Breaking Boundaries

"We've decreed that we must ensure the highest punishment for this criminal offense" Celestia sighed out, staring directly at Rainbow Dash, tied up to a chair by magic. "If you're not going to learn to live life the way I intend you to live by. . . maybe we'll need some extra help." Celestia decreed as she motioned for a dark and shrouded guard to come out. The guard, unlike the others, was wearing absolutely nothing at all. "Now, just sit there and enjoy this as best as you can. You'll soon be cured of your disease." Celestia sternly stated. Rainbow stared at this odd creature. He. . . surely was excited to see her. She tried to run, she tried to hide, but the magic was too much. He walked behind her and proceeded to. . .

"GGGGYYYYAAAAAAAAH!" Rainbow screamed, flying into the air and crashing into the ceiling. She once again began uncontrollably crying. "Please don't please don't please don't please. . . please. . ." She stammered out uncontrollably as she fell back onto the bed, burying her head on the (oddly soft) pillows while covering her eyes with her hands.

"R-Rainbow? Rainbow!" Rarity attentively stated as she opened the door and turned on the lights. "Oh, Rainbow, darling! What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream? Would you like a stuffed pony? I have plenty, and I can use some of Sweetie Belle's too!" Rarity cooed at Rainbow, still crying, not paying any attention to Rarity's presence. "Shh shh shh. . . it's ok. . . don't cry. . . I'm here now, everything's all better. . ."

"They. . . they were gonna. . ." Rainbow murmured out, still crying.

"Shh shh. . . just let it all out. . . what were those bad people gonna do to you?" Rarity cooed over, now petting Rainbow's backside.

". . . teach me. . . to love guys. . ." Rainbow replied, sniffling heavy as tears rode out of her red eyes

"Oh. . . that's an AWFUL dream to have for you! How did they do it?" Rarity asked innoncently

"They. . . they. . ." Rainbow couldn't help but smash her hooves onto the bed. "WHY. . . WHY GOD FUCKING DAMMIT. . . I JUST WANT TO LOVE WHO I LOVE. . . I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO HAVE TO FUCK GUYS. . . THEY'RE LIARS, CHEATS, DECEIPTFUL, AND I HATE THEM. . . I. . ." Rainbow smashed her head onto the pillow.

"Rainbow! RAINBOW! Please, stop this instant! Calm down, darling, calm down!~" Rarity wailed as she jumped onto her bed, next to Rainbow, now petting her mane while attempting to calm her. "You're perfect just the way you are. . . if those bad people want to do anything bad to you, they'll have to go through ME! You don't worry a little pretty hair on your mane, I'll make sure that NOBODY hurts you like that!" Rarity cried out, worried of Rainbow's state.

Why did people do this? Sure, she had been judgemental about ponies sometimes. She had been annoyed at Twilight for putting books above good looks, she had been annoyed at Applejack for being so dirty and rowdy and loud. She had been annoyed at Fluttershy for being so shy to the point where it seemed like an act. . . but she still loved them. That's what friends are supposed to do, right? What kind of friends were these people?! Nopony is supposed to hurt their fellow friend so deeply to the point of tears and nightmares! Maybe she needed to reconsider these so called "friends."

Rainbow continued crying for roughly an hour, biting pillows in pain and screaming from agony of her fearful dream and her awakening into a horrible reality.

". . . Rarity. . . can I just. . . stay with you for a while?" Rainbow asked meekly, head still half-dunked inside of her pillow.

"Oh, of COURSE, darling! You can LIVE here if you want to, with those mean old ponies out there giving you so much trouble!" Rarity attempted to smile and give Rainbow some confidence. This entire event had been incredibly eye opening to her. The crew had been spending so long learning about friendship, and they break it all just because Rainbow happened to not like stallions? "Now come, it's morning time! Granted. . . a bit EARLY in the morning, but still the morning. Just get yourself all readied up, the little mare's room is on the ruby-bordered door on the right, and I'll leave the door out of the room open! Breakfast will be ready in just a bit!" Rarity gave one more rub to Rainbow's mane and trotted downstairs to do as much as she could for Rainbow.

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"THE FUCK YOU MEAN I CAN'T HELP MY OL' PAL 'BOW!?" Applejack screamed. "AH'LL SHOW YA. AH'LL SHOW ER'RY WONNA YA" Applejack furiously sprinted out of her barn.

"NO YOU AIN'T, YOU LITTLE TWO TIMING BITCH." Big Mac screamed as he sprinted over towards Applejack. "DO YA REALIZE WHAT SHE TRIED TA DO TO YA?! I DON'T WANNA LOSE MA LIL SIS OVER SOME STUPID FRIEND LIKE THIS!"

"STUPID?! STUPID?! YOU'RE THE STUPID ONE, BIC MAC. I'M GONNA HELP HER NO MATTER T'WHAT YA SAY" Applejack screamed, furious at her brother, breaking open the gates of the farm and sprinting towards Rarity's home.

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Rainbow trotted downstairs, in too bad of a mood to fly around. The house was nice and all. . . just too . . . girly. . . there were soft pillows everywhere and everything were colors of feminism, but all blending and nice. No ruckus anywhere. Any sort of mess was cleaned up immediately. Rainbow walked to the kitchen, smelling the food, and noticed a large array of high-class foods set up for her. These foods were unlike anything she had ever seen before! They were all nicely spiced and organized, smelling particularly high class.

"A little lady like myself has to be able to cook for herself!~" Rarity giggled. Rainbow sniffed the food nervously, excited but unsure of weather the food would be good for her. For Rarity, though, she would do anything. She ate the food brashly, with high speed, and finished it without so much as a few bites.

". . . I. . . like it. . .I wish I could make food as good as you!" Rainbow proclaimed as bits of food came out of her mouth. Rarity giggled softly, not caring about Rainbow's dirtiness.

