The Magic Of Colour

by River Road

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Rarity
Length: 2854

Rainbow Dash! Why. Won't. Your. Stupid! Mane. Stay. DOWN!

All Rarity wanted was an opportunity to style that rainbow-colored mane, but–

Sproing

Not again!

Note: This story does not ignore the Filly-Rainbow-Dash-Flashbacks in the show. It just assumes that those flashbacks are what her friends imagine when she tells them about something.

Many Thanks to Cherry Frosting for being the first prereader I've ever had,
and to Bookish Delight for not only being an awesome prereader, but motivating me to actually finish the story, too. (Yes, I have convinced the Bookish Delight to preread this story. There may have been some whining involved at one point - or three)

Edit: Whoa! This story made it to the top of the Popular Stories box for a moment. This was as much as I could ever hope for...
Thank you so much, all of you.

Why this has not so many views? It's written excellently!
-toxiconym

this is cublins approved. this is also my new head canon
-Cublins

Since I'm an eeeevil little pegasus, I figure I should tell you:

The "Popular Stories" box randomizes story placement every time it's reloaded.
-Bookish Delight

Published 2013-08-09 15:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-09 15:20:02 UTC

Stupid Mane, Glorious Mane

Rarity could hardly believe her luck. Not that luck had anything to do with it, of course. Still, getting Rainbow Dash to do something sophisticated like a makeover seemed a little surreal even now that it was happening. But if anypony could have convinced the colorful pegasus mare of this it would have been her, Rarity, owner of the Carousel Boutique and Ponyville’s number one fashionista.

And of course she did convince her eventually.

She had not been pushy about it, naturally, just… persistent. There may have been some whining involved at one point (or three) – still, she was a professional. And all that was worth it if it meant that Rarity could finally craft one of her masterpieces from this pony, this face and most importantly that mane!

Oh Celestia, that mane!

Ever since she met Rainbow Dash, that mane of hers had piqued Rarity’s interest. It was something new, something that she had never seen before. Something that had to be made into fashion (metaphorically speaking, of course). Many ponies had ‘multicolored’ manes and tails, about a quarter of the population, but in reality those manes had always only two colors, three at most. She would never say it out loud, but even the princesses with their long, magically flowing hair looked almost plain around Rainbow Dash. Their hair was almost pure magic and only a fraction of the alicorns’ true power, and still the rainbow mane of the pegasus seemed more lively and energetic. And then there was the other thing.

Rarity enjoyed some good gossip from time to time. She didn’t believe any of the stories, but they were fun, especially the more far-fetched ones. With a conspicuous mane like that, it shouldn’t have been long for the first stories to come up about Rainbow’s family and their comparative lack of colors. At the very least it should only have been a matter of time. But the stories didn’t come up. Nopony knew a mare or stallion with anything like it. Even ‘the friend of my cousin’s fiancé’ had never heard of somepony like that, and that was an absolute first.

To put it simple, Rainbow Dash was a kind of oddity that even Ponyville had not seen before, and not because of her ego. Still, while her mane was odd, it seemed far from impossible or even unnatural in this world, and most ponies, including even Twilight didn’t put a second thought to it. If anything, Rarity was glad that she of all ponies could take the matter into her own hooves. Fashion and style were waiting and the designer already had more ideas than she could possibly go through in just one afternoon.

“Are you done yet?” Rainbow Dash tried to get a better look at just what her friend was doing to her, but her head was quickly pulled back into its original position by the designer pony’s magic. It had been almost ten minutes since Rarity had started her assault to the trademark mane and most of Rainbow’s body was now transitioning from ‘stiff’ to ‘numb’.

“Don’t be impatient, dear. I’m nearly done and I promise that you will absolutely love the result.” The voice of the fashionista came from somewhere between Rainbow’s ears now, probably occupied with another stubborn strand of brightly colored hair.

“I’m still telling you; whatever you’re planning is not going to work.” Rainbow’s voice was less annoyed and more matter-of-factly. Under other circumstances this would have been quite a surprise from the rather emotional pegasus, but Rarity’s concentration was spent completely on the task at hoof.

“Don’t be silly, Rainbow Dash. I’ll admit that this is… slightly worse than I expected, but I’m a professional and this is nothing I couldn’t handle. Hah!” With one last tug she undid a last particularly persistent tangle and finally managed to finish the first of many manestyles she had selected for this particular occasion. “Finally! Now, what do you think?”

Rarity let her magic flare up again and the cover flew off of a pony-length mirror that was already positioned in front of Rainbow Dash. The pegasus took a look at herself and turned her head a little to one side. “That doesn’t look half bad, actually – not that I would know much about this fashion stuff. Still not going to work, though.”

“What do you mean, dear? I don’t mean to brag, but this is certainly one of my best works so far. And manestyling is not even my special talent. Why, you already look marv–”

Sproing.

