Slipstream

(Pony Permutation Project: Episode 5)

Fimfiction Link


"My fellow Ponyville citizens: this is your Mayor speaking, with terrible news for us all. Our small town currently faces the largest meteorological emergency to surface since our Weather Pegasus Division was first formed. Fierce winds are expected to make normal daily activities nigh-impossible to carry out.

"For this reason, it is advised that you all stay in your homes until the storm is past. I say again: stay in your homes, and inform anypony you know to do the same! We'll see each other on the other side of this to discuss cleanup efforts. Thank you very much."

---

"Oh, dear..."

Unfortunately, Rarity had been hours away from the town meeting when it had taken place. Now on her return trip, she could see Ponyville in the distance--but she could also see several branches, fruits and supplies swirling every which way in thin air, which could only mean one thing.

Rarity hated storms. They were nothing but ugly, ugly chaos, threatening her chosen lifestyle of order, cleanliness and grace.

She galloped forward, hoping to make it to her house before the worst of it. However, the closer she got to the town, the more obvious it became that the worst of the storm had already beaten her there. She met more and more wind resistance the closer she came to Ponyville, until her pace was forced to slow despite her strongest physical and magical efforts.

"Oh, dear," Rarity said again as the reality of the situation dawned on her: she might very well be stuck out here until the storm literally blew over.

But if it blew in her direction...

"No! I cannot accept this!" she shouted into the storm. "You won't prevent me from--ouch!"

A branch hit her in the face. It was small enough to not leave any bruises, but sudden enough to break her concentration and send her basket of freshly-picked herbs flying, to be scattered by the wind.

"Oh, dear," she said once more, her voice laced with a growing sense of defeat. Her horn glowed as she tried one last resort:

This is Rarity of Ponyville! If there is anypony out there, anypony at all, one of your fellow villagers needs your help! Please! I'm stranded in this storm with no clear path, and I-

"Somepony call for a taxi?"

Huh?

She looked up to see the one pony she would expect to answer a distress call that fast:

"Rainbow Dash!"

The speedy blue pegasus swooped low. "Hurry and grab on! I'll getcha back home!"

"Gladly!" Rarity jumped on Dash's back, and the two were soon sky high. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

"Same here! When you and a few other ponies didn't show up for the meeting, the mayor requested an air patrol, and I volunteered to check near the village limits!"

"Awfully gracious of you--but, my word! How was this awful natural disaster even allowed to happen in the first place?"

Rainbow Dash huffed. "Hey, we ain't perfect, okay? Weather-ponies made a bad prediction, and I'm a lot better at creating and preventing storms than messing around with ones already in progress! Whoa, hang on--I gotta do a barrel roll!"

Rarity did so, and shrieked as her world went from right side up to upside down to right side up again, all in the name of avoiding a large chunk of tree. When it was over, however:

"Look, I can see my house! We're almost there!"

"Get that door open, then! I can only slow down so much!"

One magic spell later, the door was open, and the two swooped into Rarity's house... though not as gracefully as either would have liked. They promptly collided into Rarity's favorite dress-modeling ponniquin, and followed up by sliding across the floor, upsetting nearly the entire boutique in their wake.

The two moaned as they recovered, still inside the mess.
Rainbow Dash was the first to stand. "Whew!" She looked around, surveying the light property damage. "Well, it's like Grandma Dash always used to say--any crash you can trot away from is-"

A shrill scream stopped the pegasus in the middle of her proverb. She looked around frantically. "What? What is it? Where's the danger?"

"Right here," moaned Rarity, gesturing to her now disheveled mane and coat. "Just look at us!"

With an annoyed groan, Rainbow Dash fell over.

---

"Are you serious?" Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves. "We just escaped a huge windstorm! Of course we were gonna get a little messed up!"

Rarity nodded, but remained resolute as she walked around her boutique. "Quite true, but that does not mean we should take it lying down. We look absolutely dreadful right now!" She looked at herself in the still-standing centerpiece mirrors, and shuddered. "One might even say abominable."

"...you really are serious," Rainbow Dash said.

"As that storm we just escaped from, yes. I must get to work on restoring ourselves right away!"

