For Her Favor

The weather in Ponyville could not have been more ideal. The sky was clear and Celestia’s sun was bright as ever, and the temperature was perfectly balmy. Everypony seemed to be taking advantage of this glorious day, whether it was gardening, strolling, or going to market. Rarity was one such pony as she felt that such a day would be an excellent opportunity to try out her new parasol, which was the same color as her coat and had diamond embroidery on it. Of course aside from testing her new accessory Rarity had another reason for her to venture out today as she was due to meet with a dear friend of hers, the best flier in Ponyville, and most likely all of Equestria, Rainbow Dash.

Rarity arrived at the restaurant exactly on time for her meeting and walking in she was unsurprised to find that the sky blue daredevil had not yet arrived. Rainbow Dash was nowhere near as stringent about punctuality as Rarity was and she tended to be rather lax about arriving on time. The only time in which Rarity was ever late was when it was fashionable to be so. Deciding to go ahead and take a table, the posh unicorn was seated by the host at a table in the far left corner of the restaurant and ordered a glass of sparkling water as she looked at the menu to decide on what to have, all the while glancing at the door looking for her friend. Fortunately, the unicorn did not have to wait long as she was able to make out that one-of-a-kind rainbow mane all the way across the restaurant and did her best to get her friend’s attention while at the same time maintaining her air of elegance and sophistication.

Rainbow Dash spotted Rarity waving and walked over to the table. As she approached Rarity was immediately aware of the peagsus’ demeanor, which was far less sunny than the marvelous weather outside. Rainbow Dash stood there and glared at Rarity, who did her best to diffuse the hostile environment. “Ah Rainbow my dear I see you got the message I sent you about lunch, and you even made it nearly on time.” She then lifted her hoof to offer her friend the seat across from her, but the pegasus only continued to stare as Rarity only continued to awkwardly smile.

“Oh come now dear are you still upset about our little mishap?” Rarity asked with a genuine mix of curiosity and confusion.

The pegasus finally broke her tense silence and replied shortly, “If by mishap you mean how you knocked me out, dragged me into your basement, tied me up, and then forced me into confessing my intimate feelings...”

“Which you were gracious enough to forgive me for I must add,” the unicorn interjected.

“Yes that all I forgave you for, what I’m still ticked off about is you leaving to go to the spa without untying me from the chair,” Rainbow finished as she finally took the seat offered to her by her friend and kidnapper.

Rarity, knowing that Rainbow had every right to be upset, then let go of her fake smile and gave a genuine look of regret as she addressed her friend, “Yes, yes I know I shouldn’t have knocked you out and tied you up, and frankly you had no reason to forgive me for it, and then to repay such a kind act I then forget to even untie you in my haste, and for that I do apologize.”

Rainbow, seeing the look of sincerity on her friend’s face, briefly gave her a friendly smile before changing it to a face of false indifference, “Well you did only forget me for like twenty minutes,” Rainbow recalled how her imprisonment had finally ended with Rarity storming into the room, spa towel wrapped around her head as she frantically untied the prismatic maned pegasus, apologizing the entire time.

“So yeah I guess I forgive you, but on two conditions.” Rarity’s face turned from relief to concerned. Rainbow held up her left hoof before saying, “One you owe me big time” Rarity hesitantly nodded her head. Rainbow then moved her face just inches from Rarity’s as she continued on with her demands, “and don’t ever, and I mean this Rarity, ever tie me up and leave me somewhere like that again.”

Rarity was fortunate that between Dash’s lack of subtlety and her gift of discernment she was able to easily piece together what the consequences would be for attempting such an insane idea a second time.

“Do not worry my dear, no more druggings and abductions from me anytime soon,” Rarity replied as she raised her hoof in a mock swearing.

“Whoa now back up a second, I never said you could do any of those things, I just said don’t ever do them to me again. I think we could use your… skills in dealing with any stallion,”

“Or mare,” Rarity interjected.

