For Her Favor

Rarity seemed to have lost all connection to the outside world, having not responded or moved since Fluttershy’s announcement as to the identity of her next potential suitor.

“Um, Rarity, are you OK?” Fluttershy asked meekly.

A mare, Fluttershy is going to go out on a date with a mare?

“Rarity, are you OK?” Fluttershy asked again in her second attempt to reach her seemingly distracted friend.

This is good since it proves Fluttershy has at least a basic interest in mares, which means if I were to confess to her she wouldn’t say no simply because we were both the same gender.

“Rarity, can you hear me? Please answer me.” Fluttershy pleaded with her unicorn friend

Not that I thought she would say no or anything, I know she will certainly accept my feelings. Well, that is unless her date with this Dr. Flumox goes well and the two of them and they decide to become a couple. But, I’m certain that won’t happen and this date will simply end like the others, well preferably without any fights or security getting involved.

“RARITY!” Fluttershy yelled out in an uncharacteristically loud volume for her, which of course was barely over most ponies’ normal decibel level.

Rarity was snapped back to reality by Fluttershy’s efforts, realizing she had been heavily lost in her overactive imagination.

“Umm, yes what was it you were saying dear?” Rarity said in her attempt to deflect any questions over her absentmindedness.

“Oh well I said that I was going on a date this Saturday with Dr. Flumox, you know she’s the town veterinarian. I know it may seem strange, me going out with another mare, but well I’ve been thinking that maybe the reason my dates have gone so well is maybe because I might not be into stallions,” Fluttershy said as she looked down into the steaming bath water and attempted to keep herself preoccupied playing with her hooves. Rarity could easily tell that Fluttershy was significantly less relaxed than she had been before they got onto the subject of Fluttershy’s impending date. Fluttershy continued, “So when word got around town that I was dating I was of course approached by a lot of the stallions, but I was um… also approached… by a lot of um mares too,” Fluttershy spoke gradually quieter the longer her conversation carried on.

Rarity could tell that Fluttershy was very nervous, though she could not understand why. She and Fluttershy had always shared a close relationship, and were very open with one another, and talked about their secrets with one another. Well, almost all their secrets, since currently Rarity was in a rather delicate situation with Rainbow which involved her and the brash pegasus interfering with Fluttershy’s love life so as to prevent someone else from taking her away. Rarity knew that Fluttershy would more than likely be furious over their interference in her love life.

As Rarity once again came back from another internal discussion with herself, she looked up to see Fluttershy, only to notice for the first time how unhappy she looked. She then attempted to uncover the root of Fluttershy’s sudden melancholy. “Why Fluttershy, whatever is the matter? For a mare so popular with the ponies, both stallion and now mare, you seem so upset.”

Before Rarity could continue with her well-intentioned efforts at cheering the pegasus up, Fluttershy began to whimper, in an attempt to suppress her urge to cry, before ultimately losing that battle. The sun-yellow pegasus simply sat there with tears now freely flowing from her eyes, and the only sound in the bath was her whimpering and the tears hitting the bathwater. Rarity could not understand how this had all happened so quickly, how one minute it was a typical day at the spa to now having a Fluttershy in tears and Rarity left to wonder how to rectify the situation. Rarity was at a complete loss for words, which was a rather uncommon occurrence, and left with no other option, she did the only thing she could think to do. She waded over to her friend and took her in a warm, caring embrace.

“Sssh, there, there Fluttershy, it’s alright, why whatever is the matter dear?” asked Rarity as she began to rock her friend in an attempt to calm her down while attempting to unearth the reason for her emotional breakdown.

Fighting back further sobs, Fluttershy answered in between her crying, “Oh Rarity, I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what, my dear?” Rarity asked with genuine confusion.

After a brief moment of silence aside from Flutterhy, who had come down from her sobbing back to an occasional sniffling, the introverted pegasus finally addressed her confused and comforting friend, “For going out with Dr. Flumox, I know that she’s a mare, and I wasn’t sure how you would react to me dating another mare.”

Rarity was relieved to find out that Fluttershy’s reason for being upset was something so far from the truth, but she was equally hurt that her friend would assume that Rarity would be so judgmental and so petty as to be upset at Fluttershy for simply dating somepony of the same gender. Of course she also had to suppress any of the humor she found in the enormous irony of being accused of being homophobic.