"Yeah, well, you do that. I'm gonna work on more important things, like--hang on." Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks. "Did you just say we look dreadful?"

"Yes. We. As in, plural." Rarity stepped in front of Dash, who, after fighting the storm for as long as she had, was more than a little ruffled. Right now, in fact, she was downright shaggy--coat, mane, tail and all. Even her cutie mark showed signs of fuzziness--its rainbow lightning bolt design looked nowhere near as sharp as usual.

"You're usually somewhat unkempt, but this storm has done a number on even you today," Rarity said. "But not to worry! All I need to do is find the right-"

Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Hmph. Don't bother."

"I beg your pardon?"

"'Gee, Rainbow Dash! Thanks for saving my life, 'cause that awful windstorm might have actually done something worse than muss up my mane!' That's what any other pony might've said the second we went through your door! But oh! Not Rarity!"

Rarity blinked, beginning to get the message. "Rainbow, no, wait, I didn't mean it like that. Rest assured that I absolutely am grateful-"

"Save it," Dash huffed. "I know you are, and I know you can't help it. You're our resident beauty snob, right?"

"...I might have accidentally slighted you, Rainbow Dash, but I'm not sure that sort of language is necessary."

Unfortunately for Rarity, Rainbow Dash was now on a roll. She paced around the house, pointing to various beauty appliances as she spoke.

"Primp and curl, dress and accessorize, wash and blow-dry," she scoffed. "And for what? What the heck use does it all have besides being able to admire yourself in these sickeningly huge mirrors?" She turned around to directly face Rarity as the unicorn had done to her earlier. "You know what, Rarity? I actually like how you look right now!"

That was a surprise. "You... You do?"

"Yeah! It makes you look like you might actually be a normal pony who might not be afraid to do anything other than fawn and fluff and be scared that a tiny hair bow might be out of place! Right now you almost look interesting! But hey: what would a dreadful-looking abomination know about that?"

Most other ponies would have taken offense to such a tongue-lashing. However, Rarity had long since been used to being called vain and even shallow due to her fascination with outward appearances. It had taken her a long while, but she eventually came to grips with why she was who she was. Words such as Rainbow Dash's no longer bothered her.

Instead, she stared at the pony who was chewing her out--not blankly, however, but intently. Unbeknownst to Dash, she'd been looking for something for the last few minutes... looking for a telltale sign... and she'd finally found it.

She finally understood.

Rainbow Dash was indeed doing what she did best--putting forth a very, very forceful attitude in response to a matter she felt strongly about. What that matter had been, however, was not the one she was actually speaking of.

Any other pony would have fallen for it--but there was no fooling a specialist of appearance and mood. The pegasus's last sentence had given her away.

Rarity smiled inwardly.

Rainbow Dash... there's hope for you yet.

Rainbow Dash started towards the door. "Hmph. Well, if you've got nothing to say for yourself, then I'm gonna go now. Unlike the rest of you guys, my house is about five hundred feet up, and with these winds? It's probably not where I left it. Gotta go look for it. Smell ya' later. Or, hey, maybe you'll smell me."

Rarity held up her hoof. "Wait."

"Wait for what?"

"At least let me give you a good grooming before you leave."

Rainbow Dash stood, frozen agape. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"On the contrary," Rarity said in earnest. "I now understand completely. And if I can't civilly convince you to stay, then I must simply beg for you to trust me... and allow me the chance to make up for my selfishness."

"...by grooming me," said an impatient Rainbow Dash.

"Yes," Rarity nodded and smiled. "Please--don't make me beg."

Rainbow Dash stood still, pondering Rarity's request... then walked back towards her. "I don't even know why I'm letting you do this."

Miraculously, Rarity's main grooming station had been largely undamaged in the crash. She thus led Rainbow Dash to it, and with a glow of her unicorn's horn, her brush and comb were put to work, moving intently in midair.

"Now the first thing we do is establish some semblance of order. Using the wide comb and thick brush should help with that..."

With alternating strokes, the business ends of Rarity's grooming tools were applied to Rainbow Dash's coat, mane and tail. The pegasus had braced herself for a rough procedure... however, as time wore on, it was soon clear that she'd had nothing to fear. In fact, the strokes had gotten firmer, but also softer, to the point where it felt more like a gentle massage than a complicated grooming session.