Rainbow, after giving a brief eye-roll, continued, “Or mare that tires to put the moves on Fluttershy.”

Rarity put her hoof to her chin as she pondered Rainbow’s suggestion, then replied, “Well I certainly think that it’s an idea worth exploring. Celestia forbid Fluttershy be approached by some ruffian we would of course have to deal with it, as her friends of course,” Rarity was quick to add that last part.

“Yeah as her friends,” Rainbow retorted, though with some hesitance.

An uncomfortable silence settled upon the two ponies, despite the fact that they had finally cleared the air. Of course it was that revelation which brought on this awkward tension, the one in which both ponies had confessed feelings for the same pony, their mutual friend no less. Each of them had known for some time about how the other felt, though they had never wished to confirm their suspicions for fear of learning what they already knew. Though now this was no longer an issue and Rarity and Rainbow Dash both knew that ignoring it was no longer possible and that they would have to discuss how to continue with their arrangement, knowing full well they each wanted what both had been trying to prevent every other pony from acquiring: Fluttershy’s romantic affection.

Rainbow Dash was the fastest in breaking the silence, “So what exactly do we do now? I mean you know about my feelings and I know about yours. Can we really keep working together?”

After a comfortable pause Rarity gave one of her ‘IDEA’ looks and then with a subtle smile she proceeded to answer her friend’s questions, “Rainbow Dash I think it’s time you and I established some rules of engagement.” Her declaration was met with confusion from her daredevil companion.

…

Those who were enjoying the weather today included not only the citizens of Ponyville , but also the various types of animals under the care of one pony in particular. Fluttershy’s cottage was an absolute hub of various noises and sounds of the plethora of animals coming and going, which was rather uncharacteristic of the usually quiet abode. Fluttershy was in the midst of all her chores, finishing up her last round of feeding and watering. “There you go everybody,” she said sweetly as she poured a generous helping of food that all the animals shared.

She then turned to see her last mouth to feed, her rabbit Angel. Putting down the feed bag, Fluttershy turned to her kitchen table and picked up a nice bowl of chopped carrots, placing it down before the surly bunny.

“There you go Angel, fresh carrots, your favorite,” her voice barely hiding a pleading tone as if she was trying desperately to convince Angel that carrots were indeed his favorite. Fortunately, after sniffing the bowl, Angel proceeded to enjoy the meal offered to him. Fluttershy stood there with a confused expression and almost seemed disappointed at how agreeable the normally troublesome rabbit was being. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth she let Angel and the rest of the animal carry on about their meals deciding to take advantage of the weather to take a casual stroll before heading into Ponyville to see to some affairs.

Fluttershy soon crossed over the stream that separated her home from Sweet Apple Acres, the orchard ran by one of her close friends Applejack. Given her love of animals, Fluttershy would often make visits to the farm and see the various ones that lived there. Also whenever Applejack had a question about anything animal related, such as dealing with rabbits that would steal her crops or anytime one of the chickens or pigs would get sick, she would go to Fluttershy first. Also Fluttershy’s animal friends just loved apples, so Fluttershy had made it a habit to visit regularly and procure some treats for her tenets.

As she passed the main gate leading to the barn, Fluttershy took a moment to appreciate the beauty of Sweet Apple Acres in springtime. It was still months until harvest time and the apples had not come in yet. But the flowers were in full bloom and were quite a sight to behold. Upon arriving to the barn Fluttershy called out to her friend in a restrained, polite manner, “Um Applejack, are you in there I was taking a stroll and decided I would come and see how you were doing.”

As she pushed the door to the barn open, she was met by a pony who was not Applejack, but instead her older brother Big Macintosh. As the name implied, Macintosh was impressive in stature, standing taller than any other pony in Ponyville. However, his size betrayed his incredibly docile nature as Big Mac was the quintessential gentle giant. He didn’t do much talking and when he did it was straightforward and to the point, and was usually delivered with a low, soft voice. Fluttershy did not have many previous interactions with the reserved stallion, since he was usually working the fields whenever she came to visit.

