Unintended Implications
By Godzillawolf
Commissioned by Alexwarlorn

“Darlings, I must say that movie was lovely,” Rarity remarked, the white unicorn trotting out of the cinema. It'd been a relatively new addition to the town, and Equestria in general, but a welcome one. The Crystal Empire returning had enabled a lot of advances in the field, thanks to magic crystals that could hold various pictures in full color.

Rainbow Dash simply grumbled, but said not a word.

“Really? What movie was it?” asked a voice, the group turning to see Spike emerge from another cinema with a bag of popcorn. “'Tunnel of Love' or something?”

The little dragon had declined seeing the film, romance films weren't his genre of choice. That and Rarity insisted that he see something he'd like, having had past experiences with the baby dragon trying to sit through a film he disliked for her sake.

“'Traveling the Tunnel of Love,' Spike,” replied Twilight with a smile. “How was Power Ponies?”

“Really good,” Spike replied, finishing his popcorn. “They even made Humdrum badflank. Well a badflank normal at least. How was your lovey dovey movie?”

“Oh it was delightful,” Rarity remarked. “A beautiful love story!”

“I cried at the end!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her typical cheerful tone. “Applejack was crying on the inside.”

“Yep,” Applejack replied. “Not much for romance movies myself, but that one got to me some.”

Fluttershy was still wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

“What exactly was it about?” Spike questioned, climbing up on Twilight's back for the rest of the trip.

“It was about two towns, one of all Griffins and the other of all Zebras, and the two can never reach one another,” Twilight explains. “Unt-”

“A pair of star crossed lovers find a magic tunnel between the villages,” Rarity interrupted in her typical dramatic fashion. “A beautiful zebra mare named Jioni and a handsome Griffin named Glow.”

“Is it just meh or is everypony in big budget movies good lookin'?” Applejack asked, scratching her head. “Ah mean there's never any just plain old folks, just handsome guys and pretty gals.”

“Just the nature of the business, darling,” replied the fashionista with a smile. “Oh, how I'd love to get a role in one!”

“I'd have no problem with that...” Spike said, getting hearts in his eyes.

“But the twist is that going through the tunnel changed you from one species to the other,” explained Rarity.

“Which was a pretty daring choice,” Twilight pointed out. “Since it meant needing two sets of actors that could do a reasonable approximation of the other. I felt they did a fantastic job.”

“...I thought it was sad that they never got to be together as their real selves...” Fluttershy admitted with a sniffle. “It was so sad...”

“And that's why in the end-” Rarity halted as several ponies standing in line for a ticket glared in her direction. “Oops...Let's talk more outside...”

---
Once the group had left the theater and were out of earshot of the theatergoers with an aversion to spoilers, Rarity picked up where she left off. “In the end, realizing she and Glow can never be together as themselves, Jioni decides to set Glow up with a griffin that was the spitting image of her griffin form named Glitter. So he could have a happy relationship as himself instead of being something he wasn't or asking her to be.”

“I interpret the towns as existing in alternate universes, meaning the griffin likely is the alternate Jioni,” Twilight explained, going into lecture mode. She then blinked. “Jioni...Glitter...you know saying those together makes it sound really familiar for some reason.”

“At least she got to fall in love with that zebra that looked just like Glow...” Fluttershy admitted with a sniffle. “She still got a happy ending.”

“Likely Glow's alternate self,” the lavender Alicorn added. “Which adds a very nice subtext to the story when you think about it.”

Rainbow Dash gave a snarl. “Yeah right...”

Everypony blinked, turning to the mare. “Whatever do you mean, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity questioned. “I thought it was a lovely story.”

“Well I didn't,” was the mare's reply, crossing her forelegs.

“Because it was too 'lovey dovey'?” Rarity replied, rolling her eyes.

“No, because the ending ruined the whole movie!” Rainbow replied, giving a growl.

The others gave a confused blink. “Uh, Rainbow, Ah thought the endin' was a bit cheesy, but how did it ruin the movie?” Applejack questioned, rubbing her head.

“The whole 'griffins and zebra' can't be together horseapples,” the mare replied, looking offended.

Rarity blinked. “I...don't quite get what you're saying.”

“I mean the two love each other and then in the end 'nope, sorry, you don't get a happy ending. You get a member of your kind, don't even consider going after the others.' I thought we got past that 'stick to your own kind' horseapples back during the Hearth's Warming Eve stuff,” Rainbow growled. “Why couldn't they just of said 'buck it' and stayed together anyway?! No, instead they just get clones of the person they love that's 'their own kind!' What's the point of it being a different person if they're just a clone?!”

The group looked at each other in confusion, giving the mare's statements thought. Fluttershy, however, looked down with a whimper.

“That's...actually a reasonable complaint...but...Rainbow, why are you the one pointing it out?” Twilight questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Try living your childhood with speciest bullies telling you 'how can you be friends with a griffin?' and her getting the same horseapples,” the rainbow maned mare replied with a bitter expression. “I mean I never, blech, was in love with Gilda, but that doesn't mean I'm not sore about that. Or that I wouldn't be clopped off if you told me to find a pegasus clone of her to be my friend instead of her! How would you girls feel if instead of griffins and zebra, it'd been unicorns and pegasi? That make it more obvious?”

The group all gave an uncomfortable look to one another at that implication.

“...My mom and dad were a earth pony and pegasus...” Fluttershy admitted, shifting on her hooves. “So...I think Rainbow Dash has a point...Sorry if you still like it...”

Spike rubbed the back of his head, looking to Rarity. “I...yeah, I don't like the sound of species being that big a deal when you're in love...”

“It does sound kinda mean when you put it that way...” Pinkie replied, mane going a bit straight. “I mean can you imagine only being able to be friends with one type of pony? It'd be like trying to pick one type of cake for the rest of your life!”