"Wh-... whoa, hey," Rainbow Dash sighed in spite of herself. "This... actually feels awfully nice..." She exhaled again, the faint traces of sleepiness coming over her.

"Well, naturally," said Rarity. "In recent polls, my customers expressed personal preference of my brush technique two to one over standard boutiques."

Rainbow Dash yawned. "Aren't you Ponyville's only boutique?"

"Yes. Which makes me not standard, but unique. Now, from here on out, I'll be using finer tools. I'll let you know when I'm done, so feel free to relax as much as you want, or even sleep if you feel tired. Don't worry about offending me. I won't be."

"'Kay."

And Rainbow Dash did just that.

---

"...-ash? Rainbow Dash...?"

The sound of her own name being softly called woke her from her slumber all too soon. She actually still felt something sliding across her mane--looking up, she saw that it was no longer beauty tools, but Rarity's front hoof.

"Ahh, there you are," said Rarity. "All done, now. You may rise."

"Mmmmmm..." Rainbow Dash mumbled, still only half-conscious. "Do I gotta?"

"You said you have a house to look for, did you not?"

With a heavy sigh, Rainbow Dash got up, yawned, and said, "Guess you're right." Before leaving, she looked in the mirror. Through sleepy eyes, she could just make out a few hints of perfectly straightened mane, and luster around her body.

"You know what? That's... actually not half bad. Straighter than I'm used to, though. Well, I'll be seeing ya'."

"Safe journey to you."

Rainbow Dash opened the door a small amount so as not to let the windstorm enter the house, and flew out, closing the door behind her. Rarity simply trotted her way to said door, and began counting down from twenty.

When she reached eight:

"SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!"

Huh, Rarity noted. She was early. Then again, given Dash's speed, the count probably should have been started from ten.

Seconds later, she could hear hard, fast knocks on her door, Rarity reopened it, greeting Rainbow Dash with a knowing smile.

"Holy horse hay! Rarity, what the-"

Rarity was still smiling. "Hmmmm?"

"The wind... that windstorm feels like nothin' flyin through it! It's blowing just as hard, I know it's blowing just as hard, but I had to fight it like crazy earlier, and now it's like it's butter and I'm a hot knife!" Rainbow Dash gripped the white unicorn by her front legs hyperactively. "Rarity... what did you do to me?"

Keeping her cool in the tense moment, Rarity simply replied, "Hmph. I simply gave you my Pegasus Special. Free of charge, might I add."

"Pegasus Special? What's that?"

With a flip of her mane, Rarity told her. "Well, you're hardly the first of your type to come through my establishment, Rainbow Dash. My Pegasus Special is a one-of a kind grooming procedure that helps to keep ponies at their most aerodynamic."

"Aerody-" Rainbow Dash rushed back to the mirror. Now fully awake, she could see just what Rarity meant as she gasped at the positively glowing pony which stared back at her through the glass.

Her coat was smooth, her cutie mark was perfect, and every single color of her mane and tail stood out, vying for equal attention, radiating in the light. She shook both, and saw them move effortlessly in the air without the slightest tangle. Every single strand had been cared for on an individual level. Rainbow Dash knew that Rarity was dedicated to her work, but she had no idea it had gone this far.

Before she could ask how Rarity did it, the unicorn answered for her, as if on cue. "A special order of combing, brushing, air-fluffing, and laying down a coat of my super-special, super-secret, and completely organic straightening mixture." Rarity walked over to meet her latest satisfied customer, deciding not to mention that the herbs she'd lost due to today's windstorm were the very ones she used to make said mixture--or that taking care of Rainbow Dash had officially exhausted her reserve supply. "As part of the package, wings are streamlined."

Rainbow Dash spread hers, and it was true--she'd never seen her span so, so... symmetrical, so precise! "Whoa, razor's edge! I hadn't even noticed this part!"

Rarity chuckled. "Most pegasus ponies don't as they're usually asleep, much like you were."

In a flash, Rainbow Dash was back outside, putting Rarity's work through its full paces. A cry of "YAHOOOOOOO!" could be heard as she performed loop-de-loops in the storm with hardly the effort she'd needed before her visit.