Fluttershy stood there, pawing at the ground with her right forehoof as she and Big Mac stood there for an uncomfortable amount of time before Fluttershy, perhaps for the first time in her life, was the first to speak. “Um hello Big Mac it’s a umm a wonderful morning, so wonderful I was taking a stroll when I happened upon here and just thought I’d see how Applejack was doing.”

Big Mac was kind enough to not have Fluttershy suffer the awkwardness of the conversation alone as he replied, “Eeyup, it’s quite a nice day, now if it’s AJ you’re lookin fer, she’d be out checkin the apple trees in the south field.”

Fluttershy decided she would take advantage of this opportunity to end the conversation since it was obvious that neither of the two were up to the challenge of leading it. Fluttershy gave one final brave attempt, “South field, got it, thank you Big Mac, it’s been… nice,” she uttered that last word after the slightest bit of hesitation, not wanting to over or under exaggerate the quality of her brief conversation with the farm pony.

Big Mac stood as still as he had for the entire duration of the encounter before uttering a solitary, “Eeyup.”

…

“Rules of what now?” Rainbow Dash asked with a look that said she was utterly lost.

“Rules of engagement my dear, they say love is a battlefield after all,” the white unicorn said with an air of sophistication.

“Who’s they, and why do they say that?” Rainbow asked again showing she was no closer to finding her way in this labyrinth of a conversation.

Rarity gave a deadpan look to her straight thinking friend, “that doesn’t matter, what does matter is that love is a very serious thing Rainbow Dash and while a lot of the times it can be quite an amazing thing, it can often times leave ponies broken.”

In response to this revelation Rainbow Dash gave a look that suggested she may not be entirely ready for this romance stuff after all. Sensing her friend’s new doubts, Rarity attempted to backtrack and remove any of the fears from her friend’s mind that she accidentally brought on. “Now Rainbow Dash this doesn’t mean you should start getting worried about what could happen and end up preventing you from trying to make what you want to happen.”

Rainbow Dash seem unfazed by Rarity’s attempt at alleviating her anxiety, so Rarity took her hoof over the table and lifted Dash’s chin until their eyes met and Rarity addressed her, “Now Rainbow Dash I’ll have none of this, you love Fluttershy do you not?” Rainbow nodded her head in affirmation.

“You would do anything to try and get her to see that?” Again, Rainbow nodded.

“Good then you should not worry about such silly things and instead focus on how you’re going to win her favor.” After seeing a small smile creep onto her friend’s face Rarity continued on, “Goodness knows you’ll need your head in the game as it were, what with me as your competition and all. You’ll have no room for mistakes,” Rarity said proudly, complete with a smirk she knew would get the pegasus’ attention.

Rainbow noticed it quite well and was fast in her rebuttal, “Oh I see how it is, well let me tell you that Rainbow Dash loses to no pony, and that I ALWAYS have my head in the game.”

Seeing Rainbow fall for her provocation was a small treasure for Rarity and her grin reflected that, “That’s excellent to hear my dear, now since you and I are going to be romantic rivals I believe we need to address the rules of this little endeavor as I mentioned earlier, we need to have limitations as to what we can and can’t do in our efforts to win over Fluttershy, both for her sake and our own, agreed?”

“Agreed,” the pegasus replied.

“Good then I say we leave for a place a bit more out of the spotlight, our constantly bringing our faces together and touching each others’ chins has started to get us some stares from some of the other patrons.”

Rainbow looked up and noticed that scattered throughout the restaurant ponies here and there were staring at the two, trying to remain undetected in their peeping efforts.

“Yeah I think that might be a good idea,” Rainbow said.

Rarity then called over to the waiter, “check please.”

…

Fluttershy made her quick trek over from the barn and her awkward, and thankfully brief, encounter with Big Macintosh when she finally noticed that iconic Stetson hat worn by her friend Applejack. The orange farmer pony was in the middle of checking to make sure the trees were free of worms, otherwise they would be in for quite a mess when the Apples really began to come in. Just as she finished inspecting the last tree for that row, she turned to notice her pegasus friend.

