A Small Secret

by OneBrainCellLeft

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Soarin, Romance, Rainbow Dash (EqG), Comedy, Equestria Girls, Main 7 (EqG)
Length: 12507

Rainbow Dash is at work when her friends stop by to see how she is. When a small secret of hers sorta slips out...

While Rainbows at work, her friends come by to see how she's doing. She had been acting strangely all week and now her friends know why.

UPDATE 3/20/20: I got very disinterested in this story after a while and no longer plan to complete it. Almost a year ago I decided to rewrite it from the ground up hoping that I would regain my interest and create a better outcome. Unfortunately, that didn't work and I'm sorry if anyone (though I doubt it) wondered what might've happened next.

(Bad) Cover Art By: Me

Published 2018-08-12 06:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2018-11-27 01:47:35 UTC

Chapter 1 - Starting Work (EDITED)

"Rainbow Dash! Dear, you have to get up! You'll be late for work!" her mother yelled up the stairs to her room. It was 8:00 AM and Rainbow was tired from staying up late the night before. It wasn't until Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and looked at the clock and saw what time it was before she got up.

"Oh my gosh! It's 8 o'clock already?" Rainbow Dash scrambled to get out of bed to get ready for work. She was supposed to leave for work at 8:30 AM and didn't want to be late again. Last time she was late for work she was almost fired from her job.

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe she had let herself sleep in again! She hurried to change into her uniform and fix her hair before going downstairs for breakfast. "Rainbow Dash dear, I left some pancakes for you on the table when you're done getting ready." her mother told her as she walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Thanks mom." she said to her mom relieved there was one less thing she had to do before leaving. "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here to wake me up...and make me food." Rainbow Dash ate as quickly as she could, so she wouldn't be late for work.

"Well, I figured you'd probably sleep in again." Her mother replied. All she needed to do now was hop in the car and go.

"Bye mom, see you later! Tell dad I said, 'bye' too!" She yelled hurriedly as she was about to walk out the door. "I will! Drive safe! Love you!" her mother responded. "Thanks, love you too!" She yelled back as she ran out the door. She then swung open the car door and jumped inside.

She had been hoping she wasn't going to be late. She wasn't sure if there was going to be traffic, but she had to leave regardless. Rainbow had never been an early starter when it came to waking up in the morning, but recently it had been getting worse.

Rainbow Dash normally would have woken up at at least 7:30 AM just to give her enough time to do everything she needed to do in the morning. Lately at night she couldn't help, but stay awake thinking. And she wasn't responding to her alarm clock going off. Then her thoughts trailed to her friends and what they were doing. Her mind wandered and she began to think about Soarin. She had recently started to notice him a little more, maybe even liked him. But, she would never admit that anyone. I wonder what he's thinking about...probably something cute. Wait...cute? Since when do I say the word "cute"? Okay, even I'm starting to weird myself out. Get a grip!

Before Rainbow Dash knew it she was almost there. Work started at about 9:00 o'clock in the morning and she was about 5 minutes away. She would definitely make it in time. Just as Rainbow Dash had been pulling into the parking lot at the mall, surely enough the clock had turned to 9:00. "Phew! Made it just in time." she sighed with relief as she got out her key to the gate, lifted it open and walked inside.

Rainbow Dash was relieved she wasn't late. Rainbow Dash needed to buy a new car, and couldn't without this job. Her car right now was a pretty old one. It had a dent or two from her bumping into their mail box a few times. When she got her new car she decided to try and be a bit more careful with it. The whole reason she needed a new one was because of how careless she was with the last. Well, that's not entirely true. She wasn't completely careless with it...probably.

She was also saving up for college in a few years. She knew her parents could help with some of the expenses for a while but she felt a bit guilty what with everything they did for her. So she wanted to pay for it herself, and give her parents a break. Of course she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to if she kept waking up so late. It was very strange she usually got up on time, despite her not really being a morning person.

After she walked in to work she took off her bag and began stacking some of the shelves before they opened in a half hour. Rainbow Dash was the only one there. She had the opening shift today, and at the moment she was pretty exhausted from last night. She and her friends had a sleepover at Pinkie Pie's house and although she didn't stay up too late she was still tired from their partying. It wasn't until about 10:00 PM when she realized that she had to go home because her uniform was there and she had the opening shift in the morning.

She would have come back to the party, but she had decided that she should get some sleep because she had work in the morning. She didn't see what the point was of her going to Pinkie's and then going back home to get her uniform. Only to then take even more time to go back to Pinkie's, and stay up later then she wanted driving back. She would then have to disappoint her friends that she was going to bed the second she got back. Even if she did go back to Pinkie's and try to sleep, her friends would probably want to stay up and enjoy themselves further. Which would make it more difficult for her to get to sleep.

After Rainbow Dash finished stacking the shelves, she decided to read the small local newspaper that was sitting near the cash register. She was just flipping through the pages until one caught her eye. It was actually a small article that was done on her school soccer team. She was surprised that they wanted to do an article on them but, none the less obliged to their request.

She sat there for a few seconds looking at the picture of her and the team. More specifically on the part where her and the co-captain of the team, Soarin, were standing together. Soarin had his arm around her for the picture, she actually remembered the day pretty well.

As she remembered the moment they actually took the picture, she started to get a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach again. She couldn't stop smiling and began to feel her cheeks burning. Stupid heart! Stop, looking like an idiot!

It wasn't until she looked up that she realized it was about 9:30 and that she would have to open in a few minutes. She wasn't sure when the other two employees would arrive that day. The store she worked at was fairly small and didn't need to have more than three employees working for the day. All Rainbow Dash knew was that they would be coming from around 9:30 to 9:45.

It didn't really matter though, she just wanted today to be over. Because, tonight she was going to have another sleepover at Pinkie's. They were planning on hanging out all weekend including at night, and Pinkie really wanted to host a sleepover. Rainbow had forgotten to clear her schedule that weekend, so she found out the day of the sleepover she would have work today. After that she would be free the rest of the weekend.

Author's Note

I just want to say I've been trying to write stories for a long time and this will be my very first published one so if you could please tell me your opinion that would be greatly appreciated. Please don't be afraid to point out any mistakes I made or anything in the future I could improve upon! Thank you.

-SprayPaintPony

Chapter 2 - Look Who Finally Arrived (EDITED)

Just as Rainbow Dash had closed the paper one of her fellow employees showed up. "Hey Dash!" Thunderlane said as he walked through the door. Thunderlane was on the soccer team at CHS. She knew him pretty well, considering, she was the captain of the soccer team, and every other sports team there.

"Hey Thunderlane, how's it going?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Pretty good. How about you?" he replied.

"Eh, same as usual." she said as bored as she could.

"Where's the manager? Isn't he supposed to be out here making sure we're actually doing something?" he asked with a grin pointing towards the newspaper Rainbow had just put back.

"Hey, I was bored! And don't lie, you totally mess around whenever you have the opening shift." Rainbow said with a slight laugh near the end.

"You still didn't answer my question." he said.

"I don't know, it's not like he actually does anything either." Rainbow Dash said.

"The only reason he has a job here is because his dad, couldn't find him a job anywhere else." Thunderlane said.

"Not surprised. But the owner is really strict on the rules here, and he doesn't follow any of them." Rainbow said.

"I know I tease you about being a bit lazy sometimes, but he's so much worse." said Thunderlane. "He's broken every rule in the book. He always makes it worse though by trying to get us in trouble for petty stuff." said Thunderlane angrily.

"I know, I couldn't tell you how many times I've almost gotten fired because of him!" she said clearly upset.

"I don't think he's the reason you were almost fired." Thunderlane said.

"Shut up." Rainbow said as she punched him slightly in the arm. At this moment the another one of the store's employees walked in.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm a little late. 'Didn't realize what time it was." said Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot was another student at CHS. She was on the soccer team with Rainbow Dash.