Applejack simply stayed silent.

Twilight gave a thoughtful look. “From an objective view...I don't think that was the writer's intent, but the implication is still there...I don't feel it ruins the whole movie, but I can agree the ending doesn't hold up as well when you think it through.”

“Wait, you're defending that horseapples ending?!” Rainbow Dash asked, glaring.

“No, I'm defending that the rest of the movie had excellent cinematography, good visuals, and an overall good script with competent acting that made me feel for the characters,” the Princess of Friendship explained. “I agree the ending had implications the writer likely didn't intend and understand it was a turn off, or even upset ponies who feel as you do. And that a different ending might have been better. I just feel it was otherwise a decently put together film...and now for some reason this whole thing feels familiar...not sure why.”

“Thanks for the book club session...” Rainbow Dash said flatly.

Twilight blushed a little bit. “...Sorry...thesis papers do that to you...but...sorry Rainbow, I understand why you're upset, I just think the ending doesn't ruin the movie for me...but you're right the ending isn't as airtight as my initial viewing made me think it was.”

“...Good enough...”

Rarity gave a sigh as that seemed to pacify Rainbow, biting her lip but not able to hide from Rainbow's expecting glare once Twilight explained her viewpoint. “...I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I still think it was a good romance...I suppose the way I read the ending is that if Jioni and Glow were so focused on not being themselves that they couldn't enjoy being in love, perhaps they weren't each other's soul mate after all...love shouldn't let anything get in the way.”

“Well maybe they should have worked it out if it really was true love. Then it wouldn't have mattered!” Rainbow Dash replied. “I thought Gilda was strange when I first saw her, didn't stop me from being her friend.”

“I'm sorry, darling...but I'm of the opinion everypony has a soulmate,” Rarity said with complete sincerity. “And if that is their real one, nothing can stop you from being with them...even falling for the wrong person.”

“Is that why you keep trying over and over and over again?” Pinkie Pie asked in her typical way.

The fashionista's response was to give a flat look. “Yes...Mr. Right has to be somewhere after all. I just keep running into Mr. Wrong.”

Spike gave an annoyed look. “Yep...”

“And what else other than being uptight about species made it look like they weren't soul mates?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “The movie made their 'soul mates' clones of the one they loved!”

“That...was a flaw, darling and could have been handled better...but I can appreciate the sentiment of a relationship without anything getting in the way...” Rarity replied with a sigh. “If being their own species all the time mattered that much, it might not be right, but it would have been a dark cloud over their relationship. I don't agree with rejecting someone based on species, but I don't want a massive dark cloud over my love either.”

“Oh yeah, because we totally weren't ourselves when we turned into Breezies,” the Rainbow maned mare replied, rolling her eyes.

“But that was temporary, darling. We don't know what it'd be like to live forever that way,” Rarity replied. “And we're not Jioni and Glow. Just because we wouldn't have cared doesn't mean they wouldn't have.”

“And what about The Little Seapony? Becoming a different species worked there,” the stunt flier replied.

“You saw that movie?” Twilight asked.

“Fluttershy dragged me to it,” Rainbow replied.

“It worked there because she accepted being an Earth Pony, Jioni couldn't,” Rarity replied.

Applejack gave a look over the situation as Rainbow gave a growl, growing more upset by the moment as Fluttershy tried to calm her. “Now hang on a second here,” the mare said, stepping between the fashionista and the racer. “Rainbow, Ah'm with yah on the endin', but yah know what?...Ah thought it was just okay.”

“Huh?” Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash asked.

The mare just shrugged. “It was a romance movie. Actin' was good, felt sad at parts. But romance just ain't mah cup of tea, Ah'm partial tah westerns mahself. Tah meh it was just an alright movie. And that means Ah don't feel strongly one way or the other. But that also means Ah just see mah friends arguin' over somethin' they shouldn't be. It's a movie, if yah disargee on it, fine. Like Twilight said, movie didn't say one way or the other, so all we've got are guesses. Why fuss over guesses when we're friends?”

The duo promptly looked down with a bit of shame. “...I suppose she's right, darling...” Rarity admitted. “I'm sorry if I sounded insensitive, I just read into it a different way. And I respect it upset you even if it didn't me...”

“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash said with a sigh. “The movie insulted me, not you. Just after what me and Gilda had to deal with that ending ruined it for me.”

Rarity nodded. “I'm certain there are movies you love that I do not.”

“Given I love horror movies, yeah, you're probably right,” the cyan pegasus replied with a shrug.

The fashionista's face grew slightly green at the mental image of a monster mauling pretty teenagers. “You're right about that, darling.”

Rainbow Dash gave a chuckle and pat Rarity on the back. “You get used to it...”

“...Let's just agree to disagree on both, that sound good darling?” Rarity asked, giving a friendly smile. “That is what friends do, right?”

The two hugged.

Spike blinked. “So...that's that?”

“Well...I don't think I like the movie as much anymore...” said Pinkie Pie admitted sadly before perking back up. “But that's no reason not to have a happy party after!”

Fluttershy put a wing on Rainbow's back. “I understand why you didn't like it...”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Thanks Shy...I think Pinkie has the right idea though...Let's just forget it, then...I don't know, Twilight and Rarity can discuss it later...I kind of just want to forget I saw it and tell Scoots not to see it...”

“Maybe we can...um...uh...see a movie you'd like later?” Fluttershy offered.

“Maybe, only one out is a horror movie,” Rainbow replied.

“Oh...um...what about that new Happy Flower movie?”

Rainbow Dash looked surprisingly frightened for a moment. “Uh...let's just agree to disagree on that one...”

“But you used to really like-”

“Agree to disagree...”