There was a strange, almost comical sound, maybe one you would expect to hear from Pinkie Pie, and the perfectly styled mane practically sprung back to its original form. An awkward silence was only averted by a suspiciously unfazed Rainbow Dash:

“Told ya.”

“Whu–” Rarity stared at the ruffled mess that she had just a few seconds ago considered one of her masterpieces. “What was that?”

“What can I say; I’m just too awesome for that stuck-up Canterlot stuff.”

For the first time in quite a while Rarity found herself at a loss for words. Even her last resort in these situations – to drape herself over the nearest couch and make a drama of whatever happened – could not help because she had simply no idea what was going on.

After the first attempt she had tried several other manestyles, with more or less the same outcome; Every time Rainbow’s mane would simply jump back to its original form after a few seconds leaving no other traces behind than an increasingly frustrated Rarity. Once or twice she thought there had been a few sparks coming off of it, but it might have been her imagination.

“I really think you should take a break. You don’t look too good and your eye is kinda… twitching there… a little.”

It was the first thing Rainbow Dash had said in a while. Or maybe she had said something and Rarity just didn’t listen? In the working frenzy she started after the first failed attempt she hadn’t really paid attention to anything else.

“Uh, Rarity? Can you hear me?” Rainbow waved a hoof in front of the designer’s face. She must have spaced out for a moment. “One twitch for yes, two twitches for no – or maybe just no twitches if you can’t hear me.”

Rarity let out a long sigh before finally answering, “Yes, Rainbow Dash, I can hear you. Don’t worry, I’m… Well, no, I’m not fine. I’m far from fine, actually. I’ve seen ponies with a bad hair day, but this is just ridiculous!”

Rainbow Dash looked down with an expression of… guilt? “I probably should have warned you. This is not the first time this happened. Hay, I actually tried to do this myself before we went to the Grand Galloping Gala! It’s always been like this since… Well, you know what I mean.”

Her friend stared back expectantly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, dear, but I have absolutely no idea what you mean. Does this have something to do with Nightmare Moon? That doesn’t seem right, none of the others have this problem – Fluttershy and I don’t, at least.”

“Nightmare… No! I’m talking about the Sonic Rainboom!”

“I… really don’t know what you mean, dear. You mean this has something to do with your cutie mark?”

“Yes! I mean, No! Well, not really. I’m talking about the residual weather magic in my mane and tail.”

A few seconds ago Rarity had thought that she could not possibly be any more confused. Apparently this was one of those days that just exist to prove a pony wrong. She couldn’t even think of a proper response to that. “I think you lost me.”

Rainbow Dash seemed confused as well, even though she was certainly not half as confused as Rarity. “Did I never tell you about that? I’m pretty sure I’ve told you guys that story already.”

“You told my sister and her friends how you got your cutie mark. I was there, too, but I don’t remember anything about ‘residual weather magic’.”

“You don’t? Huh. I could have sworn I told you about that; it’s how my mane got like this, after all.”

“What do you mean ‘your mane got like this’? You mean that Sonic Rainboom is the reason why your mane is so stubbornly resisting any attempt to tame it?”

“Not just that.” Rainbow Dash traced a hoof through her mane and flung her head to the side in an exaggerated pose. “It’s the reason why I’m the most colorful mare around.” She struck another pose. “Dyed with the best weather magic a supersonic pegasus can get you.”

“You mean that before your Sonic Rainboom your mane was–“

“Grey,” Rainbow Dash completed. “Grey and bland like that of Daring Do. I still say that whoever wrote the books used me as an inspiration.”

Rarity couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Rainbow Dash, you would say that even if you looked like a parasprite. But seriously now; you never mentioned anything like that. I just assumed that your mane had always been like this, and I think everypony else did, too.”

“That’s understandable.” Rainbow looked at her questioningly. “Did I really never talk about it? Huh. It never seemed like a big deal, but still… I was sure it would come up in conversation eventually.”

“Well, I don’t think I could go to sleep tonight if I didn’t hear that story now,” Rarity joked. “And you still haven’t explained why your mane so stubbornly puts up resistance against fashion.”

Rarity poured the tea she had made into the two cups on the table, while Rainbow Dash had already begun to relocate the biscuits from a plate to her own mouth. The unicorn couldn’t help but frown at her guest's behavior, at least until she realized that the tablecloth was still white, dry and clean. Somehow Rainbow managed to not drop a single crumb despite everything that would suggest differently.

“’anks,” Rainbow said around the biscuits in her mouth. She swallowed visibly before continuing – literally. Rarity could actually see the food wander down her throat. “So, first off, I can’t explain to you why the weather magic decides to keep my hair the way it is. I mean, I could explain it to you, but I don’t think you’d understand it. Even I have a hard time with some of the stuff involved.”

“Is it really that complicated?” Rarity asked. “No offense, dear, but didn’t those colts in Cloudsdale say that you… dropped out of school, or something like that?”

