Diving Deep

Shoeshine let out a groan as she thumbed through the clothes in her closet. She had a decent amount of clothes but nothing date worthy. Especially not one worthy of Sea Swirl. She knew whatever she wore had to perfect to match Sea Swirl's expectations. She tossed a blue skirt to the ground and growled softly as she threw herself back onto her bed. She closed her eyes and racked her brain on what to do. A really bad idea came to her. One of the worst ideas she ever had and she really didn't want to do it. She opened her eyes and took in the scene of the clothes she had tossed out in her effort to find what to wear. Sighing, she accepted defeat. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number she dreaded calling.

"I need help." She told the person on the other end.

Shoeshine stared at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a red dress that she grudgingly had to admit looked good on her. She never was into them all that much. Sure she had skirts and a few dresses here and there, but she rarely wore the dresses, mainly she just wore her skirts. And none were even close enough to what was important enough of Sea Swirl's time.

"Well darling, do you like it?" Rarity asked. Shoeshine turned around and stared at Rarity. She took a breath and let it out.

"I hate to admit it, but yes I do." She cringed internally at her confession. Rarity raised a confused eyebrow.

"Why do you hate to admit it, darling? It looks fabulous on you." Rarity smiled. Shoeshine shrugged.

"I've never really been into clothes." She stated simply. " I mainly only own jeans and a few skirts. Plus shirts but that's to be expected. And I hate asking for help."

Rarity gave her a frown.

"Asking for help is a sign of trust between two people. You can always ask me for help." She said cheerfully.

"I don't know you. I only know Sea Swirl, Berry and Sunset." Shoeshine pointed.

"You can always come to our sleepover tomorrow. Bring Sea Swirl with. We'd love to have you. She's turned down all our invitations because you weren't there." Rarity said. "Is there a special occasion for the dress or just wanted to expand your wardrobe?"

"I have a date with Sea Swirl. We've never gone on one before and none of my skirts were extravagant enough in my opinion for her so I needed something she would like." Shoeshine admitted. Rarity gave a loud excited squeel and Shoeshine instantly covered her ears. "A little warning next time you do that will be highly appreciated. You sound annoying when you do it."

"I'm going to ignore that comment out of my desire to help you." Rarity announced.

"I also have a reservation at a hopefully a good enough restaurant. Everything needs to be up to her standards. She comes from a well off family and I don't. She's probably had hundreds of dates at really nice fancy places. I need to do just as good so she doesn't get tired of me." Shoeshine sighed. Rarity frowned at her slightly.

"I've spent time with her and I don't think she car-" She tried to say but Shoeshine interrupted her accidentally.

"Uh would this be ready by Saturday?" Shoeshine nervously asked. Sighing Rarity nodded.

"Yes, it will dear." She tiredly answered.

Shoeshine gave a faint smile.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but thanks Rarity." The words pained her to say but she forced them out. "How much is this gonna cost again? I'm not a fashion expert but it feels quality." Rarity waved a hand.

"For a friend and a first time buyer, consider it free." She smiled.

Shoeshine narrowed her eyes and frowned.

"I can pay. I don't take handouts from anyone." She grumbled and Rarity rolled her eyes.

"It's not a handout, darling. It's a gift. For a new friend." She said eagerly. Shoeshine knew there was no way she could win this fight.

"Okay." She sighed as Rarity grinned triumphantly.

Shoeshine held the xbox controller in her hand and pressed a button, watching her character pull out a gun. She quickly pressed another button and shot Rainbow Dash's character, killing her. She gave a small victorious smile as the screen said who won the most matches, along with the money won. Behind her sat a jaw dropped Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity. Berry was grinning and Sea Swirl kissed her on the cheek.

"How in tarnation did ya beat Dash?" Applejack asked in awe. Shoeshine shrugged as she carefully set the controller down, turning around to see Rainbow Dash glowering at her.

"It's scary how good you are at Grand Theft Auto." Rainbow grumbled. "Bathroom break, be back soon." She stood up and quickly exited the room.

Rarity focused on Shoeshine.

"How did you beat her, darling? None of us have been able to." Rarity questioned.

"I'd tell you but she is waiting by the door." Shoeshine told her.

"No, I'm not." Rainbow called out from by the door. "Shit." She muttered as she ran down the hall.

"How did you know she was there?" Fluttershy quietly asked. Shoeshine shrugged.

"I didn't hear her walk down the hall. I have good ears. I prefer to observe and calculate. I knew Rainbow had a reckless personality so she would make a mistake in the game sooner or later. I also knew how much ammo was held in the weapons magazine she preferred to use. I counted until I knew she was reloading and looped around to sneak attack her." Shoeshine explained. "Was a easy win."

Applejack let out a approving whistle.

"Ah'll be damned, it is possible to beat RD. Fluttershy was the only one closest to winning."

Shoeshine raised an eyebrow and pointed to Fluttershy.

"She almost beat her? Huh, didn't see that coming." Fluttershy shyly pushed a strand of pink hair out her face.

"Rainbow has a reckless personality. Easy to take advantage of, like you said." She mumbled.

"Why do you have two TVs in your though?" Shoeshine turned on Pinkie who tossed a donut in her mouth and ate it whole.

