Playdating

   The little bell on the door let out a jingle as it opened to reveal two scruffy, dirty, ruffled up pets.  They quickly stepped inside, and Winona punted it shut without turning.

   At some point on the way there, Opal had realized that she’d gotten filthy.  She didn’t like dirt, as Winona quickly discovered, which was proven by her angry mutterings and promises of slow, agonizing death to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  If she wasn’t so serious-looking, Winona might have chuckled.

   “Ugh!  It wasn’t enough to almost kill us,” the cat grumpily stated, “but they had to get my coat dirty, too?  The nerve!”

Of course that’s what she’s mad about.  Makes sense.

   “Oh, I need a thorough scrubbing, with,” she shuddered, “a bath.”

   “What’s wrong with takin’ a bath?  I do it all the time.”

   Opal shot her an unamused look.  “Well, if I worked on a farm, I might too.  Thank the Goddesses I don’t.”

   Winona glared back.  “And just what problems do ya have with farms?”

   “Oh, calm down, Winona,” Opal responded defensively, “I have no problems with farms.  I just wouldn’t go within a mile of them if I had a say in it.  So dirty!  Besides, I don’t do manual labor.”

   The dog snorted at her.  “Y’know, you sound just like Rarity, with all of that talk.”

   Opal stretched before she replied, “Well, when you grow up living around an automysophobic dressmaker obsessed with appearances, you have a tendency to pick up some traits.”

Whatever that means.  Winona smirked.  “So is that why you’re such a drama queen?”

   “Well, the term ‘dramatic’ has some negative connotations.  I prefer the term ‘reactive’.”

   “Just like you prefer usin’ long words all the time?”

   Opal looked at her with a nonchalant smile.  “I can’t help my sesquipedalianistic loquaciousness, my fuzzy canine friend.”

   Winona stared blankly into space for several long moments, before blinking.  “I ain’t fuzzy.”

   With a chuckle, Opal continued on.  “Well, anyways, I know I can be dramatic sometimes, but you should see what she’s like.  I swear, that mare thrives on it.”  With a shake of her head, she walked slowly over to the wall and looked up at the clock.  “Now that we’ve gotten past that little road bump, we have... about fifteen minutes left.  First, we should get cleaned up.”

   Winona returned from her word-induced stupor, and saw her jiggly-flanked companion strutting towards a door.  Opal looked back at her and gestured to it with a paw.  “Well, are you coming?”

Doesn’t that sound familiar?  Shrugging it off, she walked over to Opal, who opened the door to reveal a bathroom.  A very ornate, accessorized bathroom.  The countertop next to the sink was absolutely covered with mane care products, lotions, conditioners, more beauty supplies than Winona had ever seen.  Back at the Apple household, there was apple-scented shampoo, and apple-scented toothpaste, along with apple-scented mouthwash.  And a brush or two.  But nowhere close to the amount of stuff that Rarity had.

   “Winona?”

   Snapped out of her daze, the dog found a curious cat staring at her from the floormat next to her.  Chuckling, Opal crouched down before springing up to the counter.  She looked down, and patted her paw on the stone.  “Come on up!” she invited, and stepped back from the edge to make room.

   Winona briefly doubted her ability to make the jump, but that was shrugged off quickly.  If Opal and her fat flank could do it, she’d have no problem.  So, she coiled, and leaped up.  It was, indeed, easy, and she climbed up with no trouble.  She now saw that the counter was bigger than she’d previously thought, which wasn’t too surprising if it could store all of Rarity’s vanity products.

   “So,” Opal began, “we’re going to have to use the sink to wash up.  If we used the tub or the shower, it would make too much noise.”

   “The sink?” Winona inquired incredulously, “I don’t know if I’m gonna fit in some sink.”

   Opal gestured to the sink, and Winona found herself wrong.  It, like the counter, was big.  Much bigger than the sink back at the farm.  “It’s also a basin,” Opal explained, “for Rarity to wash her mane.  The reason it’s so big is so that it can accompany her inflated head.”

   She slid into the bowl of the sink, and Winona carefully followed after laying her scarf down.  Although Winona wasn’t exactly small, she had enough room to move around.  Opal raised a paw to the handle to turn on the water, and tugged it to the left.  After a short, sharp squeak, the water poured out.

   Of course, Winona had not been expecting this, so when she was suddenly sprayed all over with still-heating water, she was... surprised.  It caused her to stumble, but the sink was sloped on the sides, and covered with water.  Naturally, paws don’t grip water-covered stone all too well.  With a surprised grunt, she fell on her side.

   “Careful now, Winona.  You don’t need to get a concussion.”

   The dog stared daggers at the smirking cat.  “That was dirty, Opal.”

   “Well, you’re clean now, so it couldn’t have been too dirty, could it?”  The sarcasm in her voice was so strong, Winona was surprised it lacked an odor.

   Cautiously, she put a paw underneath her, and got into a sitting position.  A devious idea came  to mind, and she smiled evilly.  Flicking a foreleg, she flung water directly at Opal’s face.