“Ugh.” Rainbow rubbed her temple with a hoof. “That again? I did not ‘drop out of school’, I transitioned from Flight School to the Cloudsdale Weather College!” She looked up at Rarity, who gave her a blank stare in return, head tilted slightly. “Did– Did I never talk about that either? Hay, did I actually tell you mares anything about myself?”

“Well,” Rarity laughed, “you certainly told us a lot about yourself, darling – us and everypony else you could find – but you never said anything about your past. Frankly, this is the first time I hear you talking about it, aside from your cutie mark story.”

Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs in front of her. “That’s–“ she paused. “Actually, that sounds a lot like something I would do. I’m really not that good when it comes to small talk.” – Rarity repressed a remark at that – “so I’ll make this short.

“As far as I know, the Sonic Rainboom was not just a cool flying stunt, but an enormous burst of weather magic. I mean, that much is pretty obvious. It wasn't just normal weather magic, either, but some special type similar to the one we use at the Rainbow Factory. Pegasi use their magic for flying, whenever they fly. So when I did my thing at the race, that magic combined with the energy of breaking the sound barrier triggered a reaction that unleashed a huge amount of magic in the air, which showed itself as the Sonic Rainboom.

"Since I was not only in the center of that burst, but also the pony who triggered the whole thing in the first place, I was linked to it and all the magic that didn’t want to spread outwards instead spread inwards, into me. Of course, so much energy in such a small body needed to have some kind of outlet, and for some reason – my old professor could tell you exactly why – it chose my mane and tail for that. Good thing, too, or else I might have rainbow-colored fur, or maybe even rainbow eyes. …Now that would be creepy.

“Anyway, it doesn’t look half bad this way, and even more importantly it has some neat side effects. Since I had so much of that weather magic inside me it was able to stabilize itself and keep generating more. Everypony has a magic core inside them, but since that day mine is completely unique and a lot stronger than normally. It helps me fly faster, control the weather better and makes it a lot easier for me to tap into my weather magic.

“For some reason one of the side effects is that… sproingy… stuff, my mane does when I or somepony else tries to change it. Even my professor at the CWC couldn’t completely explain that. The popular theory is that it memorized the form it had when I performed the Sonic Rainboom for the first time, and now it tries to keep that form for some reason. It’s annoying, but fortunately I’ve never cared much about the whole beauty stuff.

“Oh right, the college. Well, after I pulled off the un-pull-off-able Sonic Rainboom it was pretty clear that I didn’t exactly need help learning how to fly. Don’t get me wrong, I got into a lot of trouble for unauthorized racing, not to mention, you know, the huge explosion. I think technically I’m still grounded. But I also got a scholarship for the Cloudsdale Weather College, and I didn’t disappoint. Maybe it’s because all the stuff they taught us was actually applicable, but I was one of the best students in my year.

“And that’s it. Everything you need to know about the-one-and-only. Except for all the stuff I forgot, but that can’t have been very important if I forgot about it.” Rainbow stood up from the table and stretched her wings. It was getting late and she had promised Scootaloo that the filly could sleep over at her house. Maybe the squirt would be interested in the story, too, now that Rainbow had it on her mind for once.

“I’ll say, that was quite a story.” Rarity walked Rainbow Dash to the door of the Boutique, but stopped in front of it. “There’s still one last thing I don’t understand though. If that is not your original mane color… Why would your parents name you ‘Rainbow Dash’?”

“Oh, that,” Rainbow said. “Funny story. You see, there are a lot of ponies with grey fur, but a pony with a colorless mane is quite rare.” She chuckled. “I guess I always was an oddball in that regard. Anyway, when I was born my parents named me Rainbow Dash because they thought I would always chase after the rainbow, or some mushy stuff like that.” Rarity didn’t comment on the glint of water she had spotted in her friend’s eyes.

Rainbow Dash stepped out on the street, but stopped to turn around one last time. “You should have seen my dad though, when I came home like this.” She pointed at her mane. “Old guy fell right off his chair laughing.”

Rarity smiled as she watched her friend disappear down the street in an easy canter. She had never realized just how little she’d actually known about that mare. Her friends were just always full of surprises.

“Waaaait!”

Rarity turned around to see a pink blur galloping towards her. The blur came to a stop right before her and revealed itself to be one of her other friends, heavily panting from the gallop to the Boutique. The pink pony’s saddlebags seemed to be filled with all kinds of things and Rarity could make out a rubber chicken, a megaphone, several bananas and – for some reason – a bag of flour sticking out of them.

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. “Am I too lat–“

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"Stop! You can’t end the story! I haven’t done anything funny yet! My fans demand it! No! Stop the fade-out! Nooooo!"

Author's Note

Welp, my first ever one-shot. I hope you guys like it. This is not my personal headcanon, by the way, it's just a silly idea that makes the perfect foundation for a silly story.

~~P.S.: Cookies to everypony who spots the reference in the story's title ("The Magic Of Colour").~~