"Don't worry about it." said Rainbow Dash.

"What're you guys talking about?" Fleetfoot asked.

"The manager." Thunderlane said. After a bit of talking Fleetfoot looked at the clock.

"Hey it's about 10:15. We should start doing something, before he shows up."

"You're right. " Rainbow Dash said in reply.

"It doesn't really matter what we do, he's still gonna pretend we did nothing." said Thunderlane.

"I know, but we're gonna be in bigger trouble if he catches us just talking. Regardless of the fact that nobody's here and we did everything else already." Fleetfoot replied.

"What are we supposed to be doing if we did everything?" Thunderlane asked.

"You don't really have to do anything. You just gotta look like you're doing something and hopefully he won't say anything. I do it all the time, gets you out of a lot of bad situations with teachers." Rainbow Dash said.

They all began to pick up stuff like pens and paper, they tried opening the cash register a few times, and just doing things like that to look like they were busy. That's when the manager arrived...late. He walked in the store and Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, and Fleetfoot all looked over at him. His hair was a mess, his shirt was unbuttoned, and the pants he was wearing looked old and baggy. He looked tired and drowsy; like he had just woken up and got out of bed in the morning. He didn't even say hello.

They all just simply looked at him in disbelief that he actually showed up for work like that. He wasn't even wearing his uniform. He immediately made his way to one of the registers in the store. Like most stores, at each of the cash registers they had a small section where people could pick out small snacks and candy. Although most of it was protein bars and fitness gimmicks, he took one off the shelf and began eating it in the middle of the store. None of them could believe what they were seeing.

"Did he actually just do that..?" Fleetfoot asked.

"Uh huh..." Thunderlane replied.

"And of course a minute before we open too." Rainbow added.

"Should we say something?" Thunderlane asked.

"I don't know, he could fire us." Fleetfoot said.

"Yeah but, he can't just do that." Rainbow Dash said. She began to walk towards him, bit terrified that she would lose her job over a granola bar. "Uh, excuse me?" She said timidly.

"Is there something wrong?" The manager said. As he spoke bits of food flew from his mouth and onto the floor. It was a little disgusting.

"Well, uh...we're kinda about to open and-uh well, you um.." Rainbow began stammering. She had lost all control over her body at this point. "What, I mean is, that you can't just take food from the shelves. It still costs money...and-" Rainbow was cut off.

"My dad owns this place and everything in it, including the food." He replied snarkily.

"Oh-um..well uh, the thing is, we have customers coming in soon and we kinda need food to still be there so people who are willing to pay for it can buy it." Rainbow said with a bit of annoyance. At first she was nervous, but by the end she was straight up pissed.

"Why don't you shut up, and go do your job." he replied. There he was stealing food and making a mess that, they would inevitably have to pick up, and he was telling her to get back to work. As much as she wanted to say something more, she thought it best to leave the conversation while she still could. She walked back over to where Thunderlane and Fleetfoot were sitting and sat down with them.

"We saw the whole thing...'sorry he said all that." Fleetfoot said after Rainbow sat down.

"Yeah, that wasn't cool. 'Guy's a jerk." Thunderlane said.

"It's whatever. I'm surprised I had enough willpower to walk away." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, if it was me I probably would've still been over there yelling by now." Fleetfoot joked. That earned a few chuckles from the other two. A moment of silence passes after the laughter fades.

"So, what should we do now..?" Thunderlane breaks the silence.

"I mean, I have an idea but I don't think we should-" Fleetfoot gets cut off.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked. This time there was a bit of excitement in her voice. Whenever Fleetfoot had an idea it was always a fun a day.

"How would you like to get a little revenge on the manager?" Fleetfoot asked with a mischievous grin.

"What'd you have in mind?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I was thinking...what if we maybe, sorta, kinda accidentally lock him in before we leave..?" Fleetfoot said with air quotes surrounding the word accidentally.

"That is maybe, one of you best ideas yet." Rainbow said.

"Yeah, and it's not like he can prove we did it on purpose. He's supposed to have a key with him at all times, but he never does so...we can just say we thought he had it with him. It'll be hilarious!" Fleetfoot replied.

"Sounds good to me." Thunderlane said.

"Yeah, I'm in." Rainbow said. So that was their plan. Lock him in at closing time. But there was still one question that remained in the air.

"Wait, he always leaves early because he's lazy. How'll we make sure he stays on time for us to leave?" Thunderlane asked.

"How about we change the clocks?" Rainbow suggested. There were two clocks in the store that were checked regularly by the manager because he recently broke his cell phone and was getting it repaired at the time. So of course he couldn't just look down at his screen whenever he wanted to know what time it was.

"That's a great idea!" Fleetfoot said. So the plan was set. By the near end of the day, they would change the clocks in the store to about an hour and a half earlier than usual. This would mean that when closing time came around they would be able to grab all their stuff and leave on time with the manager probably still napping. They knew he'd wake up around 15 minutes after they left and realize that he was locked in. That is, if they played their cards right. They didn't want to get caught messing around with the clocks; that would be bad.

After they all agreed on a plan they began to try to find something to do that was work related. Today was an unusually slow day. Normally a saturday would've been busy, but today it seemed like there was no one around. Rainbow decided to walk around the store and make sure that everything there was in the right place and that all the sales signs were in order. Slowly people began to come in.

Chapter 3 - Surprise Visit (EDITED)

It was at this point in time when people had begun to arrive. Rainbow Dash had moved to a register and was helping customers check out. She was a little exhausted from the previous night, not to mention bored. After a few hours of scanning items Thunderlane had walked up to her.

"Hey, time to switch places. My turn on register."

"Good, I don't think I could've lasted much longer before falling asleep." she responded.

"Alright, see you next shift." Thunderlane replied. Rainbow decided to walk around and see if anyone needed help. I mean, it was her job to help customers when they needed it. But, it looked like everyone was fine. Every once in a while she'd walk up to a customer to see if they needed to be assisted. Most of them would politely decline, but of course you always have a couple crazy people when you work in retail. At this moment Rainbow Dash heard the little bell go off that signified someone had walked in the store. She made her way to the entrance fairly quickly to see if they needed help in finding anything. A group of six girls was what she saw when she got there; she recognized them immediately.

"Hey, guys." Rainbow Dash said happily. She was glad that there was someone to talk to. She was starting to lose her composer over her boredom.

"Hey Rainbow." said Twilight.

"RAINBOW DASH!" yelled Pinkie Pie as she jumped almost on top of her. She winced as Pinkie always had a way of making hugs painful. Even if she didn't mean to it didn't make it hurt any less.

"Hey Pinkie..." Rainbow said.

"Sorry, too tight again?" Pinkie asked as she let go.

"Uh, a little." Rainbow replied.

"Anyway, how're you doing?" Sunset asked.

"Uh, you know. Same as usual I guess." Rainbow replied.

"Anything interesting happen?" Rarity asked.

"Well, uh...the manager took food from the store and ate it." Rainbow recounted her day.

"What?" Applejack asked confused.

"I mean, he literally took food off the shelves, opened it, and began eating it in the middle of the store." Rainbow said again.

"Who does that?" Twilight said.

"Someone with no boundaries." Pinkie said.

"Did you say anything to him?" Fluttershy asked.

"I mean, yeah but there wasn't a whole lot I could do." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, I guess not." Sunset said.

"What'd you say to him?" Applejack asked.

"I told him that we were opening soon and people who are actually willing to pay for the food will be arriving. So, he shouldn't eat it."

"What'd he say?" Rarity asked.

"He told me that his dad is the owner of the store and the owner of all the food inside the store. So he can eat whatever he wants. And then told me to get back to work." Rainbow said.

"That sucks." Twilight said.

