“Fluttershy, darling!” Rarity said in her usual enthused tones as the demure pegasus made her meek, meandering way into Carousel Boutique. “I'm just at this very moment putting the finishing touches to your dress for tonight. I should have it ready for a trial run in about an hour or so. Here, what do you think of it so far?”

        Held in the unicorn's blue magical field was a garment of glittering silver; it was bedecked with a liberal amount of shiny stones, and Fluttershy got the feeling that if she stared at long enough she would go blind. She help up a hoof in order to ward off the worst of the glare. “It's, um, it's absolutely lovely as always, Rarity, but maybe just a smidge too garish?”

        “Smidge? Garish?” Rarity's mouth opened in surprise at this review of her hard work. “Absolute nonsense, dear. If you want your first date to be a success, then you're going to have knock them dead with fabulosity!”

        In that dress, thought Fluttershy, they'll probably be knocked dead from the silver poisoning first. “I'm sure the dress will be perfect when it's finished, Rarity. I'm not really here about that.”

        “Ah.” Stopping her hemming, Rarity turned to look at her friend with a soft expression. “You're a bit pensive about tonight, aren't you?”

        “Yes. Do you have any advice so that I don't make a complete fool of myself?” asked Fluttershy.

        “I can't speak for any other pony, of course, but to me the most important thing is to make a good first impression on your paramour,” said Rarity, stroking her chin thoughtfully while fiddling with a darning needle using her magical grasp, almost poking herself in the process. “You need to be dazzling, you need to be vivacious, you need to leave them in no doubt that you are their perfect match! You need to be memorable.”

        “Memorable?” Fluttershy felt her eyes widening at this information; her whole life had been spent in pursuit of the exact opposite goal, and she wasn't sure how to go about reversing that trend.

        “Don't worry about it, sweetness,” Rarity said gently, offering Fluttershy a reassuring look. “You may be nervous now, but once you slip into this-” she waved the dress in front of her friend's muzzle “-I can personally guarantee that you'll stop anypony in their tracks.”

        Not feeling any better about the situation but trusting Rarity's judgement, Fluttershy thanked her. “I'll see you later, then,” she said, appreciating the effort that the unicorn was going to on her behalf. It wasn't everypony who would take time out of a packed schedule to make them a bespoke dress.

        “Toodles, dear!”