“Why good morning Fluttershy, fancy seeing you here today,” she said cheerfully in her strong, country accent.

“Oh hello Applejack, I hope you’re not too busy, I was taking a walk when I decided to come over and say hi, but I ran into your brother at the barn and he said you were out here in fields so I thought I’d come and check how busy you were before I decided to bother you,” Fluttershy said in her mild voice. She was always certain to make sure she never inconvenienced her friends, which was something Applejack always appreciated about her, even if she never told her since she was afraid it would only embarrass her and cause her to get flustered.

“Why it’s no trouble, ah’m not so much workin as ah’m just checkin the trees for any varmints that might try and mess up our crop before it even gets here,” said the farm pony.

“Oh well if you need any help dealing with small creatures, you know I’ll always be available to help,” the pegasus replied.

“Thanks sugar cube, ah really appreciate it, now what can I do you for? Ya mentioned comin out here to talk ta me, so what about?”

Fluttershy then took on a look more familiar to her, one of mild anxiety as she looked around as if to make sure no pony was eavesdropping. Once she was finally certain they were indeed alone she looked to her friend and said, “Well you know how recently I decided to try um… dating?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Applejack inquired.

“Well, um so I’ve gone on a couple of dates now, though I was surprised at how many stallions there were who seemed willing to go out with me,” Fluttershy said with genuine innocence.

Applejack replied with a fair amounts of sarcasm that she was thankful went over her friend’s head, “Gee how surprising.” Perhaps it was the fact that Fluttershy was a former model Applejack thought to herself. Sure her career had lasted barely a week, but that didn’t change the fact that during her brief stint she became the talk of the town, both of mares, and especially stallions. The fact that she was now on the market, Applejack knew the fellas would be lining up.

However, Applejack was afraid she knew of another reason she would be popular with the local male population, namely they all thought she would be a passive pushover. Fluttershy was soft spoken and timid, so unfortunately ponies sometimes felt they could take advantage of that, even those within their own group did from time to time. She knew that when Fluttershy came to all of them and said she was going to try her hoof at dating, that she would need to be on the lookout for any pony that tried to mistake Fluttershy’s nature as a sign they could have an easy time with her. So far things had not progressed to that, but she remained ever vigilant nonetheless.

Fluttershy continued on, “I was surprised as well, so far I’ve been on three dates, and well each one has been… interesting,” she finished after briefly struggling to find an adequate word.

“Interesting?” Applejack repeated with a hint of curiosity.

“Yes, first there was that date I went on with Thunderlane, who tried to take me to The Bucking Bronco,” Fluttershy recalled with little enthusiasm.

The Bucking Bronco? SERIOUSLY!? Applejack thought with great anger as she could not believe that Fluttershy’s first date knew so little about her as to take her to one of the least likely places for her to enjoy.

“Ah can’t believe that darn idiot, takin a fine lady such as yerself to a place like that, it’s the rowdiest bar in town,” Applejack said as she attempted to vent out her frustrations.

Fluttershy seemed aware of her friend’s anger and attempted to downplay it, “Oh it wasn’t all that bad Applejack, it was just very loud, and everypony seemed to like to play a little too rough,” she then noticed the fire in her friend’s eyes flare up more, “Oh but nopony was like that with me, I sat on a barstool and watched the whole thing.”

“So then what exactly sort of interesting thing happened on this date Fluttershy?” Applejack asked in the hopes Fluttershy wouldn’t give her another good reason why she shouldn’t go and find Thunderlane and give him a good kick in the teeth.

“Well, he left me to get us some drinks and he cut through the middle portion of the bar where the most ponies were located. Then not long after a fight erupted right in the middle of the crowd, and soon everypony was either fighting or yelling and it was horrible, I tried to see if I could find Thunderlane but I couldn’t get too close to the brawl in the middle.”