"Yeah I mean, the annoying part is, is that he's kinda right. Sure his dad owns the place, but if he was caught doing that in front of the owner it would not look good for him. Maybe he owns it, but I know his dad would want real customers paying for stuff than his kid coming in and eating it all for free. He's an adult for crying out loud! He should have no problem paying for a dollars worth of food!"

"Well, darling couldn't you just talk to your boss. I'm sure if you say something he'll put a stop to it." Rarity said.

"That's the thing. He never believes any of it unless he sees it. He won't even look at the security footage!" Rainbow said.

"That's just stupid. If he knows what his son is like, why does he continuously deny it whenever someone says there's an issue with him?" Twilight said.

"I think it's because he doesn't want to believe how much his son sucks, so he pretends that he's great. Until, that is, he sees him do something stupid." Rainbow replied quite frankly.

"Yeah..." Twilight said.

"Anyway, how are you guys?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, we've all been hanging out all day. So I'd say pretty good." Sunset said.

"How was the rest of the sleepover last night?" Rainbow asked.

"IT WAS GREAT! WE PLAYED GAMES, AND WATCHED MOVIES, AND ATE POPCORN AND-" Pinkie said enthusiastically.

"Sounds like you guys had fun." Rainbow said cutting off Pinkie.

"YEAH IT WAS AWESOME!" Pinkie said.

"It was too bad you had to leave early though." Fluttershy said.

"Sorry about that. I completely forgot to clear my schedule this weekend." she said with a yawn.

"No worries, it happens to the best of us darling." Rarity said.

"You look pretty tired, how are still awake?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, not even I can answer that question." Rainbow said.

"What time did you go to bed at?" asked Sunset Shimmer.

"About 10:30-ish." she replied.

"I mean it's not, that late, but you still probably should have gone to bed earlier." said Sunset.

"I know, I just get lost in thought at night. 'Can't help it." Rainbow replied.

"Thinkin' about what?" Applejack asked.

"I dunno. It's usually sort of, just random." she wasn't completely lying, it was true. She thought about a lot of different things. But most of the time, she was thinking about Soarin. She couldn't seem to get him out of her head no matter how hard she tried. Still she wasn't going to admit it to herself, or anyone for that matter, that she was crushing on him.

"You could try to get to sleep earlier then you normally do, and by the time you get all your thoughts out you'll probably find it easier to fall asleep." said Fluttershy.

"Thanks Fluttershy, I'll keep that in mind." Rainbow Dash replied. Then her manager walked out of the back room toward the water fountain.

"Here look, that's the manager." Rainbow said pointing in his direction.

"He looks absolutely dreadful! Did he actually show up for work like that?" Rarity asked surprised.

"Yep." Rainbow Dash replied.

"He's a complete mess." Sunset Shimmer commented.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Rainbow Dash replied. A minute or two later Rainbow noticed the little bell go off again. Meaning someone had entered the store. She was close enough to the entrance to see it was Soarin. She tried to ignore him, but found she was struggling to look away. She silently hoped that no one in their circle had noticed and tried to pay attention to her friends conversation. She was focusing so much on looking like she wasn't staring at him; she forgot her friends were there for a second. That is, until she realized they were the ones staring at her.

"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack said a bit loudly.

"What?" Rainbow responded confused.

"You, okay?" Applejack asked her.

"Of course, why?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Uh, you kinda spaced out a second there." Applejack replied.

"Oh, uh did I? Sorry...this is what I'm talking about. I get lost in thought easily." Rainbow said trying to brush it off. Her friends noticed there was something else she wasn't telling them, but choose to ignore it in the hopes that she would tell them herself.

"Anyway, what'd think we should do tonight?" Sunset Shimmer said.

"Uh, I don't know. We could play some board games." Rainbow suggested.

"That sounds like fun." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, alright." Twilight said.

"So it's settled." Rarity said.

"I'm sure we'll come up with more to do later tonight." Applejack said.

"Yeah." They all agreed. Rainbow began to notice Soarin was getting closer to them and was beginning to feel the nerves as he inched closer. She thought she was going to explode.

"Rainbow are feeling okay? You don't look so good." Fluttershy said.

"I'm great." she said. She was still trying to pretend like she wasn't bothered by him being so close.

"You sure sugarcube? You're startin' to look like ghost you're gettin' so pale." Applejack said plainly.

"Of course. You don't have anything to worry about." Rainbow Dash reassured them. From behind her, her manager walked up and tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, I need you to go help that customer over there." he said dully. Her heart sank as she looked over at Soarin who just gave her the sweetest smile she had ever seen. It was adorable, but would she ever admit that? Of course not.

"Uh, sure thing." she responded. "I'll be right back guys." As she walked closer to him she felt her knees begin to shake. Just play it cool Dash. She told herself.

Chapter 4 - The Secret Slips (EDITED)

Her heart was pounding. She could feel it beating, as if it was trapped in a cage and banging against the bars. "Hey, Soarin!" She said trying to keep her voice steady.

"Oh, hey Rainbow! I was just wondering if you guys had this in a size 9?" Soarin asked pointing toward the box in his hand.

"O-oh uh, I'll go look in the back. C-can I see the box to make sure I get the right thing?" Rainbow said. She felt her cheeks getting red by the second.

"Of course!" Soarin said as he handed her the box.

"I'll be right back!" She said as she walked toward the back room. She was searching for the right shoe for a solid 5 minutes before finally finding it. Luckily they did have the right size. She walked back over to where Soarin was waiting and handed him the shoe.

"Turns out we did have it." Rainbow said.

"Sweet, thanks." He said as she handed him the box.

"'Course. I-is there a-anything else I can help with?" Rainbow asked nervously.

"I think I'm all good, thanks." Soarin said.

"Alright cool, I'll see you at school I guess." Rainbow said. She was relieved she managed to not stutter.

"Yeah, see you." Soarin said as he walked toward the register. But at the same time, they both noticed that there was no one there.

"That's odd. I'm pretty sure Fleetfoot's got register right now. I-i can just do it for you right now instead, so you won't have to wait for her to get back if you want." Rainbow said still blushing.

"Thanks that would be great!" Soarin said with a smile. Rainbow walked over to the register and scanned the shoes Soarin had picked out. "Hey, I really appreciate you doing this." Soarin said after she finished bagging the box.

"It's no trouble, really!"

"Anyway, I'll see you later I guess?" Soarin said.

"Y-yeah, see you later." Rainbow replied. Soarin walked out and it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. She walked back over to her friends who were watching her the whole time. They all had grins plastered onto their faces.

"Uh, what's with that look?" Rainbow asked confused.

"Oh, nothing." Sunset said looking like she was about to start laughing.

"Seriously, what is it?" Rainbow asked again.

"Uh, what did the uh *cough* customer want?" Rarity asked extremely suspiciously. She avoided eye contact and seemed to be tapping her foot against the tile floor to distract herself from whatever it was she was hiding.

"Oh, uh he wanted to know if we had a pair of shoes in his size." Rainbow said.

"Oh, that's uh...that's nice." Rarity said.

"Okay..." Rainbow said.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT! YOU TOTALLY LIKE HIM!" Pinkie practically screams suddenly.

"What?" Rainbow said. Her face was now a crimson color. The rest of her friends just burst out laughing at this point.

"Pinkie, you couldn't hold it in, for 30 seconds!" Twilight said while laughing.

"Uh, hold up. What on Earth made you come to believe I like Soarin?" Rainbow said.

"You were completely flustered the whole time! How could anyone not notice?" Sunset said.

"Yeah, you weren't exactly discreet about it." Applejack said in between laughs. Rainbow wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond. Should she admit it? Should she deny it? She could hardly think straight with all the panic that had set in.

