She wouldn't admit it to anypony, but Rainbow Dash was a little bit depressed. The pegasus was presently sprawled out on Twilight Sparkle's library floor, poring over a prized new purchase. In her hooves was a shiny new copy of Daring Do and the Regal Ruins. In the center of the room, Twilight was engrossed in her own reading–nonfiction, of course. It was doubtful that Twilight would notice another parasprite invasion in this state, let alone catch on to Dash's suppressed emotions.
Rainbow Dash had no problem with that. Though, perhaps it would be nice to have somepony to talk to. For all her life Rainbow had been more prone to vent her frustrations with flight or exercise rather than talking them out with a friend. Unfortunately, flying never fully resolved anything. It provided a temporary release and a rush like nothing else, but after every flight Rainbow's conflicted emotions still lingered in the back of her mind. No trick or perfect landing could send them away.
She heaved a sigh and settled onto her back, letting the Daring Do book fall onto her face. Twilight took no notice of her exasperation, which frustrated Rainbow even further. Why doesn't anypony care about my feelings? she briefly wondered and then realized how ridiculous the implication was. Nopony could very well care about her struggles if they didn't know what was going on inside her head. Rainbow Dash momentarily considered confronting Twilight to talk about her sadness, but whisked the notion away almost as quickly as it came. Twilight wouldn't understand.
“Hey, Rainbow!” The alicorn's voice caused Dash to jump, and her Daring Do novel clattered to the floor. At some point in Rainbow's dejected thought-monologue, Twilight had evidently exited book world and returned to Equestria. Rainbow regained her composure.
“Yeah? What's up?” Some part of the disheartened mare secretly wished that Twilight would inquire as to her emotional state.
“I need your help.”
Dash sighed again. Of course you do.
Twilight was levitating a book in front of her face as she spoke. “Do you mind being a test subject?”
“Oh... sure.” Rainbow looked away.
Twilight frowned. “Are you alright, Rainbow?”
The question took her aback. Twilight had actually noticed? The pegasus struggled to form a sentence in response. “Y-yeah, I'm fine,” Rainbow said without thinking, and instantly regretted it. Idiot! Why would you do that? It's not like you're going to open up on your own!
“Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here.” Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Twilight shifted back into magic-maniac mode. “I've been reading about a new spell that I just have to try. It's one of Starswirl the Bearded's... it'll answer so many questions if I'm able to replicate it!”
“So what exactly does this spell even do?” Rainbow Dash questioned, feeling more than a vague apprehension about being Twilight's guinea pig to resurrect some ancient mystery spell.
Twilight smiled awkwardly. “Well, it's supposed to turn a pegasus into an alicorn.”
“It's supposed to WHAT?!” Rainbow screamed.
Sparkle ignored the question. “You're a pegasus, so I figured you might be willing to...”
“Isn't that kind of... risky? And crazy?” the bewildered blue pony inquired.
“Yes and yes,” Twilight admitted, “but aren't you a bit of a risk-taker yourself?”
Dash relented. “I guess I am.”
“Well, it would really mean a lot to me...” It wasn't typical of Twilight Sparkle to ask for favors, and the almost-begging tone that the Egghead used was nearly impossible to refuse; furthermore, Rainbow Dash was a little more of a softy than she would like to admit.
“Fine,” the pegasus said, rolling her eyes, “but I hope I don't regret this.”
Twilight was ecstatic. “Oh yesyesyesyesyes!” She hopped around the library and even knocked a few books down with her bouncing.
I'm definitely going to regret this, Dash told herself.
“Let's go to the basement,” Twilight said, holding a hoof under her chin thoughtfully. “I don't want my books all over the place in case this doesn't go as planned.” Rainbow Dash blinked; she'd never known that Twilight's library even had a basement. Notwithstanding, she followed after Twilight. The pastel alicorn's happy trotting was reminiscent of Pinkie Pie's gait.
Trying not to imagine Twilight Sparkle with a Pinkie personality, Rainbow shuddered slightly. That's a scary thought. If that ever happened, Equestria was truly done for.
“Now, if I do this right, I should be able to change you to an alicorn and back fairly easily. It's ingeniously simple—one of the reasons I admire much of Starswirl's work.”
“And if not?” An uneasy look appeared on Rainbow's face.
“If not, then I won't be able to change you back immediately.”
“You mean I might get stuck being an alicorn?”
Twilight's eyes darted upward as she recalled what she had been reading. There was a pause accompanied by a thoughtful hmmm. “No, that's not likely. If I happen to mess up, the incomplete spell should revert itself in a matter of days. Maybe a week at most. That's another reason I love Starswirl; his spells are so practical.” She sighed dreamily.
Rainbow rolled her eyes again. “Whatever. As long as I'm back to my normal awesome self afterward. Magic's cool and all, but this pegasus doesn't need it to be totally radical.” Dash flipped her mane and grinned, though she did it more to mask her nervousness than out of pride.
“Oh, don't you worry,” Twilight said, “I'm confident I can do this the right way. Now, if you wouldn't mind standing here, please.” She motioned with her hoof to a spot on the basement floor, where a circle was etched into the wood. There appeared to be slight burn marks surrounding the circle. Rainbow Dash gulped when she saw them, but took a seat anyway.
Twilight assumed a power stance. “Are you ready?” The faintest spark appeared on the tip of her horn.
“As I'll ever be.”
Twilight shut her eyes while the spark on her horn blossomed into a massive spiral of magic, which was white at the center but outlined with hues of variegated colors. Energy spun in a hurricane motion, accompanied by a sound like rushing wind. After levitating for a moment, the magical mini-hurricane morphed into a translucent blue sphere, which flew forward and engulfed Rainbow Dash. The surface of the magic sphere began to grow dark until Rainbow was completely invisible. The sphere glowed ominously, and there was a blinding flash.
Then there was silence. Twilight opened her eyes slowