Author's note: The idea of this story was given to me by a friend on FIMfiction called Mixolydian Grey.
Thanks to Lord Izanagi for the edit.
I don't own My Little Pony or any of its characters.
After she had cleaned the sky of clouds, Rainbow Dash began to practice her flying stunts. Loops, flips, dives and many other kinds of stunts. Her mane was unkempt and she had a few scratches on her face and hooves, and she had a few tree leaves in her mane, most likely because of the tree she had bumped into a few minutes ago. As she continued to practice her flying skills, she was pushing herself a little farther from safety.
"Yeah! I'm awesome as I wanna...whoa!" Rainbow Dash said, before she saw a bird in her way. She took a sharp steer to the right, avoiding the collision with the bird, but also losing control of her flight. She crash landed forcefully on a small puddle of mud, covering her face and most of her body with the sticky substance. Though it was a little annoying, she didn't really get pissed over it. She wasn't Rarity, after all.
A colt approached Rainbow Dash, clapping his hooves. "Wow! That was great!"
"Thanks," Rainbow Dash said, standing up.
"Dude, you were so awesome up there!"
Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, blinking in confusion, trying to register what had she just heard. "Umm, pardon me?"
"I said, you were so awesome up there."
"No, I mean, what did you call me?"
"Ah, dude?"
Rainbow Dash widened her eyes. "Ah, I don't know if you have noticed or not, but I'm a mare." She wiped the mud off her face to show it to him.
"Oh..." The colt took a step back in embarrassment.
"Wait, didn't I look like a mare to you?"
"Well...no."
Rainbow Dash cocked her eyebrows. "Not even a little?!"
"Ah...no." The colt took more steps back. "I...I'm sorry if I insulted you, but you really looked like a colt to me. I'm so sorry."
Rainbow Dash took a few moments to realize the dangerous meaning of what had just happened, then widened her eyes in panic. She unfolded her wings and took to the sky, splashing the mud right into the colt's face.
Rarity was using the sewing machine to stitch an almost completed dress. The machine buzzed as Rarity passed the blue dress under the fast moving needle.
Suddenly, the door to the boutique was flung open with a loud 'BANG', and Rainbow Dash stormed inside. "RARITY!"
Out of fright, Rarity's forelegs slipped forward with the dress and she fell on the table stomach first, placing her nose right under the sewing machine's needle. Rarity shrieked loudly, squinting her widened eyes at the needle that was just about to stitch her nose. Luckily, the machine had stopped working when Rarity slipped, and she managed to use her magic to stop the needle from coming down straight onto her nose. "Phew!" Rarity wiped the sweat off her forehead.
Rainbow Dash grabbed Rarity by her hind legs, dragged her off the table, then sat her up. She placed her forelegs on Rarity's shoulders and shook her. "Rarity! I have a dangerous problem. You gotta help me!"
"Rainbow Dash, calm down! You almost caused me to stitch my nose there!" Rarity freed herself from Rainbow Dash's grasp. "Now, slowly tell me what your dangerous problem is."
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and exhaled, then repeated the process twice. "Okay. I was practicing my acrobatics and crash landed, then a colt came and called me 'Dude'! He thought I was a colt. He said I looked completely like a colt to him!"
Rarity wiped a small amount of dirt off her shoulders that was left by Rainbow Dash's forelegs, then examined Rainbow Dash closely. Unkempt mane, dirty face..."No wonder he mistook you for a colt!"
Rainbow Dash frowned, feeling offended. "What?! What do you mean?"
"I mean look at this..." Rarity levitated a small mirror in front of Rainbow Dash. "Does the reflection really look like a mare to you?"
Rainbow Dash paused to stare at her reflection for a moment. "Well, of course because I know myself, I know that the reflection is a mare but... Oh, okay, okay! I'm a little dirty!"
"You don't say!" Rarity replied sarcastically. "You are a total mess. But I have to ask, you always act so...'tomboyish' and rarely care about 'girlish' things, so why are you so panicked just because a pony mistook you for a colt?"
Rainbow Dash hung her head down. "Well, I know I always act like that; 'tomboyish', but I'm still a mare, okay? I want to become the fastest flying mare in Equestria, not the fastest flying dude! Maybe if you help me get...I don't know, maybe twenty percent more feminine, it would be just fine."
"In your current state, you didn't only lose twenty percent femininity, you also gained..."
"No! Don't say it!"
