

Rainbow turned her head as far in the other direction as she could, paralyzed in place as she willed her to go away.

"Rainbow Dash!" her voice was imperative, forcing Rainbow to turn with it. As their eyes locked, she felt herself shrink under Tidal's gaze.

It wasn't the first time Rainbow cursed having such a distinctive mane, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. She flashed her most cordial smile, calming herself with the image of a fresh hoof mark across the bitch's face as she stepped towards her. "Tidal Wave!" she called, "I didn't see you there!"

"And I almost didn't see you!" she laughed in her shrill, girlish voice, "You weren't avoiding me, were you, Rainbow?"

"Avoiding you?" Rainbow threw a hoof to the air, awkwardly chuckling as she prayed for rescue, "Pfft, of course not! I was just busy, in my own world and stuff. I didn't even notice you until now!"

"Doesn't surprise me," Tidal grinned, "You always had your head in the clouds, after all."

Here it comes. She started off with gentle ribbing, then before you knew it she was hitting you with a full on character deconstruction; Tidal loved to play with her food. Rainbow figured it'd be easier to shrug off the first one, there was no use getting into an argument in public if she could help it, particularly somewhere so nice. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, just browsing," Tidal smiled. "I recently moved into a nice little place on Typhoon avenue, but it's quite sparsely furnished. I figured it could use a little work to really flourish, you know what I mean?"

Rainbow's eyes widened, her eyebrows were both raised in surprise. Typhoon avenue was one of the most affluent areas in Cloudsdale, even renting a house there was stupidly expensive, actually buying one would easily set you back by a million bits. She tried not to let any of her shock translate into her response, acting as if her new house was the most mundane thing in the world. "Well, that's cool, I guess," she looked off to a random display for a second, as if she was bored with the idea already, "this is a nice place, you'll probably find what you're looking for here."

"It's the last place I expected to find you," Tidal sneered, "I had to check my eyesight when I spotted you! I swear, if somepony had told me this morning that I would have seen Rainbow Dash of all ponies in a home design shop, I would have told them they were delusional." She gestured towards Rainbow, a satisfied glint in her eye. "Yet here you are, being normal and boring like the rest of us! I didn't think a big shot speedster like you would have the class to appreciate art."

Rainbow realised that was meant to register as an insult about a moment after pulling her work pin out of her saddlebags. Wincing, she decided to run with it anyway. "Big shot speedster? Well you got that right, at least. You're looking at an official Wonderbolt right now, how'd you like that?"

Tidal leaned forwards, staring queerly at the pin as if she was trying to authenticate it or something. Even when she was boasting Rainbow felt scrutinized around her and her incessant perfectness, she hated it so much. When she had finally finished, she looked up with what must have been the fakest smile Rainbow had ever seen. "Well, congratulations! Honestly, back in flight school I never thought you would make it."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, even with how much she had been dreading this she couldn't play that one off. "Gee, thanks," she grunted, struggling not to allow the brunt of her annoyance into her tone.

"Well, I didn't mean it like that," Tidal giggled, which Rainbow had long established was her obnoxiously rude version of apologising, "it's just that you always seemed more focused on chasing tail than actually passing your exams. I kinda thought you'd end up as a weather flier, or something."

Okay, that really stung. "A weather flier? Hah! What do you take me for, some second rate flier?" Rainbow puffed out her chest, throwing some snark into her voice, "What you're looking at is the best of the best, not that it's a big deal or anything."

"Well, that's cool," Tidal nodded, "It's a decent job, not very memorable though."

Rainbow almost choked on her sudden laughter. "Not memorable? I happen to remember the name of every prominent Wonderbolt in history, thank you very much."

"...Don't you have to do something like that in order to pass your entry exam?"

"N-nah, everypony knows who they are." Rainbow was almost sweating by now, and found herself knocking her saddlebags about with a hoof as she tried to put her pin back inside.

"Besides, it isn't exactly sustainable either. How long can you keep up all that racing around before you're too old to keep on going? The average Wonderbolt retirement age has gotta be pretty low."

Rainbow caught herself before she could state that thirty-eight wasn't that low; she figured it wouldn't help her argument. "Well, there are other avenues I can pursue, things like—"

"I, however, am due for a promotion soon!" her eyebrows straightened as her grin grew, and in that moment Rainbow was teleported back to flight school—so many days of seeing that same pompous, smug, satisfied expression resurfaced in an instant. "Oh, I didn't tell you what I do, did I? Aerospace engineering. I've been working in design for the past few years, but they're going to be moving me onto the approval board soon. Big pay bump, and I'm basically getting paid to sit in a chair all day shaking and nodding my head! Could be worse, huh?"

Rainbow wondered how her head might shake after a swift punch. Nonetheless, she played along with her little charade for a little longer. If she could come away from this on top, she would feel so satisfied it would be unreal. "Well that's nice for you, Tidal. As I was saying, there's a lot of things I can do as I progress through the Wonderbolts, it really is a career for life. I can go into training, I can become an officer, I can outsource and work in the private sector... I'm really not limited, whether I was as good as you at theory or not." There, that ought to shut her up for a minute.

It turns out Rainbow couldn't have been more mistaken. "Yeah, well, our cushy jobs don't really matter all too much if we haven't got anyone to share the spoils with! Tell me, Rainbow, are you seeing anyone? Or are you still chasing around every mare with a pulse?"

Alright, she wasn't sure what pissed her off more, the fact she had totally disregarded Rainbow's rebuttal instead of admitting that she was wrong, or the second attempt to call her a slut in two minutes. Regardless, the question caught her off guard. "Am I seeing anyone? Obviously. I'm seeing... Err..." her eyes flicked around the room as she desperately hoped for a fake name to come to mind. No luck.

"It's alright if you aren't, Rainbow, it's no shock really," another one of those incessantly irritating giggles rang forth, "you don't have to lie to save face with me, I already know what you're like. As for me? I'm dating Sky Splitter right now, remember him?"

Who didn't? If Tidal Wave was the queen bee bitch of flight school, then Sky Splitter was her male equivalent. Popular, rich family, and an ego complex—the holy trinity of cunt. Rainbow nodded and went to speak, but didn't manage to get a word in before Tidal had resumed in her showboating.

"We're actually engaged! I'd show you the rock, but I don't want to make you too jealous."

Rainbow had locked up in place. She was beginning to get more and more pissed with Tidal, but she knew that blowing up at her here would just mean that she had won. It was all a game with her, and the only way to win was to outdo her. Still, she knew there was a huge difference between them. Rainbow liked to brag about the things she could do, Tidal liked to brag about the things she had. Rainbow might tell someone she was the fastest flier in Equestria, but she wasn't about to start approaching ponies and clearly outlining how much better her life was, from her stupid expensive house to her stupid fiance to her stupid job.

"It's a shame you're still single though, Rainbow."

Rainbow could feel her teeth beginning to grit as she struggled to maintain her smile.

"You're gonna wanna snag somepony before those colours in your mane start greying one at a time, really," she snickered, flouncing her own mane, "Luckily, silver never really fades with age, but then I've already got a fiance, so I've not gotta worry about it too much."

Rainbow didn't think, she just spoke. "You know what? I actually am seeing someone, Tidal."

Tidal's eyes widened; her lips were pursed as if she was about to respond, but she had frozen in place.

Shit, what did she just do? Why did she say that? What was she thinking?

As Rainbow found herself falling deeper into the throes of second guessing and self-chastisement, Tidal found her voice. "Oh, really?" She leaned forwards as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, which it probably was to her at that moment. "And who's that, if I may ask? I hope you're not talking about the last wino you might have met in the club, because that hardly counts—"

"Sh-she's not a wino!" Rainbow shouted, defending her imaginary marefriend. "She's, uhh..."

It's like Tidal could feel her advantage forming. Maybe she knew Rainbow was lying, maybe she just didn't care. "Well don't keep me in suspense, Rainbow!" she jeered, "Colour me surprised but I'm not accustomed to the idea of you actually having a solid partner, I can't help but be curious. What is she then? Weather flier? Rainbow factory worker?"

Yeah, just pick one of those options and she wouldn't know any better. Wait, she lived here. If Rainbow just made up a name and said she worked at the factory, Tidal would quickly learn it was a lie, and then she'd look like even more of an idiot. She had really dug herself a hole here. Rainbow snarled, staring into the eyes of her tormentor. It had to be something bold, something awesome, something that would completely and utterly blow her away, and make her be jealous of someone for once.

Once again, the words came to Rainbow without any thought of their impact or consequence. "She's a princess!" Rainbow announced, nodding a couple of times as if to affirm the knowledge. "Y-yeah, a princess, and she's really important and refined, and... royal!" Rainbow saw the break in Tidal's countenance and chose to capitalise on it, piling on the bullshit as her voice gained a new measure of confidence. "Just one of the benefits of being the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, I guess, I bump withers with some pretty important ponies, not that it's a big deal or anything," she finished with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

Tidal stood and blinked, her mouth agape. She opened and closed her lips a couple of times, resembling a goldfish as she tried to get her vocal cords to produce something. "...You're serious? Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

The shock, admiration, and above all, jealousy in her voice tickled Rainbow—it was a brilliant feeling. "Yeah, she's totally a princess, tiara and everything. Lets me wear it sometimes when I wanna feel pampered." Suddenly, it was Rainbow's turn to be the queen, and Tidal's to try and make her life measure up. "I just didn't tell you straight away because she's so super important, gotta keep a low profile cause of, uhh... assassins, and stuff." Damn, she was on fire today.

"Assassins," Tidal deadpanned, her brow furrowing.