"Oooh, in that case, let me show you!" Rarity grabbed Rainbow's hoof and took her to a stove. "Here, I was gonna make some soup for later! I just need to add some spices! You can help me!" Rarity handed a bottle of salt to Rainbow. "Here, pour a little bit of salt into here!~"

Rainbow stared at the bottle. It was a bottle that had holes in it, so it shouldn't be too hard to do a "little", right? Rainbow turned the bottle veritcally upsidedown and watched as the salt poured heavily into the soup. Rainbow immediately became frightened and threw the bottle onto the wall, smashing it, scaring Opal out of her nap and sending her to hide on Rarity's bed.

"I'm so sorry, Rarity! I'll pay you back, don't be mad at me, please please pleaaassseee!~" Rainbow cried out, tearing up from fear. She knew how much Rarity hated messes AND beautiful things breaking.

"Oh, Rainbow, don't worry, you're doing just fine! I never liked that salt shaker any way, my parents gave it to me as a gift. You wouldn't even BELIEVE how unfashionable they can be sometimes!" Rarity giggled, petting Rainbow's head. "That's the only spice I needed for this one. Now all you gotta do is stir it all in!" Rarity explained, handing a large spoon to Rainbow.

"S-S-Stir?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, like this~" Rarity used her magic to move the large spoon around in a perfectly circular motion. She let go, leaving the spoon inside of the pot.

"Now you try~" Rainbow pounced up onto her hind legs to grab the spoon nervously. If she didn't learn anything about cooking, she would at least learn why only unicorns became chefs. She tried her best to make circular motions, but often hit the edges of the pot and disturbed the previously still concoction.

"I. . . I can't do this, Rarity. . ." Rainbow sighed.

"No, darling, that's just preposterous! Here, let me help you!~" Rarity got up on her hind legs as well, putting her hooves on Rainbow's. "Here, follow me!"

Rarity moved her hooves around the soup in a circle, allowing Rainbow's to follow. Rarity was no large girl at all, as her hooves were by no means larger then Rainbow's. But it was still. . . nice. . . the circles became much more controlled, Rainbow tried her best to follow along with Rarity's lead. Rarity suddenly jumped off and left Rainbow by herself with the spoon. But the pot was not disturbed. The circles were not suddenly broken. All that was left was Rainbow, stirring perfect circles (or at least perfect enough for a pegasus with no chef experience.)

"L-Look, Rarity, I'm doing it! I'm doing it!~" Rainbow giggled, bouncing up and down. She had the happiest smile on her face. Rarity hadn't seen that smile in so long. . . a smile of pure happiness. She had most certainly never imagined to see it with something as "boring" and "feminine" as cooking, though. Maybe there was a side of Rainbow that she had never really down before.

"Oh, you're just fabulous!~" Rarity giggled. "I think we're all good now! Let's ju- OPAL!" Rarity suddenly screamed as Opal had appeared on the stove, chasing around her favorite toy on the stove. "Get off of there RIGHT NOW!" Rarity was not one to jump around and hurt herself, even for something like this, so she sat silently, yelling at Opal to stop. Opal had found her way to the top shelf of silverware, the heavy pot section. Her toy had landed just next to one of the pots, and Opal proceeded to pounce at it.

Ding

The pot fell straight towards Rarity, the toy teetering off of the edge of the shelf, Opal discontent with her situation. "O. . .O. . ." Rarity could say nothing out of fear. She could not move, she did not think to use her magic. What was she going to do? The pot was so big! What would happen if something bad happened and she's leave Ra-

Smack

Rarity closed her eyes awaiting pain. She felt pain, but on her sides, and there was something. . . warm on top of her. She opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash on top of her, the same determined look in her eyes that she had after performing a great show for Ponyville or. . . just like her. . . Wonderbolt audition. . . something that neither pony wanted to think about at the moment.

"Oh. . . Rainbow. . . T-T-Thank you. . ." Rarity stammmered out, still in shock. Rainbow looked straight into Rarity's eyes. They glimmered with a happy sort of innocence. Not a childish innocence, but a happy innocence. She still knew much about adult topics, how hurtful people could be, but her eyes glistened with a childish acceptance of everyone, a lack of knowledge of how people could hate each other. She was so caring. . . so . . . loving. . . so. . .

"Shh shh shh. . . Rainbow. . . don't be scared. . . I'm not mad. I'm happy that you saved me! Now come and give your best buddy a great big hug!" Rarity exclaimed.

Rainbow came back to reality noticing how close her head, especially her lips, were to Rarity's face. Rainbow let down her body to lay directly on top of Rarity, nuzzling herself to Rarity's warm and snow-white body. Rarity laid on the floor, allowing Rainbow to snuggle her, while she began petting Rainbow's mane.

"You're a great person, Rainbow. . . I don't think anybody else would have done that for me. . . that was a really brave thing you did. . . you're so. . . brave. . . you're a beautiful pony, Rainbow. Never forget that. Never forget that even if people are mean to you, if people want to hurt you and tell you otherwise, never forget that. You're strong, brave, graceful, and loyal. You're the greatest person I could ever meet. You're. . . I love you Rainbow. I never want to leave you. . . As I said before, I can't love you the way you love me, but I will always love you as a friend. I will always be here for you when you cry, I'll always be here for you when you need someone to just snuggle with." Rarity whispered softly into Rainbow's ear as she began to tear in regret. Rainbow thought about her actions, tearing up in regret. How could she just go ahead and try to kiss Rarity, AGAIN?! She KNEW Rarity did not want her like that. . . but she did it. . . why. . . why can't she just forget about Rarity and just go off on her own. . . why could she not just give up on Rarity. . .