"...You also gained twenty percent masculinity!"
"NOOOOOOO!" Rainbow Dash hugged Rarity in a pleading manner. "Please, Rarity, help me!"
Rarity inched herself from Rainbow Dash's grasp and dusted off the dirt she had left on her. "Okay, okay! Don't worry. I know exactly how to help you. When we're done, you'll absolutely be a mare!" Rainbow Dash gave an unamused look. "Ahem, I mean, you already are a mare, but when we're done, no pony will ever mistake you for a colt." Rarity smiled sheepishly.
"I hope so."
"Our destination is the spa! We need to get you clean and dandy." Rarity took a dress from her dresser, then led Rainbow Dash to the spa.
After a hot, nice bath, Rainbow Dash stepped out of the hot water pool, dripping wet, then shook the water off her body like a dog, splashing some water in Rarity's face.
"Now, that wasn't a typical mare behavior, was it?!" Rarity scolded.
"Hehe! Sorry. I'm used to having to dry myself quickly whenever I get wet, so I can continue my trainings quickly." Rainbow Dash used a towel to dry herself in a more mare-like way.
"Now, let's make you fabulous!" Rarity dragged Rainbow Dash to the hair dryer chair. After Rainbow's mane was dried, Rarity styled it in the most beautiful style she could create, putting almost all of Rainbow Dash's mane in one, big braid that dangled on her right shoulder, then placed a flower near her left ear. Rarity then placed a big, red ribbon at Rainbow Dash's butt, right at the head of her tail. After that, Rarity used some blush on Rainbow Dash's cheeks, then a mascara to beautify her eyelashes. Finally, Rarity brought the dress, it was a simple red and blue dress that mares could wear at any normal day and not for special occasions.
"I don't know what do you think, Rainbow Dash, but I think you look absolutely fabulous!" Rarity said after Rainbow Dash had finished dressing, proud of what she had done.
"Well, are you sure this is only twenty percent more feminine? Because I feel like I'm only twenty percent away from becoming a supermodel," Rainbow Dash replied, examining her reflection in the mirror with both fascination and uncertainty.
"If you want everypony to recognize you as a mare, then just go out there and show them what a mare you are!" Rarity pushed Rainbow dash towards the spa's exit.
As they trotted out of the spa, Rarity immediately noticed Rainbow Dash's weird trot.
"Ahem, Rainbow Dash, don't trot like a sportsmare, trot like a lady," Rarity instructed.
"And how the hay am I supposed to do that?" Rainbow asked.
"Like this..." Rarity trotted slowly in the most regal, most attractive way she could muster, keeping her nose high and making sure to lightly sway her flank left and right.
Rainbow Dash groaned. "Are you sure this is necessary?"
"Of course it is! The trot defines the mare," Rarity replied.
Rainbow sighed. "Alright!" She trotted beside Rarity, trying her best to keep the trotting style Rarity had taught her. Very soon, she had no difficulty applying her trotting lesson.
What Rarity and Rainbow Dash didn't realize was their effect, or actually Rainbow Dash's single effect, on Ponyville.
As a colt was crossing the street, he couldn't but stare at Rainbow Dash with utter admiration and amazement. He stopped in the middle of the road, completely astounded.
A fast carriage was about to hit the colt who had stopped in the middle of the street, but the driver took a sharp steer, colliding with a house, getting the carriage destroyed, and getting himself thrown out of it, but once he saw Rainbow Dash trotting, he forgot about his injuries and just stared at her with a dropped jaw.
A stallion was having a date with his marefriend, when Rainbow Dash and Rarity passed by. The stallion forgot his marefriend and followed Rainbow Dash with his gaze. The mare became so angry she slapped him, but he didn't even respond, he just left her and trotted after Rainbow Dash. The mare then ran away, crying.
Spike was carrying a small basket of groceries and heading back to Twilight's castle, but as Rarity and Rainbow Dash passed by, he dropped the basket and followed them. For the first time, Spike wasn't admiring Rarity, but Rainbow Dash.
A barber was cutting another colt's hair, when his eyes caught Rainbow Dash. He followed her with his gaze, causing him to accidentally cut a big portion of the colt's hair, but that colt didn't care at all, for he was amazed with Rainbow Dash as well.