“Fluttershy, why would you ever think I would be such a close-minded pony, or that I would ever think badly of you for simply dating a mare?” she asked the pegasus, holding back any feelings of resentment and merely expressing ones of hurt and confusion.

The look on Fluttershy’s face at Rarity’s question was a mix of surprise and relief, like she had received a wonderful gift, but was not sure what exactly to do with it. “Oh, Rarity I didn’t think, I mean I don’t think you’re close minded, I just didn’t know how you felt about, ponies you know… dating other ponies of the same…sex,” Fluttershy hesitated heavily on the last word, and while she was still awkward in her speech, Rarity could tell she had shifted from the completely unhappy mare she had been only minutes ago back to the more typical Fluttershy.

“So I decided to tell you and see how you reacted, and when I looked at your face, you seemed to have this look, like you were sad or disappointed,” the pony said with a sense of melancholy as the memories from just moments earlier were replayed in her mind.

That’s when it finally dawned on Rarity, having now put together the final piece of the puzzle. Her reaction to Fluttershy’s news did make the unicorn feel sad and disappointed, but not because Fluttershy was dating a mare, but because once again Rarity was in a position she did not want to be in. Once again some other pony had taken the initiative that she had avoided, and now she was having to gamble on Fluttershy finding yet another pony with whom a relationship simply would not work. Of course Rarity knew the longer this game went on, the more likely the results would not end up in her favor. However, Rarity knew that now was not the time to worry about such things and deal with the issue at hand.

“Why Fluttershy darling, I want to make this very clear to you, who you decide to date, fall in love with, share intimacy with, and even marry is entirely your decision. Gender shouldn’t hold you back from choosing the right pony that fits any of those roles for you, and whoever it is you decide to be with, just know that I will support you no matter what.”

Especially if you were to choose me, Rarity thought to herself.

Rarity continued, “Also let me be clear, if anypony, and I mean this Fluttershy, anypony says, or does, or threatens to do anything to you because of your decision of who you want to be with, then you tell me and I will make them regret it. I don’t care if it’s one of our friends or even one of the princesses herself. I will always be there or you Fluttershy, no matter what.”

Rarity’s declaration to Fluttershy fell over her like a warm blanket, and the pegasus’ demeanor made a drastic change from what it had been just mere moments ago. She then put on a small, genuine smile, and looked up to her friend and simply replied, “Thank you Rarity.”

For Rarity, such a response was all that was needed and she looked to her friend, who she had vowed to always be there for and as she continued to hold her in her embraced that she wished was more than just an act of friendship she answered, “Always my dear.”

…

Applejack never considered herself a nosy pony. Living in Ponyville was a reasonably sized community, though very small when compared to Equestria’s larger cities like Manehattan, Las Pegasus, or Vanhoover. Still Ponyville was the kind of place where nearly everypony knew everypony else, especially if they were like Applejack and had lived here their entire life. Naturally, in such an environment, gossip and rumors were a popular pastime; Rarity in particular was a master of learning and trading other ponies’ secrets.

Applejack had never involved herself in such matters, she found the whole practice dishonest, and if there was one thing that Applejack was, it was honest. However, this was an entirely different situation; she told herself that her involvement was rooted in concern for her friend Fluttershy’s well being. Also her worries were based off of information her pegasus friend had shared with her openly. Once she had convinced herself enough that her investigation was justified, Applejack set about on her quest to confirm her suspicions: that somepony was interfering with Fluttershy’s love life.

While she was hardly a mathematician, Applejack knew that the odds that all of the recent, strange occurrences during Fluttershy’s dates were mere coincidences were very small. Fortunately, the pony that Applejack had gone to see and discuss this mystery was one who could probably give the farm pony those precise figures. Finally making it to the front door of Golden Oaks Public Library, Applejack proceeded to rap on the door, waiting for the inevitable reply from its occupant and handler. Instead another voice came to her from behind the door, a voice much less mature.

“Coming, be there in a second," came a young male voice from the other side of the door, which opened to reveal Spike, "Oh hey Applejack what brings you here?"