"I-i don't know what your talking about!" Rainbow said. Well, she made her decision. Pretend she didn't think he was adorable, and hope they'd believe her. But, by the looks of it, she figured the chances of that happening were pretty slim.

"Come on, Dash! There's no denying it!" Sunset said.

"Yeah, it's a little obvious." Fluttershy agreed. If Fluttershy had enough confidence to disagree with her, than there was pretty much no way of changing their minds. Would that stop her? No.

"I don't like Soarin that way!" Rainbow said as her hands began to shake. She was extremely uncomfortable with this conversation.

"Darling, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. So what, you like him." Rarity said as the laughter was dying down.

"Yeah, Rarity's right there's no reason to feel awkward about it." Sunset Shimmer said.

"I'm telling you, me and Soarin are just friends!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Really?" Twilight said as if it was a complete blatant lie, which it was. But she didn't have to know that.

"Yes really." Rainbow Dash repeated. "There's nothing there. Just friends." After those words exited her mouth she felt a little...sad. Soarin will never like me. There's no chance, that he'd ever like me. So of course, we're always going to be 'just friends'.

"Well sure, maybe you're 'just friends' now. But we can fix that." Rarity said. The rest of the group started laughing a bit.

"Rarity, even if I did like him, there's no way he'd want to date me." Rainbow replied.

"Why'd you think that?" Sunset said slightly more serious.

"Because he sees us as friends. Nothing more. It's not exactly easy to change that perspective." Rainbow said.

"So you've thought about trying to change his mind before?" Sunset said.

"What?! No!" Rainbow said. Her face was still red at this point. They just laughed even harder at their embarrassed friend. "Would you just drop it. How do even know whether I like him or not?"

"Seriously? Just watch how you guys interact once and it's hard not to notice." Twilight said.

"Okay, but what exactly did you see?" Rainbow said again.

"For one thing, you stuttered just about every sentence. You never stutter. Second thing, you were shaking a little, another thing you don't do. Third of all-" Applejack was cut off.

"Okay, that's enough!" Rainbow said abruptly. She was very clearly uncomfortable which made it all so much better for her friends.

"Alright, alright. We'll stop." Twilight said in between laughs.

"You say that, yet I have a feeling this topic's going to come up again." Rainbow said.

"What, course not." Pinkie said sarcastically.

"Okay, we're done here." Rainbow said.

"Fine." Rarity said. "For now at least."

"I'm not even going to try and argue with you at this point." Rainbow said defeatedly. Her watch than went off. "I actually have to get back to work now. I'll see you guys tonight."

"DON'T BE LATE!" Pinkie yelled as the 6 of them left the store. Once they left Rainbow walked over to the register to take her place.

"You think she'll ever admit it?" Sunset asked.

"I don't think so. Well, yet anyway. She has a hard time dealing with feelings." Rarity said.

"What'd you mean by hard time?" Twilight asked.

"Well, she's always leaned toward hiding her feelings rather than really expressing them. Most of the time it would be when she's upset, but it's equally as difficult for her to express herself when she has a crush. I've seen it and tried to get her to admit, but she almost never does. It's a little sad really."

"Huh, wonder why she does that..?" Twilight asked.

"Not sure. Probably stems from something that happened during childhood. You know, psychology and all..." Rarity trailed off.

"I guess so." Twilight replied.

"Yeah, but Rarity's right. It won't be easy to get her to confess. That's why I think we should come up with a plan." Applejack said.

"That's a good idea!" Pinkie said excitedly. "We can go undercover! Like secret agents..."

"Um Pinkie, I don't think that's really what Applejack had in mind." Fluttershy said.

"Uh, yeah...I was thinking more like something we can do at the party tonight." Applejack said.

"What did you have in mind?" Twilight asked.

"'Not completely sure yet, but how about we make sure to play a game that requires you to tell the truth." Applejack said.

"A game like..?" Sunset said.

"Truth or Dare?" Twilight asked.

"Exactly. If it's her turn then why don't we all agree we ask her the same question. If she lies, it won't be hard to spot." Applejack said.

"What if she only picks dare though?" Sunset asked. "Knowing her she's probably gonna want to choose dare and that's it.

"We could just say, uh everyone's picked dare up until this point. Do a truth." Twilight suggested.

"That's good, but she still might not change her mind." Rarity said.

"What if we pull that really cheap move of daring her to pick truth?!" Pinkie suddenly says.

"That might work." Sunset said.

"So it's settled." Rarity said. The girls were now making their way to each of their vehicles and were about to drive off. Everything would hopefully turn out well.

Chapter 5 - Finishing Up For The Night (EDITED)

After her friends left Rainbow had a lot of time to think about what they said. She was just sitting at a register waiting for someone to arrive. So of course, she got lost in thought again.

How did they figure it out so easily? 'Didn't think I was that transparent. Wait...if they were able to notice it so quickly who's to bet Soarin didn't notice?! What am I supposed to do if he knows? Ugh, stupid heart, stupid feelings, stupid crush...

Rainbow Dash contemplated this thought for a few more moments before she was interrupted by her manager.

"Hey you! Get over here!" he shouted at her. This broke Rainbow's chain of thought and brought her back into reality.

"Uh, yes?" Rainbow Dash asked as she began walking toward him.

"I need you to start sweeping the floors I'm leaving in a half hour and need this place to be spotless." He said. Rainbow sighed before saying, "Yes sir." and left her register to grab the broom from the back room. That's when she remembered. The plan.

While she was in the back room searching for the broom, she noticed Fleetfoot and Thunderlane standing a distance away talking. They noticed she entered the room and Rainbow motioned for them to come over.

"What is it?" Thunderlane asked once they made their way over.

"You do remember the plan don't you? We have to change all the clocks now, the manager just told me that he's leaving in 30 minutes." Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh right! Thanks for the reminder. I'll go get the one in here, you two can decide who switches the other one." Fleetfoot said.

"Well, he just told me to start sweeping if he catches me doing anything other than that, I'm toast." Rainbow said.

"Okay, I'll get the one out there. Can you try to keep him distracted for me?" Thunderlane asked.

"Sure thing." Rainbow said.

"Alright cool, thanks." Thunderlane said.

"No problem." Rainbow said with a smile. They both walked into the main room of the store and Rainbow began to sweep near the clock. She kept watch as Thunderlane reset the clock to an hour and a half earlier than usual. Rainbow even set the clock on her phone to the changed time. Finally they were in the clear. Rainbow walked over to the manager and said, "Hey I finished the floors. Do you need me to do anything else before you leave?"

"Oh, uh...why don't you start counting the cash in the registers." The manager responded.

"Oh, uh sir just so I know, what time are you leaving?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm leaving at 6:30." He responded.

"Wait, it's only 4:30, why are we cleaning up now?" Rainbow said.

"It..It is? I thought it was 6:00?" The manager said confusedly. Rainbow opened up her phone and showed him the time. "I guess I just read the clock wrong..."

"Yeah I guess so." Rainbow said walking away. Once she turned away from him she had a smug grin on her face. She walked toward Thunderlane and Fleetfoot. "Alright, now he thinks that it's 4:30."

"Good. We can leave in an hour and lock him in like nothing ever happened." Fleetfoot said. They all had ill-natured grins written on their faces.

After an hour or so of helping the last 2-3 customers in the store. Rainbow, Thunderlane, and Fleetfoot all gathered their things and opened the door. Rainbow handed Fleetfoot the key she was given due to her having the opening shift this morning. There were three known keys to the store. The owners, the managers, and the one given to whichever employee was supposed to open in the morning. It was always given to the person the day before so they could get in in the morning without worry. Fleetfoot quickly looked through the glass and saw that their manager was still fast asleep. They locked each door and headed to their cars.

"Bye 'Crash, Flatfoot." Thunderlane said as he entered his car.

"Shut up dork." Rainbow said she got into her own vehicle.