At this point Applejack was so furious that Thunderlane could be dumb enough to take Fluttershy of all ponies to a place like that, that she was certain that he should hope he would never bump into her again, less she kick him into next Tuesday.

“Why that sounds horrible, sugar cube,” AJ doing her best to suppress her righteous fury in an effort to comfort the

pegasus.

Fluttershy however was not traumatized like AJ thought she would be, “Oh well it was awful, and I didn’t know what to do when suddenly I heard this whistling noise followed by somepony calling my name. I then looked over to see a door had been opened and I immediately took it, ending up right outside the bar so I was able to get out of there easy.”

“Well that’s a relief to hear, I hope you never decide to let some stallion take you there again, so what happened to Thunderlane?” Applejack asked remembering there was still a missing piece to this story.

“Oh well I was finally able to make it to his house the next day and his brother, who is just the cutest little colt, told me he was in Ponyville Hospital with a sprained arm and a mild concussion. I went to check on him and he seemed fine, unconscious, but still fine all the same.”

“Serves him right for thinking that place was appropriate for a date in the first place, anything else?” Applejack asked.

“Well the next date I went on was with Ace, the tennis player,” Applejack nodded her head knowing which pony she was talking about. She knew Ace well seeing as it was his racket that Apple Bloom had used to make avant-garde art with apples in an early attempt to earn her cutie mark.

“Please don’t tell me he took ya to another bar?” said Applejack in a pleading manner.

“Well no he took me to a local country club for a game of tennis,” Fluttershy replied.

Hmm again not really Fluttershy’s thing, but I guess it’s better than taking her to another rowdy bar. Still Applejack was displeased that all these stallions so far seemed to be terrible date planners. “So uh how did tennis play out?”

“It didn’t, see he bought me this new tennis outfit he wanted me to wear, and it was really cute so I went to the bathroom to change into it since you know I don’t like dressing in front of other ponies.”

Applejack could understand that since trying to maneuver clothes on could lead to some embarrassing positions.

“After a few minutes I finally got dressed and walked back outside only to find Ace was being escorted by a security pony, apparently there was a problem with his membership account so they had to remove him,” Fluttershy finished.

“Why that sounds like a terrible stroke of luck, did you have to leave too?” Applejack asked.

“No, just as I was about to escort myself one of the stewards came up to me and said somepony had anonymously paid for me to enjoy a one-day special membership and that I had also received a free day spa appointment, so I decided I would try out their spa, you know so I could tell Rarity about it in case she wanted to try it out since I’m pretty sure she’s a member there too.”

“Well at least ya got something out of it, so sorry though about both of your dates not going so well, what happened with the third?” By this point Applejack was afraid to ask, but she had to admit both of those situations occurring to same pony did come across as peculiar.

“Well my third attempt was with Meadow Song, and he took me to a karaoke bar, which I had no problem with since it was a lot nicer than the place Thunderlane took me to, and he was nice and all, well until he had a few too many drinks and went up and started singing. Now I know his talent is related to guitar playing thanks to his cutie mark but his singing was well… a wonderful effort,” Applejack could guess that his singing left much to be desired, still at least this date seemed to go alright.

“So the date when fine but it turned out I just wasn’t that into him” Fluttershy uttered with great effort in attempting to avoid coming off as overly critical.

Applejack was pleased that Fluttershy’s last date suffered from usual issues like lack of chemistry instead of some freaky occurrence. “Well ah’m glad that you didn’t have any more weird happenings.”

“Oh but I did, it was just two days ago when Thunderlane came up to me in town to try and ask me out again, now I was considering giving him another shot, but before I could even answer a random couch on a cart came through and hit him.”

“Whoa nelly! What happened? Is he alright?” Applejack asked excitedly. For the first time she actually felt sorry for the poor fool.

“Oh he’s fine but he received another concussion and he’s still resting in Ponyville Hospital again. So I was never able to take him up on his offer.”