“Oh nothin’ in particular Spike, I just had somethin’ to talk with Twilight about, I’m hoping she ain’t too busy,” said the earth pony casually.

After a brief pause, Spike rubbed his chin in a pondering manner before he looked to Applejack and replied, “Well, she has been busy all morning working on some magic thing, though I’m not entirely sure what it is. I’m sure she could make some time for you, she’s currently working downstairs. Do you want me to call her up?”

Before he could proceed to call Twilight to come up, Applejack interrupted, “Oh no that won’t be necessary, I can just go down and see if she ain’t too busy myself, thank ya’ kindly Spike for tellin’ me.”

“Oh no problem, while you’re down there could you tell Twilight I’ll be bringing down lunch soon,” the young dragon asked.

“Sure thing,” said Applejack as she tipped her hat to the helpful infant assistant and then walked over to the door that led down to Twilight’s basement laboratory.

Twilight’s underground laboratory was the primary place where she implemented the fruits of her laborious studying, where the theoretical became practical. If there was anything that Twilight loved as much as probing the deeply held secrets of the magical arts, it was finding ways to use those discoveries to help ponykind. Sure a lot of Twilight’s spells had a tendency to backfire, but success was nothing more than the end result of a series of failures, so she was always happy to continue experimenting and finding new avenues in which magic could be studied and then utilized.

At the moment Twilight found herself working on a request from her friend, a rather simple piece by comparison to some of her more ambitious magical projects. Her work in question were two small accessories, a scarf and a pair of glasses, each she planned to enchant with a rather elementary visual deception spell, and any pony who wore either of these items would be able to take on a false appearance.

Simply put, they were disguise charms.

These charms in question would change just the outward appearance of whatever pony wore them. The changes in question were just the most basic of traits: coat color, mane and tail style, cutie marks. For Twilight, such magic wasn’t all that difficult, though she could understand how another unicorn not as adept at magic as herself would have difficulty with it. After all Rarity’s magical strength was in finding precious stones, not charms.

It had only been a few days since Twilight’ fashion-minded friend had come to her with the request for a reliable means of disguising one’s appearance, and Twilight felt that these items would serve that function perfectly. Of course, Twilight had no idea why Rarity would require such magic in the first place or why she had asked her to not tell any other pony (or dragon Rarity was quick to add) from knowing about this commission. However, Twilight took that as a sign to best not delve deeper into such matters, after curiosity was what killed the cat.

It was at that moment Twilight heard a knock on the door, which Twilight responded by stowing away the nearly finished magical trinkets in a drawer of her work desk before acknowledging her new visitor.

“Yes, who is it?” asked the unicorn.

“Oh it’s only a certain unicorn’s favorite apple farmer in all Equestria,” replied the voice in that unmistakable drawl which Twilight knew all too well, and of course Twilight decided to have some fun with.

“Oh you mean Big Macintosh,” Twilight replied with false innocence.

After a brief moment of silence the voice replied, in a much less smug manner, “Um no, your actual favorite apple farmer.”

“Braeburn?” Twilight chimed in cheerful voice as innocent as a schoolfilly.

At that moment the door opened to reveal Applejack, wearing a deadpanned look that suggested she had not taken kindly to Twilight successful effort at ruffling the cowpony’s coat. Seeing such a look caused Twilight to begin giggling as Applejack descended the stairs into the laboratory.

“Oh, har har Twi, you think you’re so clever, doncha?” asked Applejack flatly.

Still maintaining her air of innocence Twilight replied while obviously avoiding her friend’s glare, “Oh I have no idea what you are talking about Applejack, I was just being honest, figured you would appreciate me being so forthright.”

“Alright, alright ya had yer fun at mah expense, but now we need to get down to business, namely there somethin' important I need to discuss wit you Twi,” Applejack as she dropped her jovial aura and instead gave a look of stern seriousness that the unicorn immediately picked up on.

“Alright then Applejack, what is it you wanted to talk about?”

…

Rarity was a lady, of that she sure, and ladies did not rush, of this she was doubly sure. However, Rarity had managed to find a way in which to hurry on her way while avoiding tarnishing her well built reputation as a sophisticated lady. She simply ran so fast that nopony would be able to tell that it was her, which was somewhat fast for the unicorn that normally avoided physical exertion and unnecessary perspiration. Still she knew that she desperately needed to find her partner in crime and inform her of the latest news, as well as discuss what their next move should be.

After scurrying about town looking for every stray cloud in the sky she could find, Rarity had all but given up hope of finding the pegaus with the one-of-a-kind mane, only until fate finally took pity on her. Rarity had finally found just the random cloud she had been searching for, the one that was currently occupied by temporary tenant, who had made the soft, plush structure into a makeshift bed for which they could nap on.

If there was one thing that Rarity knew was just as unladylike as running, it was shouting, but Rarity was in a mood where such self-imposed regulations gave way to absolute necessity.

“Rainbow Dash wake up!” the unicorn yelled in an effort to gain the skypony’s attention, an effort which resulted in great success as Rainbow Dash woke up surprisingly easy.

“Wuzzat? Who’s there?” said Rainbow Dash in slurred words, still not entirely back in the waking world.

Again Rarity addressed her friend in a spirited manner, “Rainbow Dash this is not a time for naps we have a serious problem on our hooves.”

“Problem, what problem?” said Dash in a much clearer voice as she arced her back in a stretch, and after quickly stretching her wings she descended from her momentary sleeping quarters to come stand next to her ground-imprisoned friend.

“Well I was at my spa date with Fluttershy and well… it seems we have yet another complication,” said Rarity in a hesitant tone as she struggled to find the perfect words to describe her unfortunate news.

Rainbow Dash took on a severe face, knowing full well what Rarity meant, she then looked to her friend and asked simply, “Who is it this time?”

After pausing for a short while, Rarity finally looked up to her sky blue friend and answered, “Dr. Flumox”.

Surprisingly, Rainbow wore a look of confusion and asked with genuine questioning, “Who?”

Rarity, fighting the desire to facehoof in exasperation, looked back at Dash with a deadpanned look, “Dr. Flumox, you know, the town veterinarian.” Rainbow Dash continued to wear a lost look on her face, before finally the realization hit her and she gasped, “You mean that mare?”

As Rainbow said the words and their meaning washed over her, she took on this distant look as she began to realize what all this meant. Fluttershy was going to go out with another mare, which meant she was into mares and had finally given up on those useless stallions. Rainbow felt her chest swell with the feeling of victory, her favorite feeling. She then took the sky and struck another one of her signature poses.

“Aww yeah, I knew that Fluttershy would totally be into me, now all I need to do is ask her out and..”

“WAIT! You can’t do that Rainbow Dash!” shouted Rarity as she caught the brash flier by her tail with her teeth, she then muttered with Rainbow-colored strands of tail in her mouth, “You cannot do that, Fluttershy has a date tomorrow, we can’t just go in there and rattle her cage, this would absolutely unhinge her and possibly undue all her progress.”

Of course, all of what Rarity said just came across as mumbled to Rainbow Dash, who just gave the unicorn a flat look before yanking her tail out of the unicorn’s mouth. Rarity, having now done nearly half of a dozen unladylike things in just the past hour, gave a nervous laugh before readdressing her partner, “Now Rainbow Dash I know how you are feeling right now, trust me I was just as excited about this new ‘development’ as you are, but we can’t just go over there and confess our love for her now can we?”

After the briefest of pauses, Rainbow looked to Rarity and simply replied, “You can’t but I can.” Rainbow then began to make a quick break for it, but she was stopped again by something grabbing her tail. This time however, Rarity had implemented her magic, holding Dash’s tail in her magical aura.

“Rainbow, I’m serious, now we NEED to talk about this, RIGHT NOW!” The volume in Rarity’s voice had only grown higher as she attempted to get her point across to the stubborn mare. As stubborn and bullheaded as Rainbow Dash was, she certainly was not suicidal, and she could see that Rarity was quite serious, so she heaved a heavy sigh and looked to her friend, having lost all her celebratory bravado.

“Alright fine, but um can we do it again at your place, it um seems we have some company,” Rainbow Dash whispered in an attempt to hide her words from the recent group of onlookers who had been attracted to the spectacle that Rainbow and Rarity had been putting on. Rarity then looked at all the other ponies bitterly before pointing Dash in the direction towards her boutique.

