Rarity was excited.

The date went well. Better than well, actually. It went positively swimmingly. Rarity made a nice pasta dish complimented well by the red wine that Dash had brought (which she said was rather pricey, and it showed taste-wise). Even better, Dash only broke into that insipid song for the sake of needling Rarity only three or four times. All in all, it was just like their many breakfast dates, only with a rather uneasy tone. Sure, Rarity kept a calm composure, but at the end of the day, she was terrified as well as excited.

She couldn’t deny it, this was all more worrying than she had believed it would be. The idea of being with somepony and making a go of it went along much more stress-free in her vision. Then again, her vision included her prince charming proposing at first sight, so perhaps it was time Rarity took her fantasies with a grain of salt.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was the most bizarre subversion of Rarity’s ideal mate imaginable. This was a mare so brash and crude, and yet, genuinely cared for the ponies around her, and it seemed especially true for Rarity.

But was she really what Rarity wanted in the long run? That was something too difficult to answer. All Rarity knew was that she greatly enjoyed spending time with her: the frustrating, funny, boorish, beautiful...

Rarity had to stop herself. Beautiful...

No. No, she would not deny it. Rainbow Dash was a very striking mare who could turn many a stallion’s head... or, in this case, mare’s. As terrified as Rarity was, she was nonetheless excited by being turned on by Rainbow Dash.

Oh, Celestia, what was to stop her from sleeping with Rainbow Dash at any moment? Surely, she would be ready for it when the time was right.

However, when was the time right? Once again, Rarity’s lack of experience left her in uncertainty. Was it right to bed somepony on the first night? Rarity assumed not, as she let Dash out the door once their dinner was over. However, she almost wished she hadn’t. There was no point in lying, Rarity wanted to ‘tap that’ as Dash would say.

And there came the terror, again, because Rarity realized she was thinking more and more of those insipid Dash-isms to herself.

Ultimately, Rarity decided to bide her time to consummate the relationship. At the very least, she would tell somepony that she went on a date with Dash and that it went well.

As Dash was about to leave dinner the night of their date, the two decided that the upcoming picnic the next day would be the perfect place to tell their friends about their courtship. Things would go off without a hitch...

That is, until later that afternoon, when a resurrected draconequus came and wreaked chaos on Equestria and brainwashed Rarity and her friends into fighting before eventually being stopped by Twilight, who used a spell that gave everypony their memories back so that they could use the Elements of Harmony to send the draconequus back to stone imprisonment.

This is why they can’t have nice things.

To her frustration, Rarity would have to wait until another time to tell her friends about her and Dash, as everypony was busy with reconstruction following Discord’s brief reign of terror.

Thankfully, to her surprise, she wouldn’t be alone in frustration.

It was the middle of the night, and all was quiet after a day of repairs. A few days had passed since the six of them were honored at the ceremony in Canterlot. Rarity, as she sipped her glass of leftover wine and sat alone on her bed with sketches of next season’s line spread out, thought she would get a relaxing night for a change. That plan came to a halt when a knock came on the bedroom window.

“It’s... open?” The window creaked open and swooping in was none other than Rainbow Dash, cocky smirk and all.

“What’s good, babe?” She said as she strutted confidently toward the bed.

Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “A little early for the pet names, Dash?”

“Alright, fine. I’ll call you only by your real name. Ms. Rarity...” Dash scrunched her face. “Actually, I dunno what your full name is.”

“It’s just Rarity, love.” She said as she smiled.

Dash sighed in relief. “That’s lucky. I guess we still have a lot we don’t know about each other, but anyway...” She smirked. “A little early for pet names, Rarity?”

Rarity stuck her tongue out in defiance. “I address everypony with names like that.”

Dash scoffed. “I’ve seen you use ‘darling’ all the time, but never ‘love’. Face it, babe, you want me so bad, it’s driving you mad.”

“Dash!” Rarity nearly choked on her wine. Clearing her throat, flustered, she looked at Dash, trying to stifle a laugh. “We uh... I thought we agreed, that uh... what are you even doing here?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Well, I just haven’t seen you in a while. Everything’s been so crazy, I’ve barely had any time to talk to you.”
“Oh...” Rarity smiled. “Yes, I agree the last few days have been rather hectic. I’ve barely had any time for actual work what with all the reconstruction and celebration.”

“Yeah, that ceremony was killer! There must’ve been, like, a thousand ponies at that thing!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure the royal chambers have a capacity for thousands.”

Dash shrugged. “Hey, magic does weird stuff. Celestia could’ve made the room like a thousand times bigger to fit everyone in.”

“Magic can’t simply warp with space like that, Dash.”

“Uh, didn’t we just get done fighting a monster who could turn day into night and turn the ground into some kinda checkerboard thing as well as make us hallucinate crazy crap that turned us against each other? You know, the monster who used his magic?”

Rarity pouted. “Oh, shut up.”

Dash grinned. “I win.”

Rarity groaned as she flopped against her pillow and poured herself another glass of wine. “And to think I was going to get some work done, tonight.”

Dash snorted. “I find too much work to be overrated. Healthy ponies need plenty amounts of relaxation to keep their mind, body, and awesomeness in check.” She cantered over toward the bed and flopped next to Rarity, causing the spread of design sheets to fly up into the air.