   It splashed precisely into her forehead.  Although it wasn’t cold anymore, Opal squealed in surprised and shook herself as quickly as possible.  Through the curtain of sopping white hair, Winona saw her bright green eyes getting a dangerous sheen.  Opal raised her head and glared, though her teeth shone brilliantly in a predatory smile.  “Well, if you want to play that game, prepare to lose!”

   Winona grinned back, competitive energy filling her body.  “Give me yer best shot.”

   “With pleasure.”

   Opal dipped her paw in the water and slung it at Winona as soon as she finished speaking.  Although she wasn’t able to dodge, the dog quickly returned fire.  They were both getting very soaked from the splash fight, but neither wanted to give in.  After several minutes, a splash caught Winona by surprise, and she slipped from her position on the side of the sink and tumbled down towards her opponent.  Opal was unable to move before being bowled into, and fell down on top of her.  For several moments, they slid around the bowl, scrambling to get friction to stop them.  Finally, they came to rest in the depression at the center.

   Winona opened her eyes, and found herself staring directly at another pair.  She’d landed on top of Opal, and they were facing each other.  For whatever reason, she felt an unusual heat of some sort crawl into her cheeks.  It was the kind she felt after herding the animals back at the barn when it was hot outside, but now it was only concentrated in her face.

   “Why, hello there, Winona,” the cat said from under her, “Fancy seeing you here.”

   Slightly embarrassed, Winona quickly crawled off of Opal and reached out a paw to help her up.  She took it, and quickly got back to her paws.  “Well, I think we’re clean enough.  Time to get out.”

   Opal turned off the water, and scampered up to the edge.  After a moment of difficulty, she got up, and Winona did the same.  The leapt down to the floor, and Opal walked over to a small wardrobe.  Opening it, she retrieved two small towels, and tossed one over to Winona, who caught it in her jaw.

   “Well, that was fun,” Opal said cheerfully.  Winona nodded in agreement, though she still felt weird from the position they’d been in at the end.

   Ignoring it, she and Opal dried off quickly, and deposited the towels on the ground.  Rarity could grab them later, as Opal assured.  They left the bathroom, and walked over to the middle of the lobby to wait for their respective owners.

   They settled down, and Opal spoke up.  “Well, aside from the near death experiences, this wasn’t too bad.”

   Winona smiled back.  “Yeah, I think so too.  Before now, I’d thought you were a stuck-up prude.”

   Before she could apply paw to face, Opal responded.  “Yes, and I’d thought you were a disgusting mutt.  Glad we’ve figured out the truth, huh?”

   While Winona tried to figure out whether that was a compliment or an insult, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.  They turned, and saw Rarity and Applejack walking out of the back room.  Rarity saw them and smiled.  “Ah, Opal, Winona.  Glad to see you didn’t leave.”

Yep, never set a paw out the door.

   Applejack walked over to Winona and patted her head.  “Glad ta see ya didn’t make a mess, Winona.  Did ya have a good time with Opal?”

   The dog looked over to Opal.  Her new friend smiled, rolling her eyes as Rarity stroked her coat.  She looked back at Applejack and nodded, adding a bark of affirmation at the end.  Applejack grinned.  “Glad ta hear it.”

   “Did you enjoy it, Opal-Wopal?” Rarity cooed to the cat across from them.  Opal, in turn, looked like she was that close the clawing her face off, but turned and nodded.  “Great!  Maybe we can set up another playdate for you and Winona, hmm?  What do you say, Applejack?”

   “I got no problems with that.  Guess we can.”

   Winona ran over the implications of another day like this.  Well, maybe not quite as deadly, but it sounded fun.  The farm was nice, but it did get boring sometimes...

   Besides, she had a new friend now!  A snarky one with a bit of a bad attitude, but a friend nonetheless.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

   She retuned her ears in time to hear something interesting.  “So, it’s Thursday at 7:00?”

   “Yes, 7 it is.”

   “Sounds good.  Catch ya later, Rare!”

   Winona had no time to process what was happening before she realized that Applejack was walking off to the exit.  With a quick wave goodbye to Opal, she turned and ran to catch up.  Before the door to the Boutique could close, she heard a prim voice shout, “Bye bye, Winona!  See you later!”

   Winona smiled, and walked next to her owner through town.  It was late afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set, bathing Ponyville’s streets in warm orange rays.  Applejack sighed, and she turned to look at the mare.  Now that she could see closer, she noticed that her owner looked... calm.  A small, content smile rested on her face, and she was blushing slightly.

   As if she noticed Winona’s gaze, Applejack turned to her and stated dreamily, “Hey, Winona?”

   The dog pricked her ears up to show that she was listening.

   “I think I’m in love.”

Huh.  I wonder who...

   It hit her like a freight train.  Rarity.  Back room.  Two hours.  Content smile.  Blush.

   Winona nodded as it clicked.  Applejack’s in love with Rarity.  Who’d have thought?

   And then she passed out.