…

Twilight’s brow was furrowed as her studious mind began to mull over the details of what her farmer friend had told her. Seeing as her math skills were impeccable, Twilight knew that the odds of two of her dates ending in such unusual circumstances sequentially, followed by one of those same ponies suffering a freak accident just days later, were astronomical. Still they had no evidence to back up Applejack’s theory, merely speculation. This, however, did not change the fact that it was good speculation, and Twilight knew that they should at least look into this more, simply for the sake of Fluttershy if anything.

“Hmm I must admit AJ, this is just all far too strange for it to be simple coincidence, and we may need to definitely keep an eye out for anything further,” Twilight said as she turned to head back to her work desk and stood in front of the drawer that hid the magical curios she had made for Rarity.

Applejack however, seemed opposed to this idea as she looked at Twilight and said bluntly, “Furget ‘keeping an eye out’ we need to be doing somethin' about this.”

Twilight, however, turned her attention away from the drawer and back to Applejack, “Wait! We can’t just go into this without any evidence. I mean I know it’s a pretty reasonable theory, but there is still the slight chance we could be wrong, and if we were to make a spectacle of it all, then it would end in an utter disaster.” Applejack considered what her friend was saying as she put her hoof to her chin to ponder the likely negative ramifications should they end up being wrong.

“Yeah, I guess yer right about this Twi, also this is Fluttershy we’re talking about, but hay we there’s has to be somethin' we can do,” the farm pony ask pleadingly to Twilight.

With Applejack wrangled in, Twilight went back to considering the drawer again that held the disguise charms, and a thought came into her head, one she had been thinking on for the past few minutes. Twilight had learned many lessons about friendship during her time in Ponyville. She knew that meddling in the affairs of her friends was not something she should do. However, she also knew that sometimes when your friends needed help you should be there for them, this was especially true if the friend in question was afraid to seek help, or in this case probably not even aware help was needed.

“Now AJ, I will admit I am just as concerned about this as you are, and frankly I think we should look into it. The only problem is we would need a means of tailing Fluttershy without being caught, and well I think I may have a solution to that actually,” Twilight said with great hesitation.

Applejack then looked up to her friend wearing a face of great confusion, “Ya do?” she asked simply.

Twilight then gave an awkward laugh, before she answered her best friend’s question, “Um well yes, I have recently learned a new spell that can affect the most basic physical traits of a pony. Coat color, mane and tail style, that sort of thing. Now I could use this spell on the two of us and make us look like completely different ponies, and we could theoretically follow Fluttershy on her next day and keep an eye out for trouble.”

Applejack had a lot to consider and many options to weigh. Of course with Twilight’s spell they could easily follow Fluttershy and get away with it, this assuming the spell worked. There were of course several dozen things that could go wrong, both magical and accidental. Applejack then broke free from her deep concentration to look at Twilight, whose look suggested she might not have as much confidence in her own plan as Applejack wished she did.

“Ah don’t know Twi, aside from whatever problems could occur, there’s also the fact that spying on Fluttershy might not be the best plan now that ah’ve had time ta think bout it. Ah know ah was the one who came to ya, but there’s just not somethin' right about following her on her date is all. If only there was sum way we could just happen to appear only when somethin' bad happens, then we would have a good reason ta be there.”

Twilight of course agreed wholeheartedly with Applejack, and now that both of them had admitted it, now was the time to come up with a new plan. As the two ponies tried to formulate the perfect plan, Twilight thought more on Rarity’s charms, only this time it wasn’t on the spell used to make the charms. Instead, Twilight thought for a moment on charms in general, and then as if Princess Luna herself had walked into Twilight’s mind with a megaphone to get the point across, the purple unicorn was hit with an idea.

“That's it! Oh AJ, you're a genius!” Twilight proclaimed as she ran over to take her best friend in a spinning hug, both of them falling to the floor after Twilight inevitably lost balance.

As the two laid on the floor, and once she had gotten over the effects of the spinning, Applejack looked to her friend before asking, “Haha, well thank ya kindly Twilight, but ah’m not sure what ya mean.”