Maybe a little too on fire. Rainbow could almost feel the perspiration on her coat. Despite her perchance for boasting, she was usually telling the truth when she did so, and this wasn't exactly the most well practiced lie, considering she had thought it up on the spot. Rainbow gave a curt nod, along with her most straight and even voice. "Yes, assassins. It isn't anything to take lightly, the risks of being a princess."

Tidal's head seemed to tilt at that, but eventually she nodded, and Rainbow felt her chest loosen. Still, she seemed to have gone from shocked to questioning, and Rainbow wondered just how much she believed her. "So just how long have you been seeing this princess, anyway?"

"Oh! You know!"

"I really don't. It's why I asked."

Rainbow began tapping her hoof against the floor. "Oh, yeah, right! Hmm, let's see..." Rainbow drew a wing and began to count on her primary feathers, but no matter how she stalled she had no clue what to say. "A few... whiles, now."

Tidal raised an eyebrow.

"Uhh, what I mean is that we've seen each other a few times!" Rainbow offered a grin, nodding her head, "Yeah... times."

Tidal seemed to visibly relax a little at this revelation. "Oh, so it isn't a serious relationship?" she asked.

Oh, crap. She couldn't let her think that her awesome princess marefriend was just fling material! "Oh, it's completely serious," she smirked, "we've got a real connection, you know? Whenever I think of her I get all..." Rainbow tried to do that thing where you stare off into the distance wistfully, but in reality she was just trying to think of the best word to describe whatever the heck she was talking about, "...mushy, and stuff."

The words of a mare that had never managed to hold down a relationship for more than three months; a true romantic. Not that Tidal needed to know that, of course. "Mushy, sure." Tidal seemed pensive for a few moments, and Rainbow felt herself worrying as she surely thought of more questions to trip her up with. The more intricate this lie got, the more likely it was that she would contradict herself, it would all be unraveled, and she would look like a fool.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Tidal's eyes lit up, silently heralding Rainbow's doom. "You know... I've had an idea, you'll probably love it, so let me run it past you!"

Rainbow stifled a sudden growl. "Go on?"

"Well, me and some of the others from flight school had a reunion planned for next week at my place, we figured it would be a good way to break in the new home. Now, I didn't know I'd bump into you, but now that I have, I figured you might want an invite!"

Rainbow blinked, unbelieving. Was Tidal Wave actually inviting her to a party of her own volition? This had to be the only nice thing she had ever done, and it was a bit of a shock to the system. Rainbow felt her tail start twitching even as she pretended to mull it over.

Invite or not, she would never like Tidal, but there were quite a few ponies from flight school that she had been friendly with, just as there were a good few in Tidal's group that she hadn't got along with. Even so, seeing everyone again sounded pretty amazing, and she couldn't help but feel some gratitude as she reached her decision. "You know what?" she smiled, surprisingly genuine," I'd actually love to come. Thanks, Tidal, I really appreciate—"

"On one condition," Tidal interjected.

Rainbow stopped dead. How did she almost walk into that? Of course Tidal had some kind of motive, Tidal didn't do things just to be nice, especially not for Rainbow. "And what's that?" Rainbow asked, barely a shred of amicability left in her voice.

"You bring your princess marefriend, of course!" Tidal beamed, "I'm sure everyone would love to meet her. You know, if she's not busy fighting off assassins, or whatever else. How does that sound, Rainbow? Do you think you could get her to come with you this Saturday, say at about eight?"

That was it. Tidal had seen straight through her. She knew the whole thing was a big charade, and now she was indirectly calling her out on it. Rainbow wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of making an excuse. She knew she was digging her own grave by now, but she had got herself into this mess—it was all or nothing now. "You know what? Yeah, she can make it."

Rainbow leaned in until her muzzle was inches from Tidal's, dead-eyeing her. "She'll make it like you wouldn't believe." Tidal started to back away a little and Rainbow felt herself beginning to advance as her voice rose, but she no longer cared. This was a challenge, and she was taking the bait. "She's gonna make it so freakin' hard, and YOU'LL SEE that I was telling the truth!"

Tidal actually looked a little intimidated by now. Maybe she was doubting whether her assumption on the credibility of Rainbow's story was right, or maybe it was the Rainbow's powerful gaze and slow steps forwards pushing her against a priceless vase, but she definitely wasn't as self-assured as she had been when she was lording it over Rainbow only minutes before. "W-well, I'm glad to hear that she'll be in attendance!" Tidal offered a pacifying smile, but it made little difference.

"You're right she will be!" Rainbow almost screamed, drawing the attention of every shopper that wasn't already looking. Somewhere in the near distance, Mrs. Bliss shook her head at the display. Rainbow felt the eyes on her, as some of them had been for minutes now, and lowered her tone accordingly. "We'll even turn up early," she finished with a smug smile.

That little lapse in her advance was all Tidal needed to put her condescending face back on. "And here I was thinking the important ponies turned up fashionably late. My, Rainbow, for someone who's apparently dating a princess, you could really do to learn the ropes. Anyway, time's getting on, and I have places to be. See you Saturday?"

"Freakin' right you'll see me Saturday," Rainbow mumbled as Tidal hurried out of the store, taking her self-important attitude with her. Rainbow found herself panting as soon as she was gone, the adrenaline of the situation wearing off as she realised the size of the cheque she had just written with her mouth. She saw a plate in her peripherals and resisted the urge to punch it. "Fuck," she whispered to herself, her eyes searching this way and that as if she was hoping for a princess to pop out of the woodwork looking for a date.

This was really bad. She knew it had been stupid at the time, but seeing Tidal Wave had stirred up memories of so many times that she and others had been put down and made to feel small around her and all of the things that made up her perfect life. Every possession she had, every accolade and accomplishment, all of it had been repeatedly rubbed in everyone's faces for five straight years, and somehow she had become popular from it!

So when Rainbow had seen some vague opportunity to knock her down a peg, she had taken it without thought. Certainly, she hadn't considered the prospect that she might have to make an appearance with this made up marefriend. Still, it could be worse. She hadn't really given any details about who this princess was, and most thankfully she hadn't given her a name. This meant that as long as she could find a princess to come with her next week, no matter who, she could still pull this off.

Oh yeah, because that was such a simple task. Gee, that made it so much better. Today really wasn't Rainbow's day. Of all the times she could have bumped into Tidal Wave again, it had to be in somewhere as unlikely and uncharacteristic as this, and it had to be when she was feeling relaxed. She had caught her off guard, and now she was gonna have to do something about it. The alternative was changing her name and dying her mane, and she liked her stripes.

Mrs. Bliss approached, pointing a hoof at the now non-existent line to the counter. Saying nothing, Rainbow trudged forwards to pay, grunting at the older stallion on the other side of the counter as he ran through her sculpture. It almost slipped her mind, but she remembered to mention the portrait, and true to Mrs. Bliss' words, it was thrown in for free. The portrait was wrapped and hoofed over to her then and there, the sculpture was to be delivered the following morning.

Opening her saddlebags and reaching for her coin purse, she began to count out two hundred bits, a lengthy task. As she spilled pile after pile of bits out of her bag and moved them to the other side of the counter, Mr. Bliss spoke up. "She sounded like a terrible mare, you know. All false and up herself."

Rainbow only nodded. Honestly, she didn't feel like talking with it anymore, especially with a stranger. She continued to count out the payment without a word.

"If it were me," he continued, "I would make every effort to show her up. I say you find that princess you're after and make a real spectacle of being the best couple there." He gave Rainbow a sly grin, gesturing towards his wife, "Our first date was simply to piss her parents off. They wanted her to date someone of culture and class, not an apprentice to a second hand furniture dealer. Needless to say, it went well, and now we've been married for forty-five years. Still," he grinned, a glint in his eye, "even though they got over it, I'll never forget their faces the first time I kissed her in front of them... that satisfaction is hard to forget. I think it taught them not to be so snooty, honestly."

"...How do you know there isn't already a princess?" Rainbow asked, peering at him.

"Do I look daft?" the old stallion laughed, "I've heard it all before, and let me tell you, I'd have said the same if I was in your position, just to see that mare sweat for a few seconds. If you go through with it, however, she'll never forget that. Might teach her some humility, even."

Rainbow's face twisted as she took in his words. "So you're saying that what I did wasn't stupid?"

"Oh, of course it was stupid!" the old stallion snickered, beginning to shovel the counted bits into a till, "but sometimes, stupid can be the best course of action."

Rainbow only nodded, unsure what to say. He was right about one thing though: It was her choice, and she could either chicken out or she could own it, and Rainbow wasn't the type to run away from things, hiding in dressers not included.

When Mr. Bliss had finished putting the bits away, he scribbled on a receipt and handed it to her, instructing her to hand it to the delivery ponies when they arrived the next day.

"Thanks," Rainbow said, pocketing the thing.

"What for?" Mr. Bliss laughed.

"Everything, I guess." Rainbow smiled, turning and leaving. She was still worried as hell, but at the same time, she felt determined. This was her chance to show Tidal Wave up, and she was gonna use it to the best of her ability.

"Oh, and deary!" Mrs. Bliss called out as she approached the door, causing her to turn back, "Make sure she wears her tiara," she winked, waving a hoof.

Rainbow couldn't help but laugh; there was something adorable about how in sync they were. Leaving the store she began the relatively short flight home, resolute and determined to begin setting some sort of plan into motion.

One thing she realised as she thought things over was that making a plan, as well as finding a date, was going to take time. Time wasn't a luxury she could afford with only a week spare, and her work schedule was pretty crazy right then.

Time to pay Spitfire a visit, then.

Rainbow Dash sat inside Spitfire's office, a mollifying cup of coffee balanced on her wing, which Spitfire took without question. "I need to take a week off work," she stated with as much conviction as she could muster.