"In case of gaming emergencies like this, duh." She announced like that made sense.

"Uh huh." Shoeshine snorted. Fluttershy sat crosslegged on the bed, sitting with a stuffed butterfly pushing. Rainbow crashed into the wall as she ran into the room and fell onto the floor.

"Good heavens, Rainbow dear." Rarity rolled her eyes as she helped her up. "Would it hurt you to walk instead of run? You're indoors."

"I live my life a thousand miles an hour. I'll never stop." Rainbow declared and Shoeshine snorted.

"We've noticed." She said dryly. "I'd hate to see you drive."

"Believe it or not, she's actually a good driver." Applejack admitted, then grinned. "Rarity on the other hand... is the most reckless driver ah've ever seen. She has the worst road rage ever."

Rarity glared at her.

"I am not a bad driver. I am good driver. Pinkie is the bad one!" she pointed an accusatory finger at the pink girl. Applejack folded her arms and smirked.

"Ya realize ya were the one who almost killed us all on the highway last month." Applejack pointed out.

"I was going twenty miles over the speed limit." Rarity snapped. Applejack stared at her.

"And backing up on the highway because ya missed your exit?" Applejack asked. Rarity sighed and stared at her.

"Fine, that did happen." She admitted sheepishly. Shoeshine watched the small argument with curiosity.

"You just had a fight and you're perfectly cool with each other. How?"

Applejack and Rarity looked at each other and laughed.

"Oh dear, we do this all the time. It's how we play around." Rarity giggled.

Applejack opened her mouth to speak and Pinkie jumped around excitedly. She fished around her hair and pulled out a clipboard. Shoeshine raised an eyebrow at her and stared in confusion.

"Where the hell did that come from?" she mumbled to herself.

"Alright, we've done everything on my checklist: twenty questions, hot chocolate, Shoey beating Rainbow at GTA, seven movies with popcorn and baking." Pinkie eagerly pointed to the last thing on the clipboard. "Now, the most important thing to do: SLEEP!" Shoeshine fell over backwards in surprise at the sudden loudness and looked up into Sea Swirl's eyes.

"Hello." Sea Swirl smirked down at her. "Have I ever said you have beautiful fandango eyes?"

"Uhm no. But thank you Sea," Shoeshine mumbled blushing. She glanced over and noticed the grinning girls staring back at her and Pinkie holding up a phone.

"So adorable. Picture and video saved." she sang. She slid under the blanket sheets and smiled. "Goodnighttttt!" She started snoring as Shoeshine gazed in shock.

"How on earth did she do that?" she mused.

"Don't ask." Sunset warned. "It's safer not knowing." Shoeshine rolled her eyes but nodded. She stood up and grabbed Sea Swirl's hand.

"Uhm, where yall going?" Applejack questioned and winked. "Gonna have a roll in the hay?"

Sea Swirl turned a bright shade of red at the implications of what the farmer had said.

"We haven't done that yet. We are gonna sleep in the living room. Shoeshine is nervous is sleeping in a room full of other people that isn't me or family." Sea Swirl explained, still blushing.

"Uh, okay." Rainbow muttered. A evil grin formed on her face. "You said yet." Rarity slapped her on the back of the head. Rainbow rubbed the spot and glared at her. Rolling her eyes, Sea Swirl let Shoeshine lead her out to the living room couch. She settled down onto the couch, laying down and held out her arms for Shoeshine to lay next to her. Shoeshine gave a smile and laid next to her, feeling Sea Swirl wrap an arm around her. Shoeshine slid the blanket over them and rolled her head to Sea Swirl.

"Hi." she smiled at Sea Swirl. "Have I ever said you have beautiful raspberry colored eyes?"

Sea Swirl nodded her head smirking.

"Yeah, but I do love hearing it." Sea Swirl gave her a quick kiss and sighed.

"And I love saying it. I may not be the best at talking about my emotions or articulating my words properly, but I do care about you." Shoeshine mumbled.

"I know." Sea Swirl mumbled into Shoeshine's hair as she started to feel herself drift to sleep. Shoeshine smirked when she heard the familiar sounds of Sea Swirl's snoring and closed her own eyes. Little did she know six pairs of eyes were watching them.

"That Shoeshine has some trust issues." Applejack declared.

"Maybe she doesn't like us." Fluttershy mumbled. Sunset gave a sigh.

"It's hard for her to adjust. From us being at the top of the school to being friends with you all. She's used to the authority and being in control. Honestly, she is kinda holding a little. I'm hoping Sea Swirl can get her to open up a little." Sunset admitted.

"She might have a lot of work in that department." Rainbow pointed out.

"Maybe their date will help them." Rarity offered. "She's taking Sea Swirl to a fancy restaurant. Something about trying to live up to what she feels Sea Swirl is into and that's very fancy restaurants." Sunset gave a frown.

"She does know Sea Swirl doesn't care about fancy restaurants or expensive places as long as Shoeshine is there with her? Hell she'd be perfectly fine with a movie at home than going out to dinner." Sunset rolled her eyes.

Rarity gave a sigh and stared at the sleeping girls.

"I tried to tell her that. For now, let's let them enjoy their moment and sleep peacefully."