Twilight then got up, and as she gave her friend a hoof to help her do the same she explained her revelation. “I think there is a way we can be there, but only when we’re needed. I can make a charm, which will allow Fluttershy to essentially carry one of my spells with her wherever she goes.”

The first part of Twilight’s plan certainly intrigued the farmer mare, she may have known little to nothing about magic, but with spending so much time around Twilight she had overtime picked up a thing or too through sheer osmosis.

Twilight, then walked over to a chalkboard, and proceeded to make a visual representation of her idea. “See for this case, I can use a Danger Perception Spell, and enchant something for Fluttershy to carry around with that spell. Then, if and when something should attempt to happen, I can be alerted of it from here, so long as Fluttershy’s date remains roughly in the area of the town. See when I get an alert from the spell, then I can just magically teleport the two of us there easy, and we’ll be there right when it happens.”

Applejack had to admit that such a plan sounded good, and it solved all of the major problems with just them going themselves. She trusted that Twilight knew what she was talking about when it came to magic, and that the spell would work properly, despite whatever… mishaps might have occurred in the past due to Twilight’s magical experimentation (Applejack remembered in particular, an incident in which Twilight and she swapped bodies for an entire day). Still Applejack was willing to give this plan a try and gave her an affirmative nod.

Twilight, now wearing a triumphant smile, looked over her workbench before finding what she was looking for. She then held up a pendant to show Applejack. The pendant was small, simple, and shaped like a tulip, it was a shimmering pink, but was in no way gaudy or overly ornate.

“Alright then, now that we have a plan, we can implement it, all I need to do is put the alarm spell on this pendant. Meanwhile I want you to go find Fluttershy and bring her here,” Applejack responded to this with a questioning look and a raised brow. “I think if we explain to her the situation, while assuring her that with this she’ll be in good hooves, she’ll gladly wear it. Then we’ll be able to be there for her in the event something should go wrong, and all without having to intrude on her personal relationship.”

Applejack again gave an affirming nod, “Well I think it sounds like a swell idea Twi, I think Fluttershy is havin’ one of her spa dates with Rarity, so I’ll go see if she’s still there or not.” Applejack then turned around and ran up the stairs and through the door leading out of the library basement. Twilight then turned her attention to her newest project.

…

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE SHOULD STOP!?”

Rarity had anticipated Dash’s reaction to her proposal, hence why she had the earmuffs at the ready. Rarity had learned from her recent dealings with the brash pegasus that it was usually just better to let her blow off her steam. After Rainbow had a chance to calm down she came down from where she had flown up and sat back down on Rarity’s luxurious love seat, her wing still flared out, but beginning to retract.

Rarity decided that now would be a good time to resume her discussion, “Dash all I am saying is that you and I should evaluate whether or not to continue with our interfering in Fluttershy’s love life.” Rarity noticed Rainbow Dash’s wings rise up again, an obvious sign the blue pegasus’ emotions were still highly wound up, she then politely moved a cup of tea sing her magic over to Rainbow, hoping desperately she would drink it.

“Rainbow, would you please just have some of this herbal tea, it will help calm your nerves.”

“I’m not nervous, I’m confused. First of all why did we go through all this trouble of setting rules, and even asking Twilight to make us some magic disguises, just to have you say we should stop?” Rainbow Dash’s voice grew gradually louder as she went on, and she grew more and more agitated.

“Well Rainbow Dash it’s just that, well after thinking about all that we’ve… done together, I have to wonder if this is right,” the unicorn’s voice was full of hesitation and doubt, a reflection of her feelings about her actions over the past couple of weeks.

“I know the both of us began doing this because we each had ulterior motives,” the SAME ulterior motive, the debutante added with the slightest bit of amusement.

“Yeah we did, but so what, we also knew that there would be some jerks that would try and take advantage of Fluttershy, and then just look at what happened.” The pegasus sniffed her teacup, no doubt attempting to verify that it had not been tampered with, before she continued without taking a sip of the brown, steaming liquid. “First she goes out with Thunderlane. Now on top of being lazy and unreliable, Thunderlane is also a bit of a dense cloud.”

Rarity had to unfortunately agree, while he had his moments, like when he helped rescue Rarity when she and her friends were flung from Twilight’s balloon when the group came to visit at the Wonderbolt’s Academy, Thunderlane was a bit… slow on the uptake.