Spitfire didn't even respond, she just narrowed her eyes.

"I really need to, it's important."

"And why is it important, Rainbow?" she sighed, taking a small sip of her coffee.

"It's a, uhh—" Rainbow was beginning to regret that she hadn't thought of her excuse before visiting, "family emergency!" she shouted, sounding way too happy about her quick thinking than she should have been.

Spitfire set the cup down, maintaining eye contact the entire time. "Rainbow, I saw your mother this morning. We talked for a little while, she brought in cookies for you." Again, her eyes didn't leave Rainbow as she popped open her desk drawer with a hoof, producing a tupperware box, which she unceremoniously plonked on the table. On top of the box was a postie that read 'Dashie', the 'i' dotted with a heart.

Rainbow Dash shuddered, tapping a hoof against her temple. "...Distant family emergency?"

"Distant," Spitfire repeated.

"Y-yeah! Distant! It's a, uhm, third cousin, twice removed! Yeah, we're really close, and he's had some trouble recently and I—"

"Rainbow Dash, for the love of Celestia, please don't bullshit me. You haven't saved my life enough times to book a week off without notice."

Rainbow instantly saw an angle she could use there, and boy was she going to exploit it. Raising an eyebrow and cocking her head, she began to tap one hoof against the other, silently counting. "Really? Twice wasn't enough?" Smirking, she added, "and if you add up all the times that I saved Equestria... I'd say you've probably got a day per heroic, world saving act there, give or take."

Spitfire didn't respond instantly, she was too busy rubbing at her eyes. "...Ugh, fine. But you only get to use that once."

"Per year," Rainbow replied.

"No, ever! Now get moving before I change my mind."

Stopping herself from hoof pumping and shouting 'yes!', Rainbow stood, practicing good military posture as she walked to the door. At the last moment, she had a thought, and she turned to face Spitfire, who looked about ready to fall asleep on the sheets of paperwork piling up on her desk. "Hey, Spits?"

"Can you please address me officially while we're at work? I don't know how many times I have to ask you."

"But you just said I'm off duty!"

"...Whatever. What do you want, Rainbow?"

Rainbow had no clue how to word this, so she just dove straight into it. "Say, Spits, you work indirectly for Princess Celestia... Do you happen to know anything about her? What kind of flowers she likes, where she likes to eat, anything like that? Oh yeah, and is she into mares?"

Spitfire looked at her as if she had gone insane. "What kind of idiotic question is that?! Just get out of here before I dock your pay, Rainbow."

"Alright, alright, I'm going, sheesh," Rainbow continued mumbling to herself as she shut the door behind her, "Jeez, you ask your boss one question on what might make your princess slash goddess swoon over you and suddenly there's a BIG problem."

So she'd had no luck on the information gathering, that much was clear. However, she had managed to procure some free time. Now, she had the rest of this evening to rest, and then six days to come up with a solution to her princess sized problem.

"—so then I tried looking to see just how many princesses there were. Turns out there's quite a few in Saddle Arabia, but I can't learn a language in six days! There's plenty of nobles and aristocrats in Trottingham and Canterlot, but no secret princesses, and even Chrysalis is a queen, rather than a princess, so that wouldn't work." Sighing, Rainbow shrugged her withers, throwing away the sheet full of names she had written.

"I mean, I would just take anyone and lie, make up some cover story about who they really are or whatever, but I don't wanna do that. I want it to be someone who makes everyone gasp because they're so recognisable, you know?"

Tank slowly blinked.

Rainbow Dash blew flicked her bangs out of her face, staring up at the cloud ceiling. Staying up all night to brainstorm had seemed like a good idea at the start, but now almost an entire day had passed and she still hadn't made any real progress. "Do you think I'm building this up too much in my head? Do you think it'd be easier if instead of going through all this planning, I just tried something and saw if it works?"

Tank made a very slow inclination of the head.

"In that caseee..." Rainbow took wing, gliding across the room and landing before her wardrobe. Fishing around inside, she pulled out a low-cut sleek black dress with slit wing holes. "Momma's gonna go hit on Cadance a little."

Tank craned his neck until he was looking up at her.

"Don't give me that look! I know she's married, but it's not even for real! And I'll, uhh, explain that once I've got her to let her guard down! I need to open her mind to the concept first, you know?" Rainbow began to fuss with the zipper of the dress, once again wishing that tailors would make things a little more accessible for non-unicorns. Of course, if she had gone to Rarity she would never have that problem, but the day she went to Rarity for a dress was the day she admitted to receiving weekly hooficures. "I mean, she's the Princess of Love, surely she's gotta know a lot about faking it, right?"

Tank's head slowly began to move left and right.

"You're judging me. I know that you're judging me, and I don't blame you, but I also don't care." Rainbow finished with zipping up the dress, opening a window and preparing to leave. "Look, I'm desperate here. If you've got any better alternatives, please feel free to offer."

Tank, of course, said nothing, but began to very slowly move forwards.

"Exactly. Now," she leaned down to give him an obligatory three second nuzzle, smooshing her fuzzy muzzle and snout against his nose before bolting back up to the window, "I'll be gone for a few hours, little guy. There's food in your bowl if you get hungry. Love you!"

And with that, Rainbow Dash sped off.

"The last few days have been a total bust," Rainbow groaned, tucking into her danish, "Cadance apparently has really strong views about faking love, and don't even get me started on her lecture about infidelity. I tried explaining to her why I needed the help, but she didn't wanna hear it! That was a total waste of a trip."

"How about Celestia?" Pinkie asked, sat on the other side of the table. She'd reopened after hours for a particularly disheveled Rainbow, and had then sat and listened as Rainbow explained her entire predicament.

Pinkie was a seriously good friend. Tutting, Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Turns out she's as straight as they come. Coincidentally, that's also the reason you don't see any female royal guards. Typical, huh?" Rainbow snorted, "Just when you need a princess to be your date, they're all either straight as a board, preaching morality, or speaking another freakin' language."

Pinkie tapped a hoof against her chin. "I take it Luna wasn't up for it either, then?"

"Oh, she was up for it. Turns out she was really up for it, but as soon as I explained that it wasn't for real, she made her excuses and ran off! She hasn't spoken to me since."

"Rainbow!" Pinkie shouted, chastising her with a glare, "Luna's delicate! You should have been more tactful!"

Rainbow shrank back in her seat. "Sorry, Pinkie, I'm not exactly experienced with this stuff. Besides, what's a tactful way of saying 'I need you to come with me to a party and pretend to be in love with me so I can show up my old classmate'? I can't think of one." Rainbow slumped forwards, pressing her muzzle against the table. "Ugh... I'm doomed. There's literally nothing I can do to get out of this, unless I can find a changeling on short notice I'm gonna have to cancel."

"Cancel?" Pinkie gasped, "And back away from a challenge?!"

"Well it wasn't really a challenge, Pinkie," Rainbow said, "It was more just us both throwing words around."

"It sounded like a challenge to me!" Pinkie replied, getting up in her chair, "She directly disrespected your pegasus honour, and I'm not going to stand for you standing for that, which means you can't stand for it either!"

"...Pegasus honour?" As far as Rainbow was aware, that wasn't a thing.

"Yes! You're noble creatures that fly through the sky, winged bastions willing to protect Equestria with your lives, benevolent helpers that grace the country with sustainable weather!"

"Cloudsdale is a city of bureaucrats that does things solely for bits."

"It doesn't matter why you do it, you just do! Besides, you're the most loyal, dependable, honourable pegasus there is, so you have pegasus honour! And as such, you will not stand for it being besmirched!"

"And I don't want it to be, uhh... besmirched, but I don't see what else I can do! I've already tried everywhere and had no luck, what am I meant to do? Make my own princess?"

"As unbelievably fun as that idea sounds, why haven't you tried the obvious thing yet?" Pinkie asked, her eyebrows curved. "At first I figured you just didn't mention it because it was so obvious, but now I'm seriously wondering if you've even tried it."

Rainbow cocked her head, her forelegs folding. "What obvious thing?"

"Asking Twilight, of course!" Pinkie announced as if she shouldn't have even had to say it, "Why would you go through the trouble of trying it on with every princess all over Equestria when your best friend who happens to live two minutes away is a princess herself?"

"Twilight?" Rainbow repeated as if it were a foreign name, "...Jeez, I guess that would work." Suddenly, she shook her head. "It'd be weird though! Like, really weird! Twilight's my best friend, how is she gonna react to me asking her to be my date?"

"Knowing her? Pretty damn well." Pinkie smirked.

"What was that?" Rainbow asked, leaning in.

"Oh!" Pinkie flinched, looking away, "Nothing! What I meant to say is that Twilight would probably be happy to help you with absolutely anything, so I'm sure she wouldn't shoot you down! You should ask her."

Rainbow went back to her danish, taking another bite as she mulled the thought over. "This is gonna involve quite a lot of, uhh, touching, though, amongst other stuff. Is she really gonna be able to handle that? I mean, I don't even know if I could handle that, it's gonna be so damn awkward."

"What's awkward about it?" Pinkie grinned, "You know you're friends, after all, and it's just acting. You'd do the same for her if she asked you, wouldn't you?"

That didn't take much thought. "I'd do anything I could to help Twilight if she asked me, even if it was pretty weird. I care about her."

"Then it's settled! I mean, honestly, Dashie, it's either you do that, or you don't show up." There was silence for a moment as Rainbow took this in, and then Pinkie held a hoof up. "Orrrr, you turn up alone, but say that your marefriend is there with you, only she's invisible for security reasons! That'd make you look ultra important, and—"

"Pinkie, Pinkie," Rainbow called, holding out her own hoof to pause her, "I think you're right. I'll go and ask Twilight, see how that goes. It's gonna be really strange, but I guess it's my only option." Rising, she flapped her wings and gained some lift, gliding across to Pinkie and scooping her up in a quick hug, "thanks for the danish, and the help."