While Applejack was genuinely concerned for Thunderlane’s well being, she didn’t want anypony being seriously hurt, not intentionally anyway. Sure she was a tad thankful that Fluttershy was inadvertently able to avoid what would have probably been another disastrous date. “Well I’m sorry to hear you’ve been havin such a rough time of it, what with this datin and all do you think you might try and take a break?”

“Um not really I’m still going to give it a try, each date got progressively better after all. I went from almost getting into a bar fight to getting a free day spa trip to actually having a good night, even if I didn’t end up liking the pony romantically or anything.”

“Well ah’m proud of you for keepin a stiff upper lip Fluttershy, and I hope you find the stallion of your dreams,” the earth pony said with genuine care.

Fluttershy then moved in to hug her friend around her neck, “Thanks Applejack I really appreciate you listening to me talk, I’ve been meaning to tell someone, usually it’d be Rarity but she’s been busy a lot lately whenever I try to find her. So I tried Rainbow Dash as well, but oddly enough she was busy too, luckily Rarity and I have a spa date later today.”

“Well that sounds mighty nice, and I hope it goes well, you’re future forays into romance that is. So I think it’s about time got back to work.”

Fluttershy then gave her friend a friendly goodbye before leaving to head back home and see how her animal friends were doing. Meanwhile Applejack pondered the details her friend had shared with her and she certainly had a lot to think about. Namely the fact that in both instances where Fluttershy’s dates had picked something not necessarily suited for her something had happened to those dates before things could get worse. Also the chances of both those situations being coincidences seemed too great to Applejack, even if math wasn’t her strong suit. Now what really convinced her that something was amiss was that when Thunderlane tried again to ask out Fluttershy he was incapacitated.

For Applejack this seemed to lead to the possibility that somepony was interested in ensuring that all of Fluttershy’s dates, or at least the ones that seemed destined to be terrible, would end early or before they could even begin. Of course Applejack had no hard evidence that this was true and there was of course the biggest question left if this were true: Who was the pony behind all this? Was it one of their friends, somepony else concerned about Fluttershy’s well being, or was it a jealous pony who wanted her all to themselves? Applejack knew one thing, that she would have to watch this matter closely and she would probably have to seek the help of one pony she knew would be perfect for the job.

…

Rarity and Rainbow had moved their meeting from the very public venue of the restaurant to the not-so public venue of Rarity’s boutique. She had made them both a cup of tea and after making sure the cushion she had chosen to sit on was of the precise level of comfort she sat down. Rainbow guzzled her tea down and then looked over to Rarity before impatiently addressing her friend, “So what exactly are these ‘Rules of Engagment’ going to be?” Rainbow Dash asked while using her hooves to act as air quotations.

“Well nothing too formal, just a set of guidelines that we’ll both promise to abide by during the duration of our arrangement. Basically, we’ll just come up with what we’ll both agree are the appropriate manners for trying to win her favor.”

“Again I don’t understand what you mean when you say ‘Win her favor’,” again Dash resorted to her handy hoof air quotes.

Rarity gave a sigh as she attempted to guide her uncouth friend through the finer parts of romance and courtship.”Basically, it means trying to win her approval; you’re trying to be favored by her, for her to give you importance.”

“Well of course Fluttershy already gives me importance, I mean I’m Rainbow Dash after all, her best and oldest friend, of course she’ll give me favor,” Rainbow Dash declared with absolute assurance, puffing her chest out as she floated in midair in a heroic pose.

Rarity could not resist snickering at her friend’s bravado, and even if she underestimated the significant difference between being a friend and being, well something more, Rarity admired Rainbow’s Dash’s confidence.

“Well, alright dear, but just for the sake of formality, how about we go ahead and decide what the rules will be, okay?” Rarity playfully asked as she humored her pegasus friend.

Rainbow, as an avid competitor, understood the competition metaphor and even though she had bent (her words) rules in the past she understood that this situation was different and so playing by the rules took on a different level of importance.

“Alright fine, rule one: No kidnapping or tying each other up.”

