Crystals Grow on Rainbows

Part Two: The Unicorn and the Pegasi.

"Having any luck in your search?" Twilight had taken the chance to help Rarity wash and dry her clothes in order to talk in a more relaxed situation. Keeping Princess Celestia informed of any developments as additions to the weekly letters proved to be most comfortable for Rarity, and it gave the unicorns more time to talk. Rarity's silence at that point seemed to indicate that it wasn't a positive answer that she would be giving.

Rarity merely stared into the distance at Canterlot as Twilight spoke. Search? What search? It felt like it came down to a choice of Rainbow Dash or nopony at all, silly as it was. Each day she asked herself why she had put herself in such a position, and refused to free herself from it. Clearly it was a one-way attraction in the end, she had seen it all too often in customers herself. Most admirers of none other than the one who produced such beautiful dresses.

"No, not really. I did talk with a few pegasi, but I couldn't picture myself having any involvement with them. And Rainbow Dash has made it clear that she has no interest at all. I fear that I am at a loss here." To Twilight, it seemed rather grim, if not typical of her friend to be so pessimistic. "I mean after all, each of us have gotten to know each other so well, and after the amount of times we've saved Equestria, I find it hard to feel anything deep for others outside of our friendship."

A cough came from the other unicorn, rather surprising for the prideful pony to admit to being that close to all of them. At least she had become more open about her feelings now, which would surely prove to be of great help in future. Right now, at least it meant that Twilight didn't have to inquire about Rarity's life, which saved making her feel exposed and defensive. Nopony wanted another to feel like that.

"Well, maybe you need a break from Ponyville then? Why don't you stay at Canterlot castle for a week, and enjoy the city while you're there. I'll take turns with Fluttershy in the Carousel, so you won't miss any new orders coming in. Right now what you should do is take your mind off things here, and enjoy being a pony like you usually do." While abrupt, it did make sense. Out of all of them, she undoubtedly had the hardest job. Not only did she need to create dresses, but cater to the customers on top of that.

Rarity remained silent for a moment in thought, looking back at her lovely home. A holiday, right when things were starting to pick up again. Still, perhaps that was the whole point of choosing that time in particular to go. "Oh Twilight, you always have ideas that really help out others. But I really don't want to impose on you, after all a week is quite a while." It was quite relieving to see Rarity be so accepting of her proposal, most of the time her advice wasn't taken seriously the first time.

"Well, I can always look at this as a lesson in being aware of other's needs, and you do need a break Rarity. Just don't fret about things here while you're gone, okay?" Fretting was exactly what Rarity did at that moment. A surprised face followed her as she rushed in and out with an assortment of bags and suitcases, roughly packed with her 'necessary items'. After all, for it to feel like a proper holiday, it had to begin with real packing. Using the doorway would ruin the feeling of travelling.

In less than an hour, Rarity was on the train to Canterlot. Twilight hadn't expected a reaction like that, and certainly not one so quick, to the point that there wasn't even time to tell the others. "Well, that's one possible mental breakdown avoided, I guess it's time to go see if Fluttershy's free for the week." There hadn't been any mention of upcoming migrations, or sick animals she needed to take care of. No problems whatsoever in promising Rarity that they'd both be there.

*

"I mean, what am I meant to do? She was literally snuggling up to me, and now I'm starting to hear rumours that she's gone all rainbow-crazy." Fluttershy and Derpy were the two pegasi Rainbow Dash could confide in, confident they wouldn't go blabbing about it to everyone. The latter she wasn't so sure about, but then it would be spectacular if she even understood the situation. Rarity had also confided in Fluttershy, which gave her a valuable perspective. But now Rarity had moved to Twilight, there was no accurate way to keep track of her intentions.

"Well maybe, you shoulda just go along with it!" Derpy bounced around on her cloud eagerly, creating a rather severe lightning storm for the tourists below. Dash buried her face into her own cloud again at the completely wrong answer. Become Rarity's special somepony, and have a foal with her for that matter? Completely uncool, and totally out of the question. Rarity hadn't actually said anything about having a relationship; it'd be really embarrassing to make the first move by accident.

Fluttershy was quick to see the distress, drifting over until she could pat her shoulder for comfort. "Rarity is very understanding and gentle. I'm sure if you just told her that she was making you uncomfortable, she would understand and do her best to not upset you more." Motivation was what Dash needed, the confidence that she could be honest with her friend without hurting her in any way. That was something she'd be cool with doing, making it clear that they could be close friends, but not that close.

It got her thinking again, which was crucial. Dash got to her hooves again, pulling Derpy away from the storm cloud as she paced around. "Alright, I'll just go tell her that this whole special somepony thing is making me uncomfortable. All that I need to do is find her a nice pegasus who likes unicorns. That's the hard bit of this I guess." Derpy sat down beside Fluttershy in a rather sad state, since it seemed like Dash was upset over her bouncing on the cloud. An eye roll followed from the mare in question.

The attention returned to Fluttershy, who ducked her head nervously in what was sure to follow. Usually it was about now that she was asked to do a very dangerous and scary task, while Rainbow Dash complained about her inability to do it. Although in this case, it would be her of all ponies asking. "Okay, whatever it is that you need me to do, I'm ready! Anything to help my friends stay friends!" Dash blinked in surprise, not just at Fluttershy's burst of courage.

"I uh, was just going to suggest you check up on the others. I'm gonna lay low for a bit in the meantime, take a nap and all. See you two soon, I guess!" She was gone mere seconds later, a faint rainbow streak across the sky. Checking up on their other friends didn't seem too bad, though there was no telling what Rarity was thinking at all.