"No problem!" Pinkie beamed as she made her way to the door, "And let me know if you change your mind! I'll start writing your invisible marefriend's backstory!"

Rainbow could feel an intense glow to her cheeks, her face was alight with pure embarrassment. "So, yeah, I was just hoping I could ask you something, really."

"Well, sure, Rainbow, you can ask me anything," Twilight gave her that caring, placid smile she was so used to, and it put her ever so slightly at ease.

"See, what I've gotta ask you is a little bit awkward..." Rainbow started to scuff her hoof against the floor, her tail spun in circles and her ears twitched, "Well, awkward is putting it lightly. But the point is, it's something I absolutely wouldn't ask you in case I absolutely had nowhere else to turn." Rainbow felt so terrible to be putting this on her, even then she was worried that she would damage their friendship with what she was about to ask, and she'd rehearsed in front of the mirror ten times.

Twilight seemed perfectly calm, but that's because she had no idea what Rainbow was about to ask. Poor naive Twilight, she was about to be thrown into a truly odd situation, and it was all Rainbow's fault. "You might as well just spit it out, Rainbow," Twilight laughed, flouncing her mane with a touch of magic, "I doubt it's anything that terrible."

"It's..." Rainbow could feel her chest contracting along with her throat, and her next words came out as a feline squeak, "I need you to come on a date with me."

"R-really?" Twilight repeated, her eyes shining as her tail began to swish. "That sounds great! Uhh, I mean," she cut herself off, clearing her throat, "Wait, why is this something you'd only ask if you couldn't go to anyone else?"

"See that's the thing!" Rainbow started, happy that she had got to the bit that mitigated the oddness of the request, "It's not a real date, it's an act."

"Oh," Twilight huffed, her body slumping just a tad. "What kind of an act?"

Rainbow gave her the short version, explaining just what had happened in the 'sports shop' as well as what had been said between the pair. She told Twilight just what Tidal Wave had been like in flight school, and why it was so important to her pride now that she see through her claim, and that in order to do that, she needed a real princess to come with her. She said she didn't want to burden her with it because it was a weird request, at which Twilight's mood seemed to briefly sour, but by the time she was fully caught up, she seemed just as happy as normal.

"So," Twilight said, her eyebrows straight, "The party is in two nights?"

Rainbow nodded. "I know it isn't much time, like, I know this is really crap notice and that if I was going to ask you I should have came sooner, but honestly, I only just thought of it."

Twilight gave a small, stunted nod. "Yeah, I got that when you told me before. It's fine, honestly. What I care about is making this believable, so how about we meet up tomorrow and go through some steps? That way, when we turn up together on Saturday, everypony there is sure to think that we're the real deal."

"That sounds great!" Rainbow jumped up, executing a neat little loop in midair, "This is gonna be killer, Twi, just you wait. We're gonna get there, and everyone's gonna think we're legit, and the look on Tidal Wave's face is gonna be priceless." Rainbow let loose a loud, derisive laugh, slapping herself on the side. "Oh, seriously, this is gonna be brilliant. You're sure you're alright with it though?"

"Yes, Rainbow, I'm completely sure," Twilight smiled, nodding. "And thinking about it, I think the main thing we're gonna need to work on is our intimacy. We shouldn't act totally loved up and all head over hooves for each other, we should keep it somewhere in the middle... Passionate, but still the best of friends..." A few seconds of silence passed, and Twilight seemed to suppress a small sigh before shaking her head, "Something like that. Also, do you think we'll have to give public displays of affection?"

"What, like kissing, and stuff?" Rainbow scratched her head, a curve to her lips as she considered it. "Probably, yeah. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," Twilight softly bit her lip, "but we should probably practice that tomorrow, just to make sure it looks authentic."

"Twilight, I have kissed a mare before," Rainbow said, her eyes rolling, "And I'm at least fifty percent sure you've kissed at least somepony in your life."

"Yeah, but have you ever kissed your best friend?" Twilight asked, staring up at her.

"Well... Does Rarity that one time on Hearth's Warming Eve after all the cider count?"

"No, it doesn't," Twilight responded, her brow furrowing, "The point is that you're not used to kissing somepony you wouldn't usually kiss, so it has to look natural," she flashed a small grin, "In other words, we should practice that."

"I mean, if you really think it would help."

"Oh, I'm sure it will. Trust me, we're gonna have to pull out all the stops if we wanna make this go off as best we can, and that means doing whatever we can to ensure we're the most bombastic and real couple Tidal Wave and her fiance have ever seen!" Twilight clapped her hooves together. "I know! I'll write us scripts!"

Rainbow shook her head. "I don't think we need scripts. If you want it to really appear as natural, we should say whatever comes to our heads at the time, not memorise a bunch of lines."

"I guess you're right," Twilight nodded, "but we should still practice talking to each other like a couple, that'll help."

"I mean, if you really think it'll help then I guess we could—"

"Hey, Rainbow, this was your idea, try and sound a little more confident about it."

Well, that was weird. It wasn't often that Twilight was the one telling Rainbow to be more confident. Still, she seemed to have more of a grasp of what it was they were meant to be doing, it was probably all those years of planning and lists paying off. In Twilight, she had a planner as well as a 'marefriend'. "Alright, yeah, you're right. Let's just do what you said, and then we can totally smoke that high and mighty bitch."

"That's the spirit!" Twilight cheered, taking wing and flying up to Rainbow, "Now, are you gonna be able to handle treating me like a marefriend for an entire night?"

Rainbow tried to laugh it off, but found herself rubbing her forehooves together all the same. "Well, sure, I gu—"

"What did I say about confidence, Rainbow?" she smirked, looking Rainbow up and down.

"Oh! Yeah! Hell yeah! Of course I can!"

"Good," Twilight leaned in, and before Rainbow could even register what had happened, Twilight had laid a small peck on her cheek.

Rainbow recoiled instantly, almost hitting a wall as she straightened herself out, sending Twilight into a fit of giggles. "What the hell, Twi?! I wasn't prepared!"

"You think I'm gonna warn you every time I go to kiss you on the night?" Twilight's eyes were fixed on Rainbow, playfully narrowed, "If you react like that, then the gig'll be up before we even get anywhere. And that was just a kiss on the cheek."

"Alright, alright, I'll work on it," Rainbow shuddered, unable to get over the strange and fuzzy feeling lingering on her cheek. It felt unnatural, in a way. Not terrible and disgusting, but not a feeling that should come from a friend. Rainbow tried to convince herself that she wasn't being a prude, but deep down she knew it was a kiss on the cheek, and that her and Twilight were going to have to become a fair bit more intimate in a short space of time if this was to work.

"Alright, good, stay still." Twilight commanded, swooping in again.

Rainbow flinched on instinct. "What, now?!"

"Rainbow," Twilight leveled with her, looking in her eyes, "I'm trying to help. You can't keep stalling and putting it off!"

Rainbow only nodded, tensing up her body if only to anchor herself in place. Twilight dived into the fray once more, only to change her tactics at the last moment. Rainbow's nervous anticipation faded in the presence of shock as she found her best friend on her lips. Within a millisecond of the contact, she stiffened like a board, the only hint that she wasn't comatose the flapping of her wings.

"No, that's no good at all," Twilight purred, her eyes half lidded as her gaze became sultry, which Rainbow obviously knew was part of the act. "You need to loosen up a little, Rainbow, you look like you're about to have a needle stuck in you."

Hearing the word 'needle' almost made things worse, but Rainbow tried her hardest to take her friend's advice on board. She took deep breaths, in through her snout and out through her muzzle, allowing the knot in her stomach to unravel. Biting her lip in trepidation, she looked up at Twilight and gave a short nod, signalling that she could try again.

This time, it was a lot more natural. When Rainbow allowed Twilight's lips to make contact with her, the feeling was as alien as it was familiar. She had kissed mares before, quite a few, in fact, but this was a lot softer, more delicate. Twilight's lips were pleasant, in a way, and the connection between them was about as calming as her presence.

Then there was the kiss itself. It wasn't exactly chaste, and Rainbow could barely bring herself to reciprocate, but what she did feel was how light and smooth Twilight was. In all honesty, she was a good kisser, and if it wasn't for the butterflies seeking to reign over Rainbow's stomach, as well as her conscious awareness of just who was kissing her, she might have enjoyed it.

Twilight was a brilliant actor. She closed her eyes like a lover might, she twitched her hind leg and flicked her tail as if she was enjoying it, she even ran a hoof through Rainbow Dash's mane, softly stroking down to her cheek as she parted her lips. That felt nice... When Twilight's tongue first made contact with hers, their bodies pressing ever closer as they became lost in the kiss, Rainbow felt her nerves being stimulated; the shockwaves it sent through the rest of her body as she was blasted by the strange and totally wrong feeling were astounding. She could even hear little mewls from Twilight, and she might have matched them with her own.

Then, alarm bells rang in her head. She felt a hoof travelling along her barrel, and instantly remembered just where she was. In the air. With Twilight. Making out with her. Gasping, she pulled back a couple of inches, staring at her friend with doe eyes. Twilight looked just as she had before she kissed her, she bore a small smile, softly chewing on her lip as she slowly slid her hoof back and away from Rainbow. Between them, a small string of saliva kept them connected.

