Magical Mystery Couture

Four mares and a dragon watched Pinkie Pie's rainbow hued contrail fade into nothingness.

“So what do we do now?” asked Fluttershy nervously.

“For now… we let her go,” Applejack declared.

“What!?” her friends balked.

“Think about it. Pinkie’s got Dash’s cutie mark, but she’s still Pinkie,” Applejack explained.  “We all know how Pinkie can do some pretty impossible things when she sets her mind to it—“

“Yeah, like walking on that cloud when she’s an earth pony,” Spike muttered.

“Exactly,” Applejack agreed.  Spike flushed, as he hadn’t intended for anypony to hear him.

”Right now she wants to keep away from us, and I can’t say I blame her,” Applejack continued.

“So we’re just going to let her go?  How does that solve anything?” Twilight asked.

“Ah didn’t mean ta imply that we were gonna let her go forever,” Applejack said.  “But honestly, do y’all think that any of us are gonna catch her?  There’s only one pony that I know of who could do that…”

Rarity’s face lit up in a sly smile.

“Applejack, I like the way you think.”

“I’ve spent umpteen hours in a row holed up in a library readin’, Rares.  Some of that fancy stuff got through this thick head o’ mine.”

“So... where do we find Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked.

“If I ever had the inclination to gamble, my first bet would be Sugar Cube Corner… she has swapped destinies with Pinkie Pie after all,” Rarity answered.  “Celestia willing, she’ll be working today.”

“All this running around is making me hungry,” Spike commented.  “Sugar Cube Corner, here we come!”

~M M C~

As they approached Sugar Cube Corner, the sight and smell of smoke pouring from the building incited some panic amongst them.  The door burst open and Carrot, Cup, Pumpkin, and Pound Cake all poured out on top of each other (thankfully the foals were on the very top!), with Rainbow Dash tumbling after them.

“I just don’t know what went—“ Dash tried to explain, but exploded into a fit of coughing as she was surrounded by her friends.

“Is everypony all right?”

“The building’s not on fire, is it?”

“Eep!”

“Should we start a bucket brigade?”

“Settle down, everypony,” Carrot Cake said.  “Nothing is on fire, we’re all ok, the kitchen just needs to air out a bit.”

All eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, who was still getting over her coughing fit.  The colorful pegasus muttered something to herself.

“What was that, Rainbow?” Applejack asked.

“I said, I’m never going to be the Wonderbolts’ head chef if I can’t even bake something as simple as cupcakes.  I don’t understand it.  I’m supposed to be the best at this stuff.”

“At baking?” Rarity queried, her eyebrow raised.  “I think if I had a choice between your cupcakes and a bowl of toast from Sweetie Belle—“

“—Let me handle this, Rares,” Applejack winked at her.  “Rainbow Dash, what element do you represent?”

“Loyalty,” Dash said with a scowl.  “You know that.”

Applejack nodded.  “Well, loyalty and honesty are very similar creatures, and I think that’s one of the many reasons me and you get along so well.”

“What’s your point?” Dash snipped, burying her muzzle in her hooves, brooding.

“Do y’all honestly think that baking and partying is your destiny?”

“I’m not sure, but what I do know that I don’t just abandon a project once I’ve started it.  I see it through to the end.  And I don’t leave my friends hanging, because… because…”

“Exactly.  Friends don’t leave each other hanging.  Right now, we need your help to help Pinkie Pie,” Applejack smiled.

“How can I help?” Rainbow Dash pleaded. "I really need to snap out of this funk I've been in lately—“

“You’re the fastest pony in Equestria,” Rarity interjected.  “We have a need… a need for your speed.”

“...And if you don’t mind clearing out some of those pink clouds while you’re at it,” Twilight suggested.

“You can count on me!” Rainbow Dash said with a salute.

~M M C~

“Hey, Pinks,” Rainbow Dash said as she caught up to the speeding Pinkie Pie.

“Hiya Dashie!” Pinkie replied with a huge grin.  “What’s shakin’, haybacon?”

“You mind if we have a talk?” Dash asked hopefully.  Pinkie’s face fell.  She screeched to a halt, forcing Dash to do a quick turnaround.

“Not you too, Rainbow Dash,” she replied patronizingly.  “I already told the others that I’m very happy and don’t want to change who I am.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t listening to what they had to say,” Rainbow countered.  “Applejack wouldn’t lie to you, right?”

“I guess not.”

“And I’m the Element of Loyalty, so I’m not going to let you down, no matter what, right?”

“Nopey-dopey,” Pinkie sighed.

“So if what you really want is to be a weather pony instead of a baker, I’m not gonna stop you.  But pretend for that you’re Applejack or me for one second here and ask yourself if you’re being honest with yourself?”  Rainbow paced around Pinkie Pie as she talked. “You saw me on the stage trying to make everypony laugh.  I was… awful.  Sure I can play a good prank, but you’re got a true gift for making ponies smile, and it’s more than just laughter and parties.”

“But doesn’t the weather make ponies happy, too?”

“Sometimes.  Most ponies like the sunny days the best, as you know.  But others, like Raindrops, love a good storm.  Plus Applejack and Carrot Top need the rain to grow their crops.”

“And every filly and colt loves a snow day because it means that school gets cancelled,” Pinkie piped up.

“Yeah, you get the idea,” Rainbow Dash agreed.  “I mean, you weren’t bad at weather duty, but seriously, chocolate rain?  That wasn’t even a good idea the first time when Discord tried it.”