"Bye guys." Fleetfoot said to both them.

"Bye." Rainbow said. Finally she was on the road. She looked at the clock. 7:20 nice, I actually have some time to spare. Before she knew it she was home. Rainbow parked her car and headed to her room to pack. She began to messily throw items into her backpack until it was full. She looked at the time again, it was 7:40 Okay, so I got maybe a half hour or so before I should leave. She decided to pick up a "Daring Do" book and read until it was time to leave.

Rainbow was already pretty far in her book. So much so, she read the last of it that night. It wasn't until she finished it that she checked the time. "It's 8:45!" She said out loud to herself. Rainbow was supposed to leave 35 minutes ago. The party of course didn't start until 9:00, but Rainbow lives about 45 minutes away from Pinkie. Guess she was just gonna be late. I'll text Pinkie on my way there that I'm gonna be a little late. She grabbed her backpack, phone, and car keys and sped out the door.

Rainbow decided to wait until she was at a stop light to text her friends. She was still freaking out a little bit that she didn't notice almost 40 minutes go by! Why doesn't this ever happen when I'm in school? She finally reached a stop light.

"RD: Hey guys, I'm gonna be running a little late."

"PP: What time are you gonna get here?"

"RD: Probably around 9:30-ish."

"PP: Okay, try to hurry! Don't want you to miss out on all the fun!"

"RD: See you guys there."
Rainbow just continued driving until she arrived at Pinkie's driveway. She decided to park a little bit up the road due to lack of space. She also didn't want to park in front of a random stranger's house. Pinkie came out and ran up to her the moment she got out of her car.

"RAINBOW!" She exclaimed.

"Hey Pinkie, sorry I'm late." Rainbow said.

"Don't feel bad, you didn't miss much." Pinkie responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked.

"That everyone in there is arguing over what game we should play first." Pinkie said dully. Pinkie was NOT a dull person. Most of the time she had more energy than she knew what to do with. But, that was surprising.

"Oh. Well, I guess we better get in there and try to fix it." Rainbow said.

"I guess so." Pinkie said. The two of them walked back to Pinkie's house and straight to her room.

"Howdy you two." Applejack greeted them.

"Oh, Rainbow darling, now that you're here you can help me by telling them we should do makeovers first!"

"Hi Rarity, it's great to see you too." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. Both Pinkie and Rainbow sat down. Sunset decided to strike up a conversation with Rainbow, as she just got there.

"Rainbow, what took you so long to get here?" Sunset asked while everyone else, other than Fluttershy, talked amongst themselves about what to do first.

"At first I had a little bit of extra time to pass so I started reading Daring Do, but I uh kinda lost track of time in the process." Rainbow responded.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sunset responded jokingly.

"Yeah again, sorry about that. I can never seem to make it anywhere on time." Rainbow said with a chuckle.

Chapter 6 - Let The Games Begin (EDITED)

About 10 or 15 minutes has passed since Rainbow got there. Yet, nobody could agree on anything still.

"I'm tellin' you, we should tell stories to start off the night." Applejack said.

"And I'm telling you, that we should do makeovers." Rarity said. "Hey we could even start on you!"

"Why in tarnation would I want to do that?" Applejack asked.

"Because it's fun darling. I could make your hair look marvelous!

"Why don't we make cupcakes?!" Pinkie said enthusiastically. She tried to break up the fight by suggesting something entirely different. Unfortunately for her, it didn't exactly work.

"No." They both said at the same time.

"Alright already! Would you all just quit it and make up your mind already? Seriously, we've just been sitting here for 15 minutes doing nothing but argue! At this rate we won't be able to do anything at all because everyone just 'has' to do what they want first." Sunset said.
It was at this point that everyone stopped and looked around. They figured that they should make up their minds quickly before Sunset had to leave the room to avoid getting too angry.

Right then and there, Twilight had a 'lightbulb moment'. "Hey, what if we just put names into a hat?"

"Wish we thought of that before all of this." Fluttershy said with a smile. Rainbow didn't notice.

"Right, that sounds like a good idea." Applejack said. Soon enough all the pieces would fall into place. Pinkie went into her closet and found an old top hat that looked like it might've been there for years, after she left to get some paper and pens. They had all planned everything, from the arguing, to Sunset's outburst, and the convenient idea from Twilight. The six girls all entered the same game into the hat and just prayed that Rainbow's wasn't picked. After everyone put a piece of paper in the hat, Sunset mixed them around and picked one with her eyes closed.

"Alright, let's see what we have here...Truth or dare." Sunset read the paper out loud.

"Who's going to start?" Twilight asked.

"Can I give someone a truth or a dare?" Rarity asked immediately.

"Anybody else care if she goes first?" Twilight asked around the room. No one had any objections, so Rarity would start. This, once again, was also planned.

"Since I'm going to give a truth or dare, I'll just pick someone myself." Rarity said.

"Works for me." Pinkie said. Rainbow wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew something was up. Her friends were acting a little suspicious and she had no idea what they were planning, but she knew that it would probably have to do with their conversation from earlier.

Now the girls didn't want to make it super obvious that they had planned all of this, so Rarity didn't choose Rainbow first.

"Okay, I choose...Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed. "Truth or dare?"

"Hold on just a second there, let's just establish the rules real quick. Are we going to have an order we go in, or are we just pickin' people at random?

"I vote random." Rarity said.

"Yeah, okay." Sunset said.

"We all agree?" Applejack asked around.

"Yeah." Twilight replied. Fluttershy nodded afterward.

"YES!" Pinkie yelled.

"Dash, what about you?" Applejack asked.

"What? Oh, uh sure." Rainbow said. She had zoned out for a minute there. She wasn't even sure what she was agreeing to, she just said yes.

"Alright, now Applejack, truth or dare?" Rarity said.

"Dare." Applejack said.

"Good choice." Rarity said as a grin was quickly plastered onto her face.

"Should I be worried?" Applejack said after taking one look at Rarity.

"Probably." Sunset said.

"Applejack, I dare you to drink a glass of water while doing a handstand." Rarity said.

"How on Earth am I supposed to do that? I can't even do a regular handstand!" Applejack replied.

"I don't know, figure it out." Rarity said.

"Rules are rules AJ." Sunset said.

"We could try to hold you up, or you could just lean on something." Pinkie said. Everyone was just about to start laughing, and Pinkie was almost on the verge of tears she was so close to laughing. It wasn't even that funny, it was just Applejack's reluctance to it was kind of hilarious.

"Fine." Applejack said. No one could contain their laughter anymore.

"I'm-I'm going to go get a glass of water." Pinkie said while still laughing hysterically. It was almost hard to breathe. Pinkie came back in about a minute or so later with a glass of water. "Okay, let's start." Pinkie said as the laughter was dying down. The girls all helped Applejack lean onto one of the nearby walls in the room and Pinkie put the glass of water in front of her.

AJ took one sip and said, "There now help me down."

"You have to drink all of it!" Rarity said as they all began to laugh again, well except Applejack.

"You never said that!" Applejack replied.

"It was heavily implied darling." Rarity responded.

"Works for me." Sunset said.

"Come on! Seriously?" Applejack asked.

"Fine, just drink half of it." Rarity said.

"Fine." Applejack replied. Applejack quickly drank about half the water, and then the rest of the girls helped her down.

"Okay Applejack, your turn." Twilight said.

"Uh, Sunset." Applejack responded. "Truth or dare?"

"Oh, uh- truth I guess?" Sunset said. She knew that they all going to try to say dare so they might convince Dash to take a truth instead, but she knew Rainbow was a lot smarter than they were giving her credit for and tried to make it seem more real.

"Oh! I have one you could use! You don't have too but-" Rarity started before Applejack cut her off.

"That would be great. I didn't have anything good." Rarity then whispered in Applejack's ear something that no one else could hear.