That was, until Twilight broke it with her tongue, sticking it out and licking around her mouth before wiping the space with a hoof. Rainbow coloured that as odd, but surely Twilight just thought it was more efficient than going to get a tissue? It was only saliva, after all. Nonetheless, Rainbow couldn't help but feel a very distinct solitude when Twilight finally broke contact with her completely. That wasn't to say that she wanted to go back to kissing her, more that she wouldn't mind a cuddle.

"So," Twilight smiled, casting a dreamy gaze at Rainbow, "how was that?"

"Great!" Rainbow grinned, spinning on the spot if only to put some feeling back into her body.

Twilight's wings began fluttering twice as fast. "You really think so?"

"Are you kidding?!" Rainbow came to a rest, staring right at her, "you're a brilliant actor! Honestly, that kiss felt so real, if I didn't know better I would have thought that you really were my marefriend!"

"Oh, yeah, glad you enjoyed my acting," Twilight smiled, although her wings slowed to their normal speed.

"Twilight, you're the best friend I could ask for," Rainbow said, drawing Twilight into a well needed hug, the warmth and friction relaxing her, "and you helped me to get over some of my nerves! I bet if we spend some of tomorrow together too, like you said, we'll totally rule at that party!"

Twilight too seemed to melt into the embrace, slowly pulling the pair down to the ground as she wrapped a wing around Rainbow. "Well, that's the plan! Tidal Wave won't even know what hit her, Rainbow, trust me."

Rainbow stood and stared at her from the side for a couple of moments. She really was brilliant. Everything she was doing for her, it was wonderful, and she couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky to have somepony so awesome as a friend. "...Twilight," she squeaked, her voice a little weaker than usual, "I hope you know how much I appreciate this. If you ever need anything in return, just tell me and I'm there, because I know this crud has gotta be hard on you."

"Y-yeah," Twilight responded, tilting her head down, "hard on me, that sounds about right." Rainbow felt a small shiver go through Twilight's body, but she quickly shook it off, just like the cuddle. "It's fine, Rainbow, honestly. But it's getting late now, we should probably call it a night for now and reconvene tomorrow evening."

"Don't you want a goodnight kiss first?" Rainbow winked.

Twilight's tail briefly began to bounce, but then her eyes narrowed, her tail dropped, and her ears drooped a tad. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"Well, duh," Rainbow giggled, lazily floating towards a window, which she unlatched with a flick of her hind hoof, "but seriously, Twi," one last time, she put her front hooves together and dipped her head a little, "thank you, so so much."

Twilight only waved a hoof at her. "Go home, Rainbow. You've thanked me enough."

"Alright! Gotta get to sleep nice and early if I wanna be any good for you tomorrow!" Rainbow laughed, turning away. "Love you, Twi, thanks again!"

An Honest Facade
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Well My Marefriend's a Princess!

An Honest Facade

Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash faded into the evening sky. "I... love you too, Rainbow Dash."

Twilight sighed, her lips parted. She could still feel the distinct buzz that had come from kissing Rainbow for the first time—something she had wanted to do for years.

Why was it that when her opportunity came up, it was only so they could put on a show? Rainbow had no idea how Twilight felt, and now instead of bottling away her feelings, Twilight had to parade around with Rainbow as if she was her lover, and get a taste of what that would be like, only to have it taken away from her? Rainbow was right, this was hard on her, just not for the reason she thought.

Twilight was left wondering about so many things as she wandered off to clamber into bed. Why had she been the last one for Rainbow to ask? Was it because she just couldn't look at her in that way? Did she really find her that unattractive? Had Rainbow enjoyed their kiss? For Twilight, it had been like velvet, soft and beautiful, and she hadn't wanted it to end. What if Rainbow hadn't got any of that? Or even worse, she had, but just thought it came from Twilight's ability as an actor, rather than any genuine affection towards her?

There had to be a way she could outline her feelings. She'd just have to make it a little more obvious. Surely, Rainbow Dash wasn't so oblivious that she wouldn't recognise a mare that wanted her when they were staring her right in the face? Twilight felt her hooves stomping heavier than usual as she walked up the stairs to her bedroom, remembering that this was Rainbow Dash she was talking about.

Twilight threw her covers back and allowed herself to fall onto the bed, nestling herself deep in the sheets and putting the covers around her with a short burst of magic. It was a fair amount of tossing and turning later when Twilight actually managed to drift off, and even then her dreams were plagued with unanswered questions and thoughts, and she awoke several times during the night. At 7am she realised she could no longer sleep, and rolled out of bed onto her hooves, not bothering to fix her mane as she walked down the stairs, through the main corridor and straight out of the castle.

The ground was cold against her hooves, but she didn't care, she needed coffee. Walking the short trip to Sugarcube Corner served to wake her a little, but she could still feel fatigue clawing at her. She would have to get a decent night's sleep tomorrow, or she would be useless during Rainbow's party. Arriving, she went to open the door, but found that it was still locked. She considered knocking, but concluded not to disturb the Cakes. As she turned to leave, she heard a sound from upstairs, and found Pinkie poking her head out of the window.

"Hey, Twilight! Wait there! I'll open up," Pinkie's words anchored her to the spot, and in less than a minute she was downstairs unlocking the door. "Sorry about that," she said, "what can ol' Pinkie do for you, huh?"

"Just a white latte, Pinkie, and an espresso, if you don't mind."

"Two coffees?" Pinkie tutted, "Sounds like someone didn't get their recommended seven hours and forty minutes last night!"

"Well, the reason for that is—wait, seven and forty? I thought it was eight?"

"Silly Twilight, the average dream is twenty minutes long!" Pinkie shook her head in disapproval, "Silly Twilight."

Twilight chose to ignore how little sense that made. "Anyways, yeah, the reason I couldn't sleep. So get this: Rainbow Dash comes to me last night—"

"And tells you that she bumped into her old classmate from flight school who's a really, really big meanie and that in the heat of the moment talking to her she claimed to have a princess who was a princess and that after that the classmate said to her 'oh, well if you have a princess marefriend, I wanna meet her at this party!' and then Rainbow was like 'heck yeah, you're on!' and then Rainbow went around and tried to hit on every single princess she could think of but none of them worked and then she landed on you and it's really awkward for you because you secretly have feelings for her but you've never told her?"

Twilight took a few seconds to process that. "...Yes. How did you—"

"Rainbow came to me first. I'm the one who suggested she ask you!"

"Pinkie!" Twilight snarled, "Why would you do that?!"

"Becauseeee," Pinkie bounced in place, skipping up to Twilight and jumping on the spot, "this is your chance to win her over! Don't tell me you haven't already thought about it... You, her, pretending to be a couple, if you can just show her how great that feeling is and get her used to it, you might not even have to tell her that you've liked her since the day you met her and never had the courage to say anything because you thought it might ruin your friendship!"

"Pinkie, can you please stop saying things like that? I know what I've told you already, you don't need to be so comprehensive when you remind me."

Pinkie stopped bouncing, a strong gaze affixed to Twilight. "But seriously, even if you do have to tell her, don't you think this is a great way to open her up to the concept? If you can make this good for her, then maybe she'll start to see you as more than a friend too! Or at least be capable of doing that. If anything, this is a great opportunity."

Twilight felt a frown over take her as she asked herself the same question once more. "But what does it mean that she didn't even think to go to me? It's even worse that you had to tell her, she didn't even have the idea on her own."

"Honestly? It probably means that she's either never thought about you as a potential marefriend to the point that she didn't even consider the idea, that she thought you were the one who would hate it so she was doing everything to avoid having to ask you, even to the point that she never even consciously thought to, or she forgot that you're a princess. I mean, that is only a recent thing. Honestly, my bits would be on the former, but that doesn't mean you can't change that!"

"But how do I do that?" Twilight asked, tilting her head. "I already tried kissing her last night, we even made out. I told her it was to practice for this weekend. When we were finished, she just called me a 'great actor'! She has no clue how tactless she is sometimes!"

"Have you considered making her work for it?" Pinkie asked, miming an imaginary chalkboard and pointing at the space in the air with a hoof, "Dashie as an interesting creature, if you hand her anything on a platter she typically isn't that interested. However, if you make her work for it a little, the satisfaction she gets from achieving something seems to heighten her buzz."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"It's obvious! Whenever she comes in for her morning coffee, she's so proud of herself for having got up in the morning that she downs it before it's even cool!"

"Don't you think that might just be her in a rush and wanting to wake up?"

"Nuh-uh! She usually sleeps at one of the tables for about ten minutes after, so it can't be!"

"...Huh. Noted." Blinking, Twilight realised all that Pinkie had done for her. "Thank you so much, Pinkie Pie. I'm gonna try and make something out of this, but either way I'm really grateful."

"Well stop yakking and start wooing! You've only got a day!" Pinkie zipped behind the counter, quickly preparing her coffees. "Here! Drink, drink! Go!"

Feeling pressured, Twilight downed the espresso and grabbed the cup of latte as Pinkie pushed her out of the door. "Thanks, Pinkie!"

"Go! Go! Make Rainbow want you!"

Twilight was filled with a new energy as she made her way back to the castle. She was going to do just that, and Rainbow wouldn't see it coming.

Rainbow woke up that day to find that she had slept wonderfully. Everything was falling into place. She still had a couple of days left off work, and with Twilight by her side, she just knew this would go off without a hitch. Rainbow blasted through her morning exercises before taking a warm shower, feeding Tank and going out to take a few laps of Ponyville.

She wasted away her day with flying; for the first time in a week, Rainbow felt truly relaxed, and she wasn't at all worried about what this weekend might hold. She was a little trepidatious about the whole practice thing, but if Twilight could fully devote herself to it, so could she.

When half the day had gone by, she had an idea. Heading home to grab her bit bag, she flew into a local jewelers, a plan forming in her mind even as she began chatting with the sales assistant.