“I mean it’s his first date with a mare, never mind that this is Fluttershy of all ponies, and he chooses The Bucking Bronco of all places? I mean I don’t think you could pick a worst first date if you tried.”

Rarity vividly remembered that night at the Bucking Bronco. It was an absolutely horrid place for ruffians, and she could not comprehend why anyone would have a date there, let alone somepony like Fluttershy. She also remembered the anger she felt when she saw that Thunderlane had left Fluttershy all alone to go get drinks, and just when Rainbow had went to go confront Thunderlane about it the worst possible thing occurred. Thunderlane had slid on a piece of ice while walking back with his hooves full with the drinks, crashing into one gigantic, and surly-looking earth pony. This led to series pushes, shoves, and hits that led to the entire bar erupting into an all-out brawl. Quickly Dash and Rarity made for the front exit and circled around to a side door they had noticed earlier, and opened it to find that Fluttershy had moved over towards the exit to get as far from the mayhem as possible. Rarity called Fluttershy’s name, and thankfully she and Rainbow sped off before she was able to turn and see them, but Fluttershy was able to make it out through the side door and out of the bar.

“I will admit, Thunderlane has an absolutely horrendous taste in dating venues, and yes our being there was what ultimately prevented Fluttershy from getting swept up in that pandemonium,” Rarity said after she had finished recalling that hectic night.

Rainbow nodded, wearing a smug grin at Rarity’s admittance of her being right before she carried on, “Yep, and just when we thought that was bad, let’s not forget the stud who stepped up to bat next, that sleazy tennis player Ace. He takes her to this fancy, shmancy country club to go do boring things like tennis or whatever but then he already has this sexy, little tennis outfit for her to wear, as if he already knew she was going to wear it for him.”

Rarity once again had to concede to Rainbow Dash, Ace’s behavior was rather presumptuous, and that outfit, while cute, was not the most appropriate move for a first date.

“Now I think the only thing worse than him being a creep, is that he was a broke creep, because not five minutes after Fluttershy goes to put the outfit on, security comes and takes him away because his membership had expired.

Fighting back an onset of laughter, Rarity remembered Ace’s futile attempts to persuade the club security to allow him to stay, a request they ultimately denied. “I must admit if we had not been there, it would have been an embarrassment for Fluttershy to have to be escorted out of the club.”

“Ya see? Both times we were there and were able to save Fluttershy from the messes those stallions brought on themselves, it’s obvious she needs us there, so what if we both have crushes on her.”

Rarity of course agreed with Rainbow Dash, on both occasions they were able to help their friend, and helping one’s friend was always a good thing was it not?

For once Rarity was not sure. However, there was one thing she did know, and as much as it pained her to admit it she knew that this had to be brought up.

“But what about her third date Rainbow Dash?”

Dash gave Rarity a perplexed look, and for the first time during the entire conversation she had physically calmed down, though still carrying an uneasy posture.

“What do you mean Rarity?” said the pegasus in an attempt to feign ignorance.

“You know what I’m referring to Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy’s third date, the one she went on with Meadow Song. You remember don’t you? They went to that lovely little karaoke bar, much more Fluttershy’s speed. Even though Fluttershy hates performing in front of others she instead just listened to him and all the other ponies sing.”

Dash of course knew all too well what Rarity was talking about, but for some reason Dash found it more painful to admit that Fluttershy actually had fun on a date for once, instead of yet another evening with a disaster waiting to happen.

“Yeah, but you saw how they had no chemistry, he even admitted it half-way through the date. So once again, failure,” Rainbow said flatly as she crossed her arms as if in an attempt to shield herself from any further attacks.

“Rainbow Dash, we can try and defend preventing Fluttershy from dating somepony who could try and hurt her or take advantage of her, but we can’t stop her from dating ponies simply because they have no chemistry, that is for Fluttershy to discover on her own,” Rarity was finding it more difficult to talk which each consecutive sentence, more because her words were meant to try and convince herself more so than her friend.

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the two love struck ponies, and it continued until Rarity cleared her throat, only this time without her usual dramatic emphasis, and continued.

“Rainbow Dash, do you remember what you told me before?” Rarity asked her friend, though refusing to look at her. Rainbow Dash put on a confused expression, not quite sure what Rarity was referring to.