Rarity grunted as she used her magic to reign in all the wayward paper. “Well, of course you have that kind of attitude. You blow through all of your work in fifteen minutes time and then spend the rest of the day sleeping or doing Celestia knows what with Pinkie Pie.”

Dash smiled. “I also see you, don’t I?”

Rarity couldn’t help but grin and shrug. “Well, yes, I suppose.”

Dash chuckled. “I dunno what to tell you, Rarity. I’ve just got a ‘work hard, play hard’ mindset. It’s a cool one to have, if you ask me.” She promptly took the bottle of wine that was between the two of them and proceeded to take a swig.

Rarity scoffed. “Really now, Dash. Some moderation! Not to mention, how utterly crude that is. You don’t do that with expensive wine.”

As Dash finished her drink, she quietly belched. “Oh, that. Yeah, this isn’t actually expensive wine. I actually got it at Boxmart for five bits.”

Rarity gasped and did a double take, eyes fully widened. “Dash! How could you?”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Because I knew you would give me a stink about it if I was straight with you about where I got it, so I just said I got it at the winery and paid big money for it.”

Rarity sighed as she leaned her head against Dash’s shoulder. “...It is good wine, actually. I couldn’t tell it was from... Boxmart, you said?”

Dash nodded and presented the bottle to her. “Yeah. Want the last of it?”

Rarity beamed. “Well, I can’t say no to a good drink. Just let me get my glass–”

“Oh, just take the darn thing!” Dash exclaimed as she shook the bottle in front of Rarity’s face.

Rarity groaned and pouted in Dash’s face. “You’re trying to turn me into a common slob, aren’t you?”

Dash grinned smugly. “I try.”

Rarity rolled her eyes as she swiped the bottle from Dash’s hoof. Downing the last of the wine, she felt a tremor in her stomach that eventually resulted in a large belch that reverberated throughout the entire room. Rarity was utterly speechless, but Dash had to restrain herself from rolling off the bed in hysterical laughter.

“Dash!” Rarity yelled to her girlfriend, who was most likely unable to hear her over her own laughter. “That is not funny!”

“From you?” Dash said between gasps of breath. “...Oh yeah! It’s the best! HAHAHA!”

Rarity gritted her teeth and socked Dash in the arm. “You are an utter buffoon.”

Dash wiped a tear from her eye. “Yeah.” She leaned in closer. Rarity was caught slightly off guard, the smell of wine coming closer to her muzzle. “But you like this buffoon a lot.” Dash came close enough to where the two were kissing. Rarity still couldn’t believe she found herself doing this with Dash, and yet, here she was.

Even more, they were now moving into the French variety, and their wine-soaked tongues battled a semi-drunken dance for dominance, the delectable combination of alcohol and saliva swishing in their mouths. Rarity was... oh Celestia, was she turned on.

Rarity snapped back to reality, and shied away from Dash. Breathing heavily she asked, “Say, er, Dash, are you willing to um... ‘move forward’, so soon?”

“The question is, Rarity,” Dash replied with a smooth grin on her face. “Are you”

Flustered, Rarity stammered. “O-oh, Celestia. I don’t even know.”

Dash’s look changed to concern. “Look, Rarity, if you don’t wanna do anything, that’s cool. I don’t wanna make your first time suck.” Dash snorted as she smiled again. “Believe me, if I could go back in time, I’d tell me from the past that the bathroom at the eighth grade box social isn’t a good place to be felt up for the first time.”

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle. “Eighth grade, really?”

“Heh. Yeah. Early bloomer, you know?”

Rarity nodded. “I suppose I got the attention of the boys around that age myself. Who was it with?”

Dash grinned. “She was the captain of the tennis team, and she was a junior. How could I have said no to that?”

Rarity frowned after Dash paused. “...What happened with her?”

Dash sighed. “I thought she really liked me; thought that I was really cool and stuff. I guess I was really just another girl to hit and quit. I’ve been looking for someone not like her...”

Rarity moved closer to Dash and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Rainbow Dash... you confuse me. I feel all these torrents of conflicting emotions when I’m with you, and I don’t know how to deal with them. You can make me laugh one minute and irritated the next, and all the while, you have this charisma and sweetness that somehow make you irresistible.” After a brief pause, she smiled. “I like you very, very much, and... and...” Rarity groaned and gritted her teeth, unable to keep composure. “Oh, blast it all, just take me now, baby!”

Suddenly, Rarity pounced on Dash and smothered her in kisses, and once again, the battle for dominance of tongues began. Rarity couldn’t tell in the torrent of foreplay, but it almost seemed like Dash was chanting something along the lines of ‘go Dashie, it’s yo birthday’. Then again, it likely could have been the Boxmart wine creating voices in her head.

Regardless, Rarity turned out the lights in her bedroom, and in the heat of the night, they were lovers and friends together... of course, but before that happened:

"Say-uh, before we get started, do you have any, you know…"

"Any what?"

"You know, things that'll… enhance?"

"I don't follow."

"Got any toys?"

"Oh, Dash! What kind of girl do you take me for?"

"Gotcha… I'll go shopping tomorrow–OW! Don't hit me!"

"What, don't you like it rough?"

"You're grinning right now, aren't you?"

"Oh, you know me well. Now be quiet and kiss me!"

Author's Note

For good, cheap wine by the crate, head to your nearest Boxmart!

Lovers and Friends is the unofficial love jam of the RariDash Project