When she was finished, she had a large grin on her face, this was perfect. Gift bag in hoof, she flew straight to the castle to meet Twilight.

When she arrived she knocked on the front door, only for Twilight to emerge wearing an evening dress. It hugged her figure, really accentuating her curves, and Rainbow couldn't help but trace them with her eyes despite herself. She was definitely wearing mascara, and her wing feathers were perfectly aligned. Rainbow tried to say something, but her words were quickly caught in her throat.

Twilight's blink was overly pronounced by her eyeshadow, and her eyes felt more prominent. "Are you going to come inside, Rainbow?"

"Y-yeah, sure." Rainbow realised she was just limply standing like an idiot, staring at Twilight, and made her way through the door, finding herself in close proximity with her friend. "I got you something," she said in what came out as a breathy whisper, "just to say thanks for everything you're doing for me."

"Really?" Twilight asked, her eyes travelling to the small bag, "how sweet of you." With those words, she leaned in and pecked Rainbow on the cheek.

Rainbow wasn't sure if it felt more natural this time or not, but she didn't put up a fuss. In all honesty, it didn't disturb her. "I got you these," she said, fumbling with her hooves as she produced a little box from the bag.

The pair walked over to the table as Twilight levitated the box before her, opening it and spotting the two amethyst earrings sitting inside. "Rainbow! You shouldn't have..."

"Well, I thought they'd go nicely with your coat, and—"

Rainbow's words were cut off with the rest of her breath as Twilight pulled her into a crushing hug. There was no doubt about it, she had definitely got stronger since becoming an alicorn. Rainbow allowed herself to be squeezed, enjoying the comfort and warmth even as her spine made a series of little clicks, causing her to gasp in sudden relief for an ache she didn't even realise she had. "Thank you, Rainbow," Twilight said, "I love them."

That made Rainbow's heart flutter, she was worried that Twilight might see them as a bribe or something. "I'm really glad you appreciate them, Twi."

Breaking the hug, Twilight walked over to a nearby mirror, holding them up against the sides of her ears. "Want me to wear them tomorrow?"

"I mean, I didn't get them for you just so you would have them to wear tomorrow, you can wear them whenever you want."

"I know that," Twilight smirked at herself in the mirror before turning to face Rainbow, batting her eyelids as she continued to hold the earrings up. "What I'm asking is..." she continued in a slow, deliberate tone, "do you think that they would look nice on me?"

Twilight twitched a hind leg as she said this, causing the dress to billow a little, drawing Rainbow's attention back to it. "...Is it weird if I say yes? I mean, I'm meant to say yes, right?"

Twilight looked as if she was about to completely break character. "Yes, Rainbow, you're meant to say 'yes'," she bluntly answered.

"Then yeah, they'd look awesome on you!" Rainbow knew it was the truth too, she just didn't know how to say it. Twilight always looked great, after all.

Twilight seemed to consider this response for a little while, then nodded. "Well either way, I love them, and I'm really grateful. Have you eaten, by the way?"

"Me? Uhh, I had a bit of toast this morning, and a protein shake. That's about it, really."

Twilight's eyes seemed to flash concern for a small second, and Rainbow could almost sense the chastisement on her lips, but she relented before she had even began. "Well that's good, because I've prepared something for us."

"Hold on, you cooked?" Rainbow asked, eyes wide.

"Yes I cooked!" Twilight snapped, "Why, is that a problem?"

"N-no, it's just I always thought Spike did the cooking."

"Well Spike is staying with Big Mac tonight, so it's just us. Besides, I can cook just fine. It's a simple scientific process, after all."

Rainbow Dash gulped down her next response before it could land her in more trouble. "We're eating here, then?"

"Of course!" Twilight smiled, already in better spirits, "I set us a table and everything, come on."

Rainbow followed Twilight through the castle to the joint kitchen and dining room. On the main table, there was a spread of small red candles creating a soft light, rose petals scattered in patterns over the centre, and a small stick of incense burning off to the side. Rainbow had to admit, it all looked very enticing.

She quickly found her way to her seat, breathing in the scent as Twilight rushed about in the kitchen. After a few moments of just sitting patiently, Rainbow spotted Twilight trying to do fifty things at once, her head swiveling as she checked on everything. "What are we having, anyway?"

"Mushroom risotto!" Twilight called out, apparently now doing battle with the steam of a pot.

Rainbow watched for a few more moments, but when Twilight nearly dropped a pan full of mushrooms, she dived in to save them. Twilight's magic caught the magic just before Rainbow could, and she reeled away from the food stand off against her. "I don't need your help, Rainbow."

"Hey, let me give you a hand. This is a lot of work for you to do on your own."

Twilight shook her head, using a large spoon to swirl the rice in the larger pot before it could stick. "No, it's fine, just let me do it."

"Twi, the onion and garlic look like they're about to burn, the rice is on the wrong heat, and that's way too much vegetable stock."

"...Since when do you know how to cook?" Twilight asked, stopping everything to stare at Rainbow.

Rainbow flew up and grabbed Spike's chef hat from its place on the wall, sticking it over her head. "Since when am I not awesome?"

"Fine, fine," Twilight waved a hoof at the kitchen, "you can help out a little."

"Great!" In a flash, Rainbow was flitting between every pot, pan, and utensil in the kitchen, filling, stirring, emptying, and combining. Looking back, she saw Twilight watching the manic flurry of activity. "You can grate the parmesan, if you want."

"Oh, gee, thanks," Twilight laughed, picking up a block from the side and pressing it against the grater. "Glad to know that I'm of some help."

"Hey, you can test the wine too," Rainbow winked, passing her the bottle of white wine as she stirred just under a fifth of it into the pot.

"Now that sounds like a valuable contribution!" Twilight announced, grabbing a pair of glasses from the cupboard. "You want some now?"

"Yeah, screw it, why not?" Rainbow smiled, allowing Twilight to pour her a glass.

When they each had a filled glass in hoof, Twilight held up hers. "To pissing off Tidal Wave."

"To pissing off Tidal Wave!" Rainbow repeated, taking a hearty gulp of the fairly strong wine.

They both started giggling as the covered risotto pot let out its steam. Looking back to the table, Rainbow had to appreciate the effort Twilight had made to make this appear as real as possible. It was nice, really, almost like a normal date. Part of her wondered why they would need to practice dating when they were only going to a party, but Rainbow supposed it was part of building the experience, and it helped if they had at least one story to tell of a night they spent together.

By the time dinner was ready, the pair of them had almost gone through their first glass of wine. Rainbow noticed that a second bottle was laid out, and couldn't help but wonder just how much Twilight planned on drinking tonight.

She guessed a couple of drinks would make the kissing and stuff feel a little less strange. Rainbow wondered if it would also heighten that buzz in her chest, that one she couldn't decide whether she liked or found unpleasant. She had never felt it with any other mare, and she didn't know if it was a strange attraction, or the feeling that she shouldn't have been doing those things with her friend, but it freaked her out a little.

Twilight, on the other hoof, appeared to be perfectly calm and in control of the situation, even as they began eating and she started to knock back her second drink, taking more time with it than the first. Rainbow was happy with the food, and very aware that it had just as much her influence as Twilight's while eating it. It was something that they had made together, and that made it all the more satisfying.

Dinner was mainly accompanied by silence, save a couple of appreciative noises aimed at the good food and wine. Rainbow was sure that what came next would involve a lot more talking, but for now she was happy to just drink in the moment and enjoy her friend's company. It was the nicest time she had had in a while now.

Rainbow Dash bolted out of the window, not sparing a look behind her. Memories of the night before came flooding back to her, and if one thing was absolutely certain, it was that the wine had definitely helped to loosen them both up. Considering where Rainbow had woken up, maybe a little too much.

Rainbow remembered talking to Twilight, playing and laughing with her, and then eventually they had started with their 'practice'. Kissing and cuddling had turned to something hot, heavy, and passionate, and Rainbow could scarcely remember just how much they had done before going to bed together that night.

It wasn't worth dwelling on. Whatever happened, they were definitely more than prepared for tonight. They'd be meeting each other in Cloudsdale at seven this evening, and at the party, they'd do just what they had spent all this time getting ready for.

But before all of that, Rainbow Dash needed a long, warm shower.

Twilight had chosen to remain 'in character' since meeting her in Cloudsdale, her reasoning being that anyone they passed on the way there could potentially be on their way to the party, and that it was easier to stay in routine than to slip in and out of it whenever they needed to. She hadn't said much on the night before, but from what she had said, she didn't remember going to bed with Rainbow, or at least, she hadn't mentioned it.

This relieved Rainbow somewhat. She felt more close to Twilight since this had all started, and she didn't want to scare her off by telling her that they may have slept together, and that it was all due to her and her stupid problem. There were many ways to lose a friend, Rainbow figured that one had to be pretty damn high on the list.

Still, Rainbow didn't feel as awkward as she thought she would. Before Twilight had arrived at their meeting place, Rainbow had kept fidgeting, considering leaving once or twice. As soon as Twilight had shown up, she felt strong and confident again, her calming presence did a lot for her. It was odd, speaking to her in such an open and unguarded manner, much unlike what she was used to from their interactions, and the little pecks on the cheek never ceased. Rainbow might have even given her one or two, just to see what it felt like.

When they finally arrived at the gates of the cloud manor, Twilight let out a small laugh. "Don't say anything, Rainbow, but my castle has to be twice the size of this place. I wouldn't be surprised if she already knows that."

"Heh, this just gets better and better," Rainbow snickered, holding the gate open for her like a good marefriend would.

"No, no," Twilight gestured at her, "you go in first, then she'll be even more shocked when she sees me."