“We agreed that between the two of us, as far as asking out Fluttershy is concerned, it’s every mare for herself. We agreed that there would be no interfering or forcing ourselves to accommodate the other, to allow each of us the opportunity to win the favor of our dear Fluttershy, and that in the end we would not harbor any ill feelings for whoever Fluttershy’s chose. Correct?”

Rainbow slowly nodded her head, not all that enthusiastic in admitting that Rarity spoke the truth.

“Well… do you think that we should extend that agreement to any pony that Fluttershy might choose to date?” There was no response from Rainbow.

“Is it fair for us to continue following Fluttershy and these other ponies?” Rarity’s voice grew from conversational tone to a higher treble, beginning to sound very agitated.

“Is it our place to make sure nothing goes wrong, or rather go the way we don’t want it to go?” Rarity was now talking louder, now at the point of shouting.

"Um, well Rarity I..." Rainbow stuttered in an attempt to interject, before she was drowned out by Rarity, who was now yelling.

“OR EVEN WORSE HOPE SOMETHING GOES WRONG SO THAT AT LEAST I’LL STILL HAVE A CHANCE!?”

There it was, the ugly truth at the heart of the matter, none of these questions that Rarity asked were meant for Rainbow, but for herself.

Her ranting now over Rarity was left to basically stand there. However, looking up she was shocked out of her numbness to see Rainbow Dash looking equally on the verge of breaking down, though Dash’s was a more subtle breakdown, no crying or huge sorrow-filled monologues. Instead Rainbow simply looked limp, completely sapped of energy.

It was at this moment the two ponies, who in their desperation and desire, made a pact that neither was willing to walk away from, and yet slowly, were beginning to accept that it could not continue. They looked at one another and actually came together in an embrace. This was not necessarily a hug for lovers, just two very good friends holding one another in an attempt to pass on some feeling of comfort, there was no sobbing, just the occasional sniffle from Rarity.

After minutes of this cathartic contact, Rainbow broke the embrace and looked to Rarity, seeming wary of wanting to share her thoughts, but eventually she threw those hesitations aside and began talking to her friend. “I know what we’re doing isn’t the best thing, but the thing is...” she breathed a heavy sigh … “I hate losing; I know you all know that, but to me this is no different than any flight competition I’ve been in. Actually I take that back, it's probably more important. Because this time if I lose, I won’t be losing something I can always try at again, or have to wait to get into the Wonderbolts next year or something. Instead if I lose this time, I lose Fluttershy, she and I have known each other for so long, and our friendship has been through a lot, I almost lost it once, and frankly I don’t want to lose it again, and now I want something even more.”

After allowing herself to breathe, Rainbow Dash continued, “I know what we’ve been doing is pretty selfish, I know that in the end one of us is going to end up heartbroken, and I know that in the end we’re going to have to stop doing this, but the thing is I’m just not ready yet. I’m not saying we have to interfere, but please Rarity, can’t we at least go on just one more date? This date is different, it’s her first date with another mare, and I need to see if maybe she might really be into mares, and we don’t even have to try and do anything.”

Rarity sat and digested all that her normally emotionally repressed friend had confessed to her. Rarity and Dash had finally admitted to themselves and each other. Their actions, while having yielded positive results, were rooted in their own desires, and they knew that they couldn’t continue, but still Dash’s plea for just one more outing was too enticing to pass up.

“Well, Rainbow Dash, I suppose that we can at least see if Fluttershy’s experimentation with dating mares goes well, but we have to make sure that we in no way interfere with this date at all, whether it goes lousy or even if it ends up going well. There of course is an exception should Fluttershy end up in any danger, agreed?”

Rarity then held her hoof out to her sky blue pegasus friend, who then took it into her and repeated, “Agreed.”

“We really are just a couple of messes aren’t we?” Rarity, only now she was genuinely laughing.

“Heh, yeah, but at least we got each other to do these crazy stunts, beats being crazy by myself.” Rainbow said with an equal amount of mirth.

Both of the ponies knew that this was all soon coming to an end, and that they could no longer continue down this road but all that mattered to them was that tomorrow they had a date to go on.