“But I added the whipped cream lightning this time,” Pinkie Pie pouted.

“The weather is like a cupcake recipe,” Dash tried to explain.  “It may come in a variety of flavors, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t rules.  Remember the baked bads?”

“I guess you’re right,” Pinkie finally admitted.  “But I wanted to be a good weather pony so bad…”

“I understand, trust me.  It’s not the easiest thing to admit that you’re not good at something when you have reputations like ours to uphold, right Pinks?”

“You know, Dashie, you’re not as bad at making a pony smile as you think you are.”

“Thanks… I think,” Dash grinned.  “But you know what?  You’re even better at it.”

The pink party pony gleefully squeed.  She looked at her flank, where Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark still remained.  “Hey Dashie, I think it’s waiting for us to spontaneously burst into song or something.  Perhaps we should oblige it.”

“Um… ok, if you think singing will solve the problem.  You are so random, Pinkie Pie.”

They raced back to the town square, where her friends had gathered along with a string of other citizens.  Rainbow Dash started singing, and some of the Ponyville citizens supplied the harmony.

The townsfolk all need you. It’s been rough these past few days

They run around, wearing frowns like they’re stuck in a haze

Spike joined in, handing her a fake mustache and glasses.

But if you care to help, we’d sure appreciate your style

If you tell some jokes to all these folks and make ‘em smile, smile, SMILE!

Pinkie launched herself to the top of the fountain, “All right everypony, stop me if you’ve heard this one: a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony walk into Berry Punch’s bar.  Berry Punch asks ‘What is this, some kind of joke?’”

“Hooray! Pinkie!” the crowd cheered  The flanks of two ponies glowed, and their cutie marks were restored.

~M M C~

The six friends gathered in the library.

“And to think this little book is the cause of it all,” Twilight Sparkle chuckled.

“I do apologize, everypony,”  Rarity said, blushing.  “I didn’t realize that I had cast the spell just by reading the words.  I don’t even remember my horn giving off so much as a spark.  Honestly, they ought to put some sort of warning label on these things.”

“’Twasn’t your fault, Rarity,” Applejack assured her.

“Yeah, it could have happened to any one of us,” Pinkie concurred.

“If you hadn’t done so, I probably going to cast the spell myself just out of curiosity,” Twilight said with a chuckle.  “You might have been the one stuck on weather patrol instead of Pinkie Pie.  I can just imagine you literally creating weather patterns in the clouds.”

“Or dealing with Harry the bear,” Fluttershy quietly piped up.

“So what is this spell anyway, and how does Princess Celestia expect you to fix it?” asked Rainbow Dash impatiently.

“See for yourself,” Twilight answered, opening the book to the page, adding “Just everypony read it silently to themselves this time.”

The brows of six ponies and one dragon furrowed as they gazed upon the ancient words of Starswirl the Bearded. Applejack was the first to speak up.

“I took a gander at this while we were all… swapped.  The only thing I could think of was that the prose is goddess-awful.”

“Oh, I am so glad that I’m not the only one who thought that,” Rarity exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

“It does seem like it could be about twenty percent cooler,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“That’s your answer to everything,” Twilight muttered.

“Maybe we could all contribute something,” said Fluttershy.  “I mean, if you don’t mind, that is.  It seems like we’ve all spent time walking in each other’s horseshoes over the past couple of days.”

“Yeah, and I don’t know about any of you, but I had so much fun!” Pinkie Pie squealed as she bounced up and down.  Her friends laughed somewhat nervously.

“Actually, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie make good points,” Rarity said.

“We do?” Pinkie asked, stopping in mid-bounce.

“Yes,” Twilight said, her eyes lighting up with excitement.  “All six of us experience a bit of what it’s like to be somepony else for a bit.”  Rainbow Dash raised her hoof, as if she were a student in Cheerilee’s classroom.

“Wait,” she interrupted.  “Rarity didn’t have her cutie mark swapped like the rest of us.  How does she know what it was like?  No offense intended, Rares.”

Spike came to the defense of the alabaster unicorn.

“Rarity may not have swapped cutie marks with anypony, but she did sort of change her usual role.  I mean, usually when we’re getting into all sorts of messes like this, we rely on Twilight’s magic to get us out,” the dragon explained.

“...especially when it’s my magic that got us into the mess in the first place,” Twilight admitted.

“But since I had Twilight’s cutie mark, and I was too busy studyin’ to even see whether I could even try to do any kind of fancy unicorn magic…” Applejack continued.

“Rarity took the lead this time and brought us all back together,” Fluttershy finished.

“Oh.  I guess that makes sense,” Rainbow Dash acquiesced.

“Well, I do have one suggestion for this doggerel,” Rarity announced, changing the subject back to the spell before them.  “It really needs to rhyme.”

“Hmm… how about starting it ‘From all of us together…’ instead of ‘from one to another, another to one?’” Fluttershy asked.

“That does sound less clunky,” Applejack agreed.  “Cuz together we are friends, after all.”

“And our destinies were bound together by my awesome Sonic Rainboom,” bragged Rainbow Dash.  Everypony looked at her.  “What?  You know you love me.”

“Don’t ever change, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie laughed.

“Hmm… From all of us together, together we are friends,” Rarity murmured. “With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end.”

“That’s pretty good, Rarity,” Twilight said with a grin.

“Do you really think so?  I like Fluttershy and Applejack’s lines, but the ending seems a bit—“

She was cut off by the Elements of Harmony glowing brightly.

“Oh dear.  I did it again, didn’t I?"