"Nah, let's go in at the same time," Rainbow smiled, wrapping a wing around her.

"If you say so, Dashie," Twilight winked, and together they ascended the half flight of stairs leading up to the door, Twilight slamming the knocker with her magic as they walked.

After as much as twenty seconds of waiting, Tidal Wave opened the door, her eyes instantly drawn to Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash! I didn't think you were going to turn u—" her eyes flicked over to Twilight, held in Rainbow's feathery embrace, wearing her tiara, "P-princess Sparkle..."

"Please," Twilight smirked, extending a hoof to shake, "Princess Twilight is fine."

"Ah, yes, excuse me, Princess Twilight, I forgot my manners there," jerking around, she called out with an unsettled voice, "Sky, darling! Rainbow Dash and her partner Princess Twilight Sparkle are here!"

Suddenly, Rainbow heard a shift of voices from inside.

"Princess Sparkle?"

"Rainbow Dash bagged a princess?!"

"See, I told you she wasn't full of shit! That'll be twenty bits, please."

Rainbow Dash wore the mother of all shit eating grins, and impressively, Twilight's almost matched hers.

Ignoring the loud comments from inside, Tidal motioned to the inside with a hoof, bidding them entry.

"Shall we, Twi?" Rainbow slapped her flank against Twilight's, eliciting a small gasp.

"I think we shall," Twilight laughed, the pair skipping straight past Tidal in perfect sync, leaving her with her jaw hanging low and her eyes almost bulging.

"That's it," Twilight whispered to Rainbow as they walked into the main room, "just pretend she isn't here and be the life of this place, the rest will take care of itself."

"Rainbow Dash!" the shout of her name came from everywhere at once, ponies coming up to her to hoof bump her, hug her, and exchange hellos. Throughout every interaction, Rainbow remained tethered to Twilight, making sure they were always touching each other in some way.

When Rainbow got a chance to take in the room, she had to admit that it was spectacular. Tidal wasn't lying when she said it could use more furnishing, but the size of the rooms and the architecture itself were both brilliant, and the front room in particular fostered enough space to be used as a makeshift dance floor, something which half of the fifty or so ponies there were already utilising.

Wasting no time, Rainbow pulled Twilight straight out onto the floor, the rhythm upbeat and techno as they began to dance together, starting slow but becoming more adventurous and risque as time went on, eventually writhing their bodies against one another, sometimes jumping and dancing, at other times slowly grinding as they made eyes at each other.

It wasn't long before Tidal and her fiance joined in, and apparently they had their dirty dancing routine down to a tee, because all of the wolf whistles Twilight and Rainbow had been receiving seemed to transfer onto them as they managed to perform something that looked almost choreographed despite being so carnal. Seeing this, and desperate to get the upper hoof back, Rainbow started jumping and dancing around with reckless abandon, incorporating her wings and utilising aerial maneuvers in order to stun and wow her audience, much like she did at her Wonderbolt shows.

It succeeded, but not in the way she had intended. Ponies stopped looking at the couple to stare at her, but only at her, as Twilight wasn't involved. Did that make her look like a show off, or someone who didn't involve their marefriend in things? Rainbow quickly ended her little performance, drawing a few moans of disappointment from the other party-goers.

Thinking fast, she finished her act with a flourish of her wings, before swooping down and kissing Twilight full on the lips from midair, leaning down at her as she held her head up.

This was it, their first test of whether they could pull it off in public, and Celestia was their connection perfect. They made out like they were a real couple, their tongues pushing together without care or concern for who might be watching, even though they knew that was the entire point. As far as anypony was concerned, they were totally loved up and living in the moment, and that's exactly what they wanted ponies to think.

Their kiss went on to the point that it was almost excessive, and in all honesty Rainbow knew she didn't want it to end. There was something thrilling about this whole situation, about putting it to Tidal Wave, about being watched, about winning, and to top it all off, it really was a good kiss, as strange as that was to admit. So when it got to the point that they probably should have stopped due to being in public, Rainbow landed on her hooves and deepened the kiss, drawing a soft moan out of Twilight as her tail flicked around in mania. Even though she couldn't see, Rainbow knew that this image was being burned into the minds of everypony there, especially Tidal.

When it had been over thirty seconds, they stopped, pulling away and lightly panting, though Twilight definitely gave her the eyes afterwards. Rainbow would never be as good as putting it on at her, but after something as hot as that? She was able to return them in earnest. If asked, she'd deny to Twilight how much she had enjoyed that kiss, and just how much of it she thought came from the situation, and how much came from her. Turning around, she flashed a fake glare at the stiff winged stallions in the crowd. "What? You never seen me kiss a princess before?" A moment, then she grinned. "Oh yeah, I guess you haven't," she finished, her eyes settling on a seething Tidal Wave.

The party progressed as any did, drinks were consumed, food was ordered, and in little time, most of the attendants found themselves outside, hanging around the pool. It was a large, deep swimming pool, and the water looked refreshing, but Rainbow and Twilight found themselves sharing a sun lounger, basking in the evening moonlight. Both had drank a little, but were nowhere near drunk, and throughout the party had managed to turn quite a few heads with their various escapades.

What made things even better was Tidal and her fiance's tendency to be a suck up to the pair of them, just because Twilight was in fact an alicorn princess, and that made her powerful. Honestly, Rainbow wanted to go and rub it in her face, but Twilight had told her no, that the direct approach wouldn't work and if she wanted to really get under her coat, everything she did had to be sneaky. It wasn't Rainbow's style, definitely, but she could handle that. She already had a plan of how she could really make this night hers and hers alone, and now it was just waiting for the perfect time to implement it.

Leaving a little smooch on Twilight's cheek, Rainbow rose to go and get a couple more drinks. As she walked, Tidal Wave made a beeline for her from across the garden, and instantly engaged her in conversation. "So, Rainbow, how do you like it here? Does it feel nice, sitting in the lap of luxury?"

Rainbow stopped where she was, giving Tidal an incredulous stare. "Uhh, yeah, it's a nice manor, sure. Isn't really a castle, though, is it?"

"Oh you think you are so slick!" Tidal shouted, slamming her front hooves against the ground with each word, "You think you can just waltz in here with your princess and show me up? Well I've got news for you, bitch, this is my house, and this is my celebration, so stop trying to be bigger than your horseshoes!"

"Wow," Rainbow snickered, "if it's got you this worked up then it must be working. 'Sides, didn't you only invite me here so you could make me look like an idiot? You didn't expect me to turn up with Twilight, or any princess for that matter, you thought I was full of it."

"I still think you're full of it," Tidal spat, "I find it awfully convenient that one of your best friends just happens to be a princess, and that she's the one you turn up with, apparently now your marefriend. I don't even think you're telling the truth, I think you're putting it on."

"Oh, is that what you think, huh?!" Rainbow yelled, unsure whether she was more insulted by the insult to her acting ability, the accusation of being a liar, or here accusing Twilight of anything in general, "well we'll just see about that!"

"...What do you mean, see about it? What are you going to do change my mind? Face it, Rainbow, you might have fooled everypony else here, but you haven't fooled me. And you know what? Me and my husband to be have an announcement to make in a few moments, and after that, this night really will be all about me and him, just as it was supposed to be."

"You're so full of it, you know that?" Rainbow locked eyes with her, a small smile on her lips, "this night was meant to be a reunion, something for all of our old classmates from like ten years ago to catch up with. Yet here you are trying to make it about yourself. You wanna know why you're doing that, Tidal? Because you're completely self-centred, and you can't let ponies go two freakin' seconds without remembering who the most privileged is!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Rainbow, of course I realise this is a night for everyone."

"Do you, though? I mean look, I used to be a bit of a jerk, I'd boast about myself a lot, and heck, I'm even a bit of a jerk now, but at least I'm upfront about it! You pretend to be a nice mare, pretend to care about other ponies, but really they're all there to make you feel better about yourself!"

"You make some very interesting points, Rainbow, but frankly, I don't care." Tidal closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, and when she reopened them she bore the image of perfect calm, accompanied by a small, ugly smile. "Let me tell you something, Rainbow Dash. You were talented in flight school, and we both know that, but you know what I always found really adorable? You thought you mattered. Even now, you've spent your entire life devoting yourself to a sporting company that you'll only fly with for fifteen years, and then you'll go on the scrap heap. Equestria's fastest flier, forgotten about. You might work all of your life for a split second of fame, but do you know what I did? Nothing. That's right, I did absolutely nothing, and I still have all of this. The difference between me and you? I was born to succeed, you were born to break your back trying and trying again. The fact that you think you could ever compare to me is simply laughable."

Rainbow said nothing, she didn't even move.

"I'm going to go and sit with my fiance now. Soon, we'll make our announcement, this party will wrap up, and I'll hopefully never see you again. Are we clear?"

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded her head.

Tidal walked up to her and patted her on the withers. "Good, I'm glad to hear so. Don't worry, Rainbow, you still got to make your little crayon mark on my party here today, but I'm the one that everypony will remember."

As soon as she was gone, Rainbow Dash ran. She ran into the house, she ran along the corridor, she ran all the way to the cloakroom where their effects had been put upon arrival. Digging around in her bag from yesterday, she found the box for the amethyst earrings. Pushing it aside, she found another, larger box. Twilight hadn't seen this box yet, but she was about to. Grabbing a tray of drinks and snacks and hiding the box in the middle, Rainbow made her way back to the sun lounger, sitting next to Twilight, rather than laying and allowing them to entwine their bodies as she had earlier, and presumably last night.

Her heart was like a jackhammer. She knew what she was going to do was meant to be a last resort, but Tidal Wave's words had pushed her over the limit. If only she had realised what she just set in motion. Twilight didn't know, Twilight wouldn't know until it was upon her, and then whatever happened happened.