When she returned, she was much calmer... and much happier.

I can look stylin'... and stay fast? Rarity, you're officially forgiven and then some!"

"Glad to hear it. You've told me before that you wish to go into the performing arts, yes? Well, there appearance counts just as much as skill, if not more."

"Yeah, the Wonderbolts value style just as much as speed," said Rainbow Dash. "That much I know."

"Then now you have an edge," said Rarity, before shedding her bemused demeanor for a more serious, sincere tone. "A little earlier, I noticed that, for all you were telling me about not caring how you look... you sounded quite sensitive about it regardless. You've oft made a big show of convincing us that you're a pony of function as opposed to form, but..." Rarity stepped closer. "If I may pry--there's something deeper at work here, isn't there?"

After a few long moments of silent hesitation, Rainbow Dash sighed. "I...' She blushed, still not believing she was actually about to tell anypony this. "...don't really have anything against prettifyin' myself. Or anypony making themselves look good. I used to do it a lot more growing up, but I also used to get a lot of cracks 'cause I didn't try to do so as often as other ponies."

Rarity nodded, but said nothing. Sometimes being a willing ear was the best a pony could do.

"I always just figured spending so much time in the mirror got in the way of practice; and if I was going to be the fastest in Equestria, something had to go." Rainbow Dash's voice slipped into softness and uncertainty. "I think I made the right decision. I'm definitely total fast now, but... but sometimes, um... well, I look at other ponies, especially ones who come out of your place, and..."

Rarity gently put her hoof to Rainbow Dash's lips, allowing her to trail off. "Shhh. I understand. Your secret is safe with me."

"Appreciated," said Dash. "Seriously."

Rarity smiled again. "Though I may sometimes comment on ponies' looks without thinking, rest assured I find your outlook admirable--especially when it's officially been proven that speed and strength can withstand the forces of nature far more easily than beauty."

Both ponies shared a knowing giggle as they walked around the boutique. "Not your fault. One size hardly fits all," said Rainbow Dash.

"Indeed. Still, I wouldn't have myself any other way--and ever since we've been friends, you've always said the same. Perhaps it's high time you believed your own words... especially since I'd love to believe them for you."

"R-Rarity, I..."

For the first time since she could remember, Rainbow Dash didn't feel like moving. She therefore stopped doing so, sighing as she felt the unicorn's words hit close to home. Sensing this, Rarity touched the pegasus's cheek with her hoof, in the best interest of allowing their heart-to-heart to reach its zenith:

"You're beautiful, Rainbow Dash," she said. "And the way you choose to show that beauty is a decision that nopony can ever take away from you... unless you let them. Don't ever let them."

"I... I won't," Rainbow Dash whispered. "I refuse to."

Rarity smiled. "Then you've already won."

Rainbow Dash nodded, then mumbled something.

"Come again?" Rarity said.

Slightly louder this time, Rainbow Dash said, "I said, wow, 'beautiful.' I... don't usually get called that."

"Think nothing of it. I only apologize for not seeing it earlier."

"Rarity?"

"Yes?" she asked, half a second before finding herself in the world's fastest embrace. Nopony had ever cuddled into her immediately upon receiving a Pegasus Special before, and she quickly made mental notes about just how soft the process had left Rainbow Dash before returning the gesture.

"I jumped to conclusions," Dash said. "I'm really sorry about those cracks I made about your trade, and your liking beauty, and all that stuff. You're... legit. Y'know? The real deal. Thanks." She backed away, then took Rarity's hoof and kissed the back of it. "For everything."

"I..." Rarity stepped back in surprise as the two matched blushes. "...oh, my. You are as adventurous as they say, I see."

Rainbow Dash nodded with renewed confidence. "Only to those who deserve it. Just so you know, I'll be back next week for another one of these. The all-new Rainbow Dash is gonna make lightning speed look good!"

"I'll be ready," Rarity said, "though Equestria probably won't be."

"Nopony ever is," said Rainbow Dash as she flew out of Rarity's house. "They're too slow to see me comin'!"

And they always will be, Rarity answered in her mind. I trust you to make sure of it.