Rarity looked up from the table where she had place a scroll of parchment and held a feather pen in her magical grasp to give her friend a deadpan look.

“What I think I’m justified in making that a rule,” the bold flier retorted.

“Alright fine, no kidnapping or restraining,” the unicorn repeated while copying it down onto the parchment, “Next?”

“Well also I think it’s only fair we agree to not give her any extravagant gifts, or take her anywhere way too expensive.”

Rarity then gave Rainbow an accusatory look, “Are you trying to imply something Rainbow Dash?”

“No, I’m just saying it’s not fair to try and use money to win her over, especially when some of us have way less bits to burn than others,” replied the pegasus flatly.

“If you’re insinuating that Fluttershy is the type of mare who could swayed merely by simple material trappings, then you clearly must not know her all that well,” replied Rarity so sharply it could a pony to ribbons.

Rainbow did her best to rebuttal, “I’m not saying that, all I’m saying is that it’s not entirely fair for only one of us to be restricted due to money.”

“Well I’ll agree that gifts themselves should be barred, and I think we should just specify showing good judgment when determining whether a date idea is too extravagant or not.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the unicorn’s attempts to skirt around an issue and avoided directly saying something in a straightforward manner, still she was willing to meet the other mare half way. “Fine, that’s pretty much all I got.”

Rarity then decided it was her turn to contribute to the list, “Well I think it’s important that we keep each other informed about our scheduled plans with Fluttershy, at least as far as official dates go. That way in case one of us asks her out, the other must wait until after that date to do so, and once you have gone out with her you must wait until the other gets to have a chance to ask her out.”

Rainbow thought on Rarity’s proposed rules for a moment before replying plainly, “Yes to the first, no to the second.”

“What why?”

“Because, this isn’t some board game where everyone gets a turn, nor is it some little foal’s softball game where every game has to end in a tie so that no one’s feelings get hurt,” Rainbow said coldly. “I’m all for being fair and giving you a shot, but this is still dating, and weren’t you the one who said ‘Love is Battlefield’?” By this point Rainbow was out to make air-hoof quotations her signature move, it was unfortunate they would not make good poses for her future action figures.

“Well yes I did say that but…” Rarity attempted to explain, but Rainbow Dash was quick to continue with her argument.

“Good, then what happens if say, I ask Fluttershy out and we have a good time and she wants to go out again the next night? What, I have to tell her no and wait until you’re good and ready to ask her out? Or what about you? Is it fair to make you take things at my speed? I mean it’s not like we’re trying to date each other or anything,” Rainbow Dash during the course of her rant had taken to flying again and utilizing her repertoire of dramatic poses. Rarity had to admit Dash did make a valid point but she was also distracting by her final statement.

For some reason Dash bringing up the idea of the two of them dating, even in jest, was just too awkward a thought for her to comprehend.  Her recent increase in time spent with Rainbow was entirely because she had known she liked the same mare and that she would be equally invested in making sure Fluttershy remained single, now they had agreed to give each other the chance to try and win her over. After accepting that Rainbow made sense she nodded her head before speaking, “Fine we agree to let the other know whenever we have a scheduled date, but once this begins it’s any pony’s game correct?” Rainbow gave an affirmative nod.

Rarity however was not yet finished as she addressed her friend, “Well there is one last thing I would like to add, and I think it’s a very crucial rule.” Hearing the conviction in Rarity’s voice got Dash’s attention. Rarity took a breath before continuing, “Now Rainbow, you and I have done a lot together these past few weeks right?”

Dash gave the unicorn a questioning look before answering, “Right.”

“You and I both kept our feelings for Fluttershy a secret from one another, even though we each had suspicions, correct?”

Rainbow merely nodded her head this time.

“Well going from here on out there will be no more secrets between us if, Celestia willing, Fluttershy were to make a move on one of us, or if she accepts one of us as her special somepony, we must let the other know as soon as we can, I think it’s the only fair thing to do.”