It wasn't long before the clink of cutlery against glass had everyone in silence. The list of attendees had risen to over seventy, and every single one of them looked towards Tidal and Sky, who were stood at the edge of the pool, right in the centre of everyone's vision. It was no surprise to Rainbow that Tidal began to speak first. "Now, first of all I just want to say a massive 'thank you' to everyone who managed to turn up tonight, it means a lot to my husband and I, and we're immensely glad that you could all make it, and that we've all had an opportunity to catch up with each other!"

She received a few 'woo's' in response, but the noise didn't last for long. "Now, as you probably know, me and Sky have just purchased this house, and are currently in the process of doing it up. It set us back a fair few bits, but it's all going to be worth it in the end. The thing is, the more sharp among you have probably noticed that this house is pretty dang big for two ponies, right?"

It appeared that the crowd was getting the message, as they all seemed to lean inwards in anticipation. Rainbow mentally locked in her choice, she knew what she was going to do.

"Well there's a reason we've chosen to go for a place of this size, and that's because we're looking towards the future. Namely, we're going to be parents soon!"

It was like each deafening cheer in succession made the grin on her face an inch higher, time to take it away. Right as the screams began to die down, Rainbow dug her hoof into the middle of the tray, pulling out the box and opening it, stooping down on her hind legs and straightening the front ones as she presented the box to Twilight, who laid staring at her in a stupor.

Rainbow didn't have a speech prepared, she didn't have anything prepared, but she had to do this. In this moment, she would pour all of her anger at Tidal and love for her friend into one big, false speech, and it would be glorious. "T-twi..." she started, her nerves shockingly real. More and more ponies began to catch on to what was happening, and they soon fell silent. "Twilight," she repeated, looking around, "Wow, I've never been afraid to speak before... Usually, I can't get enough of my own voice."

Rainbow didn't look, but she could imagine that Tidal was about to burst a blood vessel. "Twilight, I've known you for a long time, a real long time... And in that time..." Come on, think, think, "I've come to, uhh, appreciate, so many different things about you..."

Maybe Twilight was playing along, maybe she wasn't, but her smile was absolutely adorable. "Things like your smile, and the way it changes only for me... And your eyes, the way they shine when you're happy, or excited to read something—which I guess are the same thing, really. The way you tell me off when I do something wrong, but then quickly show me how to do it right, patiently, over and over, even if I won't listen."

The party was her stage now, and the words came more and more naturally, to the point that she wasn't even thinking about them. "You've got such a big heart, Twilight, and you've always shared that with me so well, I know I can rely on you when I need you, you've always come through for me, no matter what I've asked you to do, or how hard it's been. I mean, sure, maybe it's been awkward at times," she chuckled, "and weird, and maybe we've had some experiences that we might rather forget about, if you didn't like them, that is, but the point is that we've always done these things together, we've always looked out for one another."

Turning, she looked to everyone else there, holding out a hoof and pointing at Twilight. "Me and Twilight are part of a very special group of friends, but our connection is the strongest thing I've ever felt, and I can say that with my hoof to my heart. I will always love her, not only for all she's done for me, but for the arguments, for the getting to know her, for the amazing times we've shared together, and even the dull moments, it'd always be miles better than being without her."

Looking back to Twilight, she could feel the words pouring out of somewhere other than her head. Her breath was short, she wanted to stop, but she still had more to say. "Twi, every day I've known you has been better than the last... and I... I wanna have more days, just like those. So what I'm trying to ask you is..."

"Oh for heaven's sake! This is low, Rainbow, this is really low." Tidal shouted.

There was an instant response from the crowd. "Shut up! Don't interrupt her!"

Rainbow didn't notice any of it. "Twilight, would you do me the honour of marrying me?"

Twilight was a statue. After about twenty seconds of the entire party collectively holding their breaths, a pair of tears seeped from her eyes, joined by a single word. "Yes. Oh my gosh, yes, Rainbow!"

Leaping forwards, she embraced her, and Rainbow twirled her around in a circle on instinct. She forgot that it was all fake in that moment, she didn't care. For some reason, it just felt right. In the background, the entire party erupted with a cacophony of cheers, louder than anything they had heard before, and Tidal Wave called out once more, trying to steal her thunder back.

"And we're having twins!"

She drew a few heads back with that announcement, but before anypony could respond, Twilight spoke again. "And I'll have us married by Celestia!"

That was it, that was all she had to say. She moved in to kiss her then, and there was something different about it than every other time. Rainbow forgot why they were at the party. Rainbow forgot that Twilight wasn't her marefriend. Rainbow didn't try to understand why there were tears streaming from her. There was magic in that kiss.

"This is bullshit!" Tidal screamed out, angrily gesticulating to the point that she looked like she might fall over. "This was meant to be my moment!"

Right then, Sky Splitter turned to her. "What do you mean, your moment?"

"Uhh, I... I meant ours! Our moment!"

Another shout from a guest. "Oh, please stop it, Tidal. We're all happy for you, but every moment is your freakin' moment, it always has been! Why don't you just let them have this?"

With that, Tidal Wave stormed away, leaving the newly engaged couple to be congratulated by everypony present. Her husband looked after her, and for a moment he appeared as if he might follow, but eventually he came over to cheer for them too.

For the first time, Rainbow Dash couldn't have cared less about her victory.

"So, you could have warned me," Twilight walked ahead of her as they left, the night all but gone. "How did you even afford that ring?"

"Eh, it's a rental," Rainbow shrugged as she flew, chuckling to herself. "Yeah, sorry about that though."

"It's fine," Twilight mumbled, walking on.

Rainbow Dash flew in front of her with a burst of speed, blocking her path. "Twilight."

"What is it, Rainbow?" she grunted, looking away.

Rainbow put a hoof to her face, moving her neck until she reluctantly faced her. "Thank you so much. For everything you've done tonight, and the last few nights... And, well, ever, really. I meant everything I said back there, apart from the marriage thing, maybe. You really are the best mare in my life, and I do love you more than anything."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Not in that way though, right?"

Rainbow's face burned scarlet. "Well, I mean, I don't think so... I think we're great friends, and... Uhh, I dunno, I think my stupid party thing confused us both, and I'm sorry about that."

I'm not confused, I like you. Twilight stopped herself from saying it, her fear was all too real. "Tell me something," Twilight said, focusing solely on Rainbow, "Do you feel any attraction towards me whatsoever?"

Rainbow laughed. "Well of course I do! You're beautiful, Twi, inside and out. But that doesn't mean that I'm gonna jump you, I care too much about our friendship for that."

I wish you'd just fucking jump me already. Again, Twilight held her tongue. "Hey, Rainbow, you said you'd owe me for this, right?"

"Well, I mean, yeah, sure." Rainbow nodded.

Twilight figured this was her last shot to know, she either tried this or she forgot about the whole thing for good, everything from the joy of being with her to the feeling that came from that declaration of love, gone. "What if I said I had a way for you to pay me back?"

A brief pause. "Go on?"

"There's a royal summit in Canterlot in a couple of months, and Celestia's been asking me to find a date for it for ages, putting a lot of pressure on me. Do you think you could maybe do for me what I just did for you?"

"...What, pretend to be your marefriend?"

Twilight simply nodded.

"Well, I have already got some experience..." Rainbow snickered, "Sure, I'd happily do that, Twi. No problem."

Here it was, make or break time. "Do you think we could use some more practice first? Pulling it off in a royal setting might be a little more challenging, after all."

"What, you mean more kissing and dating and stuff?" Rainbow asked, her eyes suddenly very interested in the floor.

"Pretty much," Twilight grinned, "Unless that's a problem?"

"N-nah, I think I could handle that."

Now it was Twilight's turn to lay a hoof on her, slowly brushing her lips against Rainbow's as she stroked her mane. "Good, because we've got two months of this ahead. Think you can handle that?"

Rainbow kissed her back, just as light and experimental as she had, as if they had never done it before. Somehow, just like after the proposal, this one felt different for both of them, electric. "I think I could." Rainbow straightened in place, "Rainbow Danger Dash can handle just about anything you throw at her."

"Rainbow Danger Dash bolted from my room this morning after sleeping with me," Twilight winked, very happy with the result of her question.

"Y-yeah, about that... Do you remember if we, you know?"

"No, I don't think we did," Taking wing, Twilight softly brushed her lips against Rainbow's ear, causing her entire body to twitch, "yet."

"O-okay, you know what?" Rainbow shouted as she moved to catch up with her, already flying away, "This whole royal business doesn't make us even! I say after something this big with this much practice, you're gonna owe me another fake date!"

"Oh, really?" Twilight teased, "What are you gonna do, take me to meet your parents?"

"I just might!"

"Fine, then I'll do the same," Twilight laughed, speeding ahead.

The pair raced through the clouds, neither of them really trying to take an advantage over the other, both of them happy to enjoy the calm serenity of the night sky, mixed with the crisp air and the energy of their flight, as well as their chemistry.

Somewhere back on Typhoon road, Tidal Wave was likely still sat in her manor licking her wounds, but hopefully she had learnt at least something about humility and kindness. Maybe it was unfair of them to steal her moment, but she had held the spotlight her entire life, one moment out of it shouldn't have hurt her too badly.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight? Maybe they'd learnt, well, something, and neither of them were completely sure what, but there was no doubt that they were both very glad that they had learnt it. Besides, they had the next two months to continue learning now, and perhaps by the end of that time, they will have managed to sift through their confusion and work out exactly where they stand.

Now, however, was a time of laughter and affection. They had both found these qualities in one another, they had learnt to share them, and above all, they had truly earnt them.