"Are you kidding me?" Applejack asked.

"Do you have anything better in mind?" Rarity responded. Applejack sighed before saying,

"No."

"Then just ask her already." Rarity replied.

"Have you ever liked anyone that you knew your friend was dating...or had a crush on?" Applejack asked.

"Wha-what kind of question is that?!" Sunset very slightly stuttered.

"I don't know, a stupid one." Applejack responded. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Of course I haven't-why would I-" Sunset took a deep breath and sighed before saying, "No." Now Applejack could tell something was slightly off. She knew her friends pretty well, but she knew how to spot a lie even better.

"Are you sure?" Applejack asked again.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sunset replied.

"You don't really seem all that sure to me." Applejack said bluntly.

"I think she's telling the truth." Twilight spoke up.

"Maybe it looks that way, but I can spot a lie from a mile away." Applejack said. Sunset face palmed before mumbling,

"Fine, maybe."

"What was that?" Applejack asked with a smug grin.

"Shut up." Sunset said.

"Who was it?" Fluttershy asked quietly. She was almost afraid to ask, but was to curious not to. In fact, everyone was intrigued to find out who it was Sunset previously liked, or maybe even still liked. They didn't know for the life of them who it was though.

"Hey, I don't have to tell you that. You only get one question." Sunset replied.

"What?! You can't just leave us in the dark like this!" Rarity said dramatically.

"Actually, I kind of want to know too." Twilight said. Even Rainbow was curious, she couldn't even imagine who it was. That's when this thought came to her mind. She couldn't be talking about Soarin...right? What am I thinking, why would she make this big scene with everyone, insisting I like him if she did? Plus it's not like she really knows him, and I don't think she's the 'love at first sight' type. Rainbow knew that that was not the case. She was still a little uncomfortable with the thought though.

"Hey Rainbow, you don't look so good. Are you okay?" Pinkie asked suddenly.

"Of course, never better. Guess it's just hot in here." Rainbow responded cooly.

"It's like 63° (fahrenheit) outside, the air conditioning and the fan are on, and you're wearing a tee-shirt. How are you hot?" Pinkie replied.

"I don't know, I just am." Rainbow responded. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to tell Pinkie. Applejack decided they should just get back to the game.

"Alright Sunset, who's going next?" Applejack said.

"Uh, Pinkie. Truth or dare?" Sunset asked.

"Dare!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Hey Pinkie, you happen to have like a bag of chips or a bag like that in general?" Sunset asked.

"Uh, yeah why? Oh you guys want snacks?!" Pinkie said.

"It's a part of your dare." Sunset said. "And to answer your question yes."

"Sounds good to me." Rainbow said. Everyone agreed and Pinkie left with a "Okie-Dokie-Lokie" to get snacks. Pinkie came back moments later with a bag of chips for everyone. Before Pinkie opened hers, Sunset said, "Pinkie I dare you to open that bag with your mouth. No hands, no feet."

Chapter 7 - A Confession (EDITED)

"A challenge, I like it!" Pinkie said with enthusiasm.

"Alright then Pinkie, let's see you open that bag." Sunset said. Pinkie sat on the floor with that same bag of chips for about 10 or 15 minutes just trying to open it with her mouth.

"YES, FINALLY! I DID IT!" Pinkie exclaimed once she finally opened it. She said this with a part of the bag, still in her mouth. Everyone was laughing pretty hard at Pinkie's antics, Rainbow had completely forgotten about Soarin.

"Okay Pinkie, who's going next?" Twilight asked after everyone stopped laughing.

"Fluttershy!" Pinkie yelled. The look on Pinkie's face at that moment would've made anyone feel bad for whoever Pinkie choose, let alone Fluttershy.

"Oh no." Was all Fluttershy had to say.

"Okay Fluttershy, truth or dare?" Pinkie asked.

"Uh, truth." Fluttershy said a bit unsure of her answer.

"What is something that people think you do or would do, that you've never done or never would do?" Pinkie asked. The question was less confusing than Pinkie worded it, but Fluttershy understood what she meant nonetheless.

"Animals don't all immediately like me. Like one day, I went to the park with Angel and there was a cute little bird sitting in a tree. I tried to talk to him, but he wasn't exactly in the mood to talk. I'll let figure out what that means." Fluttershy responded.

"Honestly, I don't want to know." Pinkie replied. "Okay Fluttershy, your turn. Who's it gonna be?"

"Twilight, truth or dare?" Fluttershy asked.

"Dare." Twilight said. Fluttershy may look all sweet and innocent, but somewhere inside there's a dark side. They found this out after just one look at her face.

"I dare you to take a shower with your clothes on." Fluttershy said with a grin that probably satan himself created. It really didn't suit her character. After that came out of Fluttershy no one sat there with a straight face. Everyone started laughing uncontrollably. Pinkie then lead Twilight to their bathroom, everyone followed. There was no way that any of them were missing this. Twilight stepped into the shower and was almost ready to turn on the water.

"You ready Twi?" Sunset asked her. Twilight sighed and said,

"As ready as I'll ever be." Sunset quickly turned on the shower and dashed backward to try to avoid getting wet.

"Oh my gosh, that's cold." Twilight yelled. This just made her friends laugh even harder. Twilight sat there for a few more seconds before stepping out. She was freezing so Pinkie handed her a nearby towel to dry off with.

"Come on, let's go back now." Rainbow said. They were all still laughing a bit. No one thought Fluttershy could be evil. Once they got back Twilight said,

"I choose Sunset. Truth or dare?" Sunset hadn't really been thinking and said,

"Truth, I guess." Then she immediately face palmed again as she realized what Twilight was probably going to ask.

"This has just been on my mind the whole time. Who was the person that you liked, at the same time as one of us?" Twilight asked.

"I just want to clarify that the question said 'have I ever' liked anyone. That could also apply before I came here. Also, it said friend in general, not just you guys." Sunset said.

"So it wasn't one of us?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't say that." Sunset Shimmer said.

"So it was one us?" Twilight asked again.

"I didn't say that either." Sunset said. "I used to be jealous of the pony Twilight when she first came here. You know, the whole thing with Flash. I didn't actually like him, I just hated Twilight and wanted her to feel jealous."

"Does that really count though? You two weren't technically friends yet." Rarity said.

"Yeah and you said it yourself, you didn't actually like him." Fluttershy added.

"I know, it just feels like it should count." Sunset said. Rainbow was actually pretty happy to hear that. She knew that Sunset didn't like Soarin, but sometimes it's just nice to know it was said out loud.

"What I don't understand is why you tried to hide it before. If you didn't really like him, there should be no reason to hide the truth." Rarity said. She was, not so subtly, trying to see if any real feelings might be locked in there.

"I mean, I just felt like it might be a slightly awkward conversation topic. Also, you only get one question, and I didn't want to give you the satisfaction of unearned success." Sunset replied.

"Fair enough." Applejack said.

"One day, I will get the truth out of all of you." Rarity said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pinkie asked.

"That I will make you all admit who you like." Rarity explained.

"Well, why didn't you just say that then?" Pinkie asked.

"Nevermind, Sunset it's your turn." Rarity said

"Uh, you haven't gone Rarity." Sunset said. "So, truth or dare?" Rarity was going to pick dare, but she also didn't really think it mattered at this point since truth had been used so many times. They would find a way to make Rainbow admit it anyway.

"Truth." Rarity responded.

"What is the most disgusting habit you have?" Sunset asked.

"I don't have any icky habits!" Rarity exclaimed.

"So what, you've never done anything improper your whole life?" Applejack asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"I'm a lady, of course not." Rarity replied.

"Are you seriously telling me that you've never gotten your hands a little dirty?" Applejack asked.

"Well I've done my fair share of hard work, but I don't exactly like working with things that require a whole lot of mess." Rarity said.