“Of course, no problem, also to whoever ends up with her the other won’t get mad, deal?” the Rainbow maned pegasus asked her friend, and her competition.

After a brief moment of nothing, Rarity this time was the one to nod her head affirmatively, albeit hesitantly.

“Cool then,” Rainbow then held out her hoof to Rarity who gave it a quizzical look. “Oh come on Rarity just give me a hoof bump.” Despite still wearing her look on uncertainty, the fashion mare gave the daredevil a well meaning bump of her hoof. Rainbow, looking less slightly disappointed, shrugged her shoulders and then asked, “So is that it, or is there anything else?”

“No I think that about covers it all, all we need to do is each sign it and then it’s official.” The unicorn, with the feather pen still grasped in her magical aura, signed her name before turning the pen and parchment over to her friend, who then took the feather into her mouth and sign her own name as Rarity held the scroll for her. With both names now on the document, Rarity then rolled it up placing it a chest she had against a wall on the far left side of the room.

Rarity then turned to Rainbow Dash and cleared her throat in manner as to gain her attention, “Now that we have settled that I believe now is a perfect time for me to go ahead and already adhere to one of the rules.” Rainbow Dash gave Rarity a puzzled look and the unicorn waited a moment before continuing, “Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and I have are going to have a spa date this afternoon since the one tried to have with her the other day was… interrupted.” Rainbow Dash of course knew Rarity was referring to the day she had tied her and up and then forgotten her.Rainbow Dash, realizing that Rarity had made her first move, and gotten one step ahead of her, looked to her competitor and sighed before giving her simple, one-word answer, “Fine.”

Rarity gave her friend a genuine smile before running up her stairs to her bedroom to get ready for her excursion with Fluttershy while Rainbow walked towards the door to leave.

…

If there was one thing Fluttershy enjoyed above all else it was the sound of silence. Calm, relaxing silence, as she preferred the comfort and security she gained from being able to just sit somewhere avoid any loud noises or distractions. Now she enjoyed the hustle and noise of her cottage when it was filled with the various sounds of her many animal friends eating, playing, and going about their day. However, even she needed a brief retreat from the hustle and sometimes headache of taking care of that many creatures, especially the more high-maintenance ones such as Angel.

Rarity meanwhile was finding it difficult to relax as she kept glancing over at her pegasus friend and object of her desires. The two were currently sharing the hot tub, and Fluttershy had ducked her head under and now her wet mane was sticking to her body, but by Celestia if Rarity didn’t think it was the sexiest thing she had seen in quite awhile. In an attempt to distract her from the alluring sight Rarity tried to strike up a conversation.

“So how has your attempts at dating been going?” Rarity fought her absolute hardest to suppress her look of joy at the answer she already knew she was going to get.

“Um, well interesting,” the pegasus replied calmly. “Unfortunately, none of the stallions really seemed to be what I was looking for exactly.”

“Oh well I’m sorry to hear that Fluttershy, but of course you know how love goes, easy come easy go.” The pegasus seemed less assured by her comment then she would have liked. “Oh come now Fluttershy I’m sure the right pony is out there for you, you just have to keep looking that’s all.”

“Oh I know Rarity and I’m not ready to give up, in fact I have a date lined up for this weekend, it’s just…” the pegasus then hesitated, not quite seeming comfortable with sharing the details of her upcoming date with the inquisitive unicorn.

“It’s just what darling? Who is it you’re going to go out on a date with this time?” Rarity then silently prayed to Celestia that it wasn’t Thunderlane again. She sincerely did not want to have to come up with another way to land the stallion in the hospital, but refrain from seriously hurting him.

“Well I’m going to be going out with… Dr. Flumox,” Fluttershy said with a sense of relief finally coming over her now that she was able to share with the truth with her friend.

It took Rarity just a moment to register this information when it finally hit her. Dr. Flumox, the town veterinarian, but that wasn’t the most important detail of all.

Dr. Flumox was a mare.

Fluttershy was going to go on a date with her first mare.