Very soon, a swarm of colts was trotting after Rainbow Dash, even Big Macintosh and an undisguised Changeling were in said swarm.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash took glance behind her, widening her eyes in utter shock. She stopped dead in her tracks and nudged Rarity. "Uhhh...Rarity? Is this supposed to happen?"
Rarity turned around to face her, but Rainbow Dash wasn't the matter, it was almost every Ponyville colt Rarity ever knew standing behind her. "I...don't believe so!"
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" A colt approached Rainbow Dash. "Looking good today! Wanna hang out for a while?"
Rainbow Dash took a step back. "Umm...I don't think..."
Dr. Whooves pushed the colt, knocking him off, and stood in his place. "Forget about him, Rainbow Dash. Let's hang out a little! I'll show you all my new inventions."
"Nopony cares about your stupid inventions!" Comet Tail came and faced Dr. Whooves with a fierce glare.
"YEEEAAAHHH!" Bulk Biceps agreed with Comet Tail.
The Changeling flew and stood in front of Rainbow Dash. "Who cares about them?! I can look like anypony." He glowed green, then took the form of Celestia. "What do you say? I mean, sure I won't hang out with you in this form, but that's just an example." He then took the form of Sombra.
The argument between the colts heated up, until some of them began to fight.
"Oookayyy...time to run!" Rarity said.
"Sure thing!" Rainbow Dash said, before she and Rarity galloped as fast as they could. They headed towards a big park and hid behind a tree.
"I think we only have a minute before they find us again," Rarity said.
"What the hay has just happened?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Shhh!" Rarity silenced.
"I told you this was more than twenty percent."
"I believe your extra fabulousness has caused disharmony in the town."
"How can I fix it?"
"I don't know! I know how to make ponies fabulous, not unfabulous!"
A light bulb lit above Rainbow Dash's head. "I think I know how," she said sadly. She took off the dress and flew, then glided down and crash landed on purpose in a small puddle of mud.
Rarity rushed towards her friend, just as the swarm of colts were galloping towards them. "Rainbow, dear, are you okay?!" Rainbow Dash stood up and spit mud accidentally in Rarity's face. "Yeah, you're completely fine!" Rarity wiped the mud off her face.
"What the...? What happened to Rainbow Dash?" one of the colts asked.
"Hey, guys! Anypony wanna hang out with me?" Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically.
"No, thanks, I don't want to hang out with colts right now," the colt replied.
Rainbow Dash hung her head down.
"Ah, dude, this is not a colt, it's Rainbow Dash, just dirty...very dirty, actually!" Dr. Whooves said.
All the colts began to trot in separate ways and go back to their things, as if Rainbow Dash's extra beauty was a spell that had just been uncast.
"I'll go find myself some wedding to attend!" the Changeling said, before he flew away.
The only one who remained was Spike.
"Guys...what happened? I mean, Rainbow Dash, your new look had a magic-like effect!" Spike said.
"Forget about it," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Did I miss something?" Twilight said, trotting towards them after she had seen the swarm of colts disappear.
"You pretty much missed everything, Twilight," Spike answered.
"We'll tell you everything on our way to the spa. Rainbow Dash here needs to get clean," Rarity said, as she, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Twilight headed to the spa.
In the spa, Rainbow Dash dived in the pool of hot water, after she had taken the big ribbon off her butt and wiped all the mud-covered make up off her face.
"Okay, girls, first of all, I believe Rarity have learned that just because her friend asked her for help in becoming more feminine, doesn't mean turning her into a supermodel or a walking-talking mannequin, right?" Twilight said, shooting Rarity a stare.
"Oh, sure!" Rarity smiled sheepishly.
"And, Rainbow Dash..."
"Yeah, I know what's the lesson I learned," Rainbow Dash cut Twilight off. "I shouldn't try being something that isn't me. I should always be myself, but that also doesn't mean forgetting my nature, like, forgetting what my gender is," she said shyly. "I can be a mare and still not be a super attractive model dragging every colt in Ponyville behind her. That's a weird lesson, actually, but I'm glad I learned it."
"At least we now know that you have that pretty mare inside of you," Rarity said.
"I know, right?" Spike said. "I mean, Rainbow Dash, your new look truly transformed you!"
"Thanks." Rainbow Dash blushed lightly.
Suddenly, the door to the spa flew open, gaining the attention of Twilight, Spike, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. It was Applejack, her mane was an extreme mess and mud everywhere across her body.
"Rarity! I need your help!" Applejack yelled in panic.
Everyone face hoofed.