"I don't feel like playing this game with you." Applejack said.

"Whatever." Rarity said.

"So, who's next?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaimed. This was the moment she'd been waiting for and she was excited. Rainbow, on the other hand, was a little less ecstatic. She was a little taken back when Rarity said her name, she had been a bit lost in thought. Rainbow figured that her questions or dares would be directed toward Soarin. "Truth or dare, Rainbow?" Rarity asked. She knew it was a long shot, but figured her best chance to avoid the topic of Soarin would be to choose dare.

"Dare." Rainbow said. Plus she prefered dare anyway.

"Dare's been said like a million times tonight, why not pick truth instead?" Twilight said, trying to give her a subtle push in the right direction.

"I can choose dare if I want to, plus we just had a truth." Rainbow responded.

"I dare you to choose truth." Rarity said.

"What? That's so stupid and pointless." Rainbow said. "That doesn't even make sense, because that would technically count as my turn this round and I'd have to wait until my next turn to do the dare."

"I'll wait." Rarity said.

"You know what, it's inevitable." Rainbow gave in. "Truth."

"Do you like Soarin?" Rarity asked immediately. She wasn't surprised.

"Of course I do, we're good friends." She said as her face turned a shade of red.

"You know what I meant." Rarity said.

"A-and I answered." Rainbow said as she turned away.

"Come on, just admit it!" Rarity said. Everyone was just laughing at how much Rainbow was avoiding this.

"I-i've already told you. We're just friends." Rainbow said. Of course she didn't want it to stay that way, but she didn't think there was chance ever that he'd be into her. She continuously avoided eye-contact because she knew if she looked at them, it would all be over. That was when Pinkie decided to take it a step further.

"DASHIE HAS A CRUSH! DASHIE HAS A CRUSH!" She exclaimed repeatedly as she bounced around the room.

"No, I don't!" Rainbow said as her face turned a shade darker.

"Like I told you before, I can spot a lie from a mile away. Dash you could 10 miles away, and I could still tell. Your face right now can't be that hard to see." Applejack said. This was probably true. Her face was normally a light shade of blue, right now it was crimson.

"Shut up!" Rainbow said.

"Rainbow, come on, it's not like it's a secret anymore. Just tell us the truth, 'cause we kinda already know it." Twilight said. At this point Rainbow wasn't sure what to do. Keep up the lie that they very obviously didn't believe, or just tell them the truth. She figured, If they aren't going to change their minds what's the point? They already know. Dash finally mumbled under her breath very softly,

"Maybe a little."

"Wait, repeat that." Rarity said. She heard what Rainbow said, but this was too good to pass up.

"Maybe a little." She responded slightly, but not much louder than before.

"One more time darling." Rarity said.

"Fine, I do! Happy now?!" Rainbow exclaimed. Her friends just laughed even harder.

"Very." Was all Rarity could say she was laughing so hard. "Applejack you owe me $20."

"Right, here." Applejack said as she handed Rarity a 20 dollar bill out of her pocket.

"Wait, were you guys betting money on whether or not I liked Soarin?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, no darling. We knew you liked him, we were betting whether or not you'd admit it tonight." Rarity responded.

"Yeah, I honestly didn't think you'd say it tonight." Applejack confessed.

"Wait, so you planned all of this?" Rainbow asked.

"Everything from the fighting, to the hat, and even most of us picking dare. We hoped maybe you'd pick truth if everyone picked dare." Sunset replied.

"Seriously? You guys are awful." Rainbow said she started laughing. The rest of the group joined in the laughter and this lasted for maybe a minute or so before Rainbow asked, "How many other bets did you guys make tonight. If I know you two, there's always more than just one."

Chapter 9 - Makeover Moment (EDITED)

After Rarity finished Rainbow's hair, the stopped to admire it before continuing on.

"I've never seen your hair parted like that, but it looks good." Fluttershy commented.

"Uh, thanks. I still have no idea what it looks like, but I'm sure it's fine." Rainbow responded.

"Some of my best work." Rarity added.

"Oh, it's shiny!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Okay, makeup next." Rarity said suddenly. Now Rainbow wasn't a complete stranger to makeup. Often she wore very little, because she didn't see the need for a whole lot. But, she found that she surprisingly had been using a little more, each day. No particular reason in her head, but if her friends found out they would definitely have a reason in mind.

Rarity saw Rainbow as if she were a canvas, she was excited to give her an interesting new look. But also didn't want to stray too far out of Rainbow's comfort zone. So she decided to go with something fairly simple with some small flair here and there. Before she knew it, Rarity was finished with Rainbow's makeup. There was one last thing that needed to be finished.

"It's wardrobe time!" Rarity exclaimed happily.

"Okay, I'm not really sure if you're gonna want anything I have with me though." Rainbow said.

"Not to worry, I always bring an outfit for each of you whenever we go anywhere." Rarity said nonchalantly. Rainbow kind of just chuckled at this, knowing full well she was dead serious.

"Just try not to go overboard." Rainbow said.

"Don't worry darling, I wouldn't put you in something I knew you wouldn't like." Rarity reassured her. Although Rainbow doubted this a bit, she could only trust Rarity at this point.

"I hope so." Rainbow said. Rarity opened up her suitcase and began digging inside to find the outfit she brought for Rainbow.

"Ah, finally. I found it." Rarity walked back over Rainbow and threw the clothes at her and told her to go in the closet and get changed.

"Did you actually, have an outfit already prepared?" Rainbow asked.

"I always I come prepared darling." Rarity explained. "Now go put it on." Rainbow walked over to the closet, confused as to why she didn't just get changed in the bathroom or something, but nevertheless complied to Rarity's wishes.

Rarity had designed her a black shirt dress with short sleeves. There was a tiny pattern of vertical, thin, gray stripes covering the whole dress, but nothing too extravagant. There was a small belt that tied around her waist. It was also the same pattern with a silver buckle. Rarity knew that Rainbow would probably feel a little awkward in public and gave her a black tank top and shorts that were practically invisible underneath, but would be more comfortable for her. For shoes, Rarity knew Rainbow wouldn't want to wear anything that wasn't comfortable and casual. So she stuck with black and gray checkered sneakers that would compliment the look well.

"Rainbow, are you almost done? We have to get going soon!" Rarity told her.

"Uh yeah, sorry! The closets a little small to get changed in." Rainbow responded. Whilst struggling to get changed in such a small area, she hit her head a few times but was overall okay. She was going through so much trouble just to look nice for what? A causal day playing mini golf? It didn't seem worth it to her. After a minute or so, Rainbow was done and stepped back outside. Pinkie who had been drinking some orange juice in the corner, immediately spit it out when Dash walked out into the room.

"What?" Rainbow asked. She was a little uncomfortable with everyone staring at her.

"It's just-" Applejack paused. "I've never seen you-look like this..." she trailed off.

"Is that bad?" Rainbow paused slightly after each word.

"Are you kidding me? You look amazing." Sunset responded.

"I still haven't actually seen it, you know?" Rainbow replied.

"She's right, go look in the mirror." Twilight said. Rainbow walked over to the mirror in the other corner of the room. She couldn't believe that it was her face that was looking back at her. She felt like she was looking at a different person. It was a little freaky, but she got over pretty quick.

"Well Rarity, is there any other way you feel like torturing me before we leave?" Rainbow asked sarcastically.

"No we can leave. But after today, I insist that you keep the dress." Rarity said.

"Are you sure?" Rainbow asked.

"Positive dear, I made it specifically for you. It was personally adjusted, styled, and formed to fit your physique." Rarity responded. Rainbow wasn't exactly sure why she felt a little embarrassed accepting it, because she actually did really like the dress. It was still in her style, it was comfortable, and it fitted her great too. She just wasn't used to getting this much attention from something she wore.

"I'm sure Soarin'll like it." Pinkie slyly raised her eyebrows and nedged Dash in the arm, which made Rainbow turn a dark shade of red.

"Shut up, Pinkie." Rainbow gritted her teeth in embarrassment.

"Hey, we should leave now, it's most 12:30." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, she's probably right. Place'll be packed if we don't make it before 1:00." Applejack said. The girls all got into their cars, and drove off. They decided to drive separately. The girls decided to facetime each other, whilst they drove so they could have a private conversation. Except Rainbow, that is.

"I can't wait to see the look on her face!" Sunset exclaimed through her phone.

"Me either, it'll be priceless." Twilight responded.

"She's gonna absolutely hate us after this, you know." Applejack said.

"But it'll all be worth it in the end." Rarity said

"We're only doing this in her best interest." Fluttershy justified to herself.

"THIS IS SO EXCITING!" Pinkie yelled.

"Pinkie if you keep yelling there will be no secret to protect." Twilight reminded her.

"Sorry." Pinkie said sheepishly. Soon enough their plan would take action.

Author's Note

If you want to know exactly what she was wearing, I had been playing around with a few ideas in my head about what it should look like, until I just decided to use my ol' friend google and found a design I really liked. The photo here is pretty much what she's wearing. I'll also leave the website link if anyone's interested. LINK: https://www.prettylittlething.us/black-pin-stripe-belt-t-shirt-dress.html

Chapter 8 - Not A Morning Person (EDITED)

"Whaaaat?" Rarity said. "What makes you think that?"

"Because, I know you both too well." Rainbow responded.

"Fine, you caught us." Applejack said. "There may or may not be a few more bets tonight."

"You two have a problem." Rainbow said.

"Nevermind that! You like him!" Rarity said the last part of her statement in a sing-song voice.

"U-uh I think we established that." Rainbow gritted her teeth as she blushed furiously.

"You know, I'm surprised that you fessed up. I thought it'd take you, maybe a week. At least before you even started talking about him again." Applejack said.

"Well, I figured you guys would be on my case the whole time, and there was probably no chance in heck that I'd change your minds so..." Rainbow trailed off.

"Fair enough." Applejack responded.

"So, what're we doing first?" Pinkie Pie suddenly asked.

"What'd you mean?" Rainbow said confused.

"You didn't think we would just let you off the hook, did you? We're gonna help you." Twilight said.

"Help me with, what exactly?" Rainbow asked. She still wasn't sure what they meant.

"We are going to help you win him over! Shouldn't be that hard." Rarity explained.

"Uh guys, th-that's really not necessary!" Dash responded.

"Yes it is." Everyone else said in unison.

"F-fine, just...don't go overboard." Rainbow Dash replied. After Rainbow said that her friends started to celebrate a little early. They were just excited.

"We need to give you a makeover!" Rarity exclaimed. "We'll fix your hair, makeup, paint your nails, this will be so much fun!"

"Uh, I never agreed to that." Rainbow responded as Rarity squealed in enthusiasm.

"Rainbow, when you agreed to letting us help you, I assumed that meant we had full access to your wardrobe...choices." Rarity added at the end after she thought about the fact Rainbow probably wouldn't have anything makeover worthy with her.

"Celestia help me..." Rainbow muttered under her breath.

"Also, you're wardrobe can make for a, good conversation topic." Rarity commented.

"Wa-wait, you mean talk to him?" Rainbow asked concerned.

"Well, of course. What else would I have meant by having a conversation?" Rarity asked.

"I can't just, go up and talk to him!" Rainbow said.

"Why not?" Sunset asked.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I look like an idiot every time he's in the general vicinity." Rainbow said sarcastically.

"Why's that?" Twilight asked with a sly grin on her face.

"I'm not explaining this to you." Rainbow said embarrassed.

"Trust me Rainbow, coming from someone who gets nervous all the time, the best way to get over it is to do whatever it is that's making you nervous." Fluttershy said.

"I don't get nervous, I uh...just..." Rainbow said trying to dismiss the idea that anything would actually make her feel uncomfortable like that.

"Sure, you don't." Pinkie said sarcastically.

"So, are we going to start your makeover now or...what?" Rarity said out of nowhere.

"Rarity, I hate to burst your bubble, but it's the middle of the night. We'll be asleep in a couple of hours, and why bother if it's just gonna get messed up?" Rainbow said, mostly because she wanted to avoid this for as long as she could.

"She makes a good point." Twilight admitted.

"Fine. We'll do it tomorrow. But, you have to keep up your end of the deal. That's why, I want you to 'Pinkie Promise' me." Rarity said.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. We good now?" Rainbow Dash responded.

"It's settled then, tomorrow morning." Rarity said.

The girls decided to stay up for a little while longer; playing board games and cards to pass the time. Eventually they all agreed to go to bed. Little did Rainbow know that her friends were busy planning away as she slept.

Rainbow awoke the next morning; tired and disheveled she sat up and looked around the room.

Rarity was busy putting her makeup on. Twilight appeared to be struggling to keep her hair in her, normally perfect, bun. Applejack looked to be waiting on the two them. Pinkie and Fluttershy were nowhere to be seen, and Sunset was sitting a few feet away from her; half asleep as well.

"Well look who, finally decided to join us." Applejack said as Rainbow blinked to focus her eyes better. Rainbow groaned at the first sign of sunlight in the room. She wasn't exactly a morning person.

"Oh, and just in time too! Now that I'm finished getting ready I can begin to work on you." Rarity said enthusiastically.

"What?" Rainbow asked confusedly.

"Last night you promised we could give you a makeover!" Pinkie Pie said as she jumped through the door just for that moment.

"Oh right." Rainbow mumbled.

"You're not really much of a morning person are ya'?" Applejack asked her. Rainbow groaned again as a response. Fluttershy than walked back into the room and said, "She never has been. When had sleepovers when we were little I think the earliest she ever got up was 10:30." The rest of the girls just chuckled at this, except Sunset. Her brain wasn't really fully comprehending their conversation right now, despite being awake for half an hour. Rainbow had put her face back in the pillow on the floor at this point and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. She mumbled a faint, "I wanna go back to sleep." With Sunset promptly responding, "I feel you."

"Will you two please get up already? We don't have much time before we leave." Rarity said.

"Leave? For what? There's no school, parents, or teachers to talk to at this time." Rainbow said.

"Don't you remember? Last night we made plans to go miniature golfing." Rarity explained.

"I don't remember anything past 1:30." Rainbow admitted.

"Seriously?" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly. It startled Fluttershy a little.

"Mm-hm." Rainbow nodded her head even as her face was pressed into the pillow.

"Rainbow that's what I like to call, 'sleep deprivation'." Twilight said.

"Doesn't matter, we need to start getting you ready. So whether you like it or not, you're getting up." Rarity said stubbornly.

"We could always go golfing in the afternoon...or night." Rainbow trailed off. This gained a few laughs from her friends, and a thumbs-up approval from Sunset who was still struggling to keep her eyes open.

"I'm serious, we can't be late!" Rarity scolded.

"Late? It's not like it's an appointment. We can choose to go golfing whenever we want. It's not on some schedule." Rainbow responded.

"Come on, you promised." Rarity reminded her.

"Ugh. I did." Rainbow slowly sat up, blinked a few times, and finally stood up.

"Good, we'll start with hair." Rarity began.

"This is going to be a long day." Rainbow sighed to herself. Applejack and Sunset, despite her still being exhausted, could only laugh at Rainbow's misery.

Rarity decided not to do a whole lot with her hair. She straightened a few pieces here and there that she felt needed it, and then finished with a bit of her hair, in the front, being parted off to the side. It was mostly still her naturally wavy hair, with just a little sprucing up. Her hair also held a bit of volume all on it's own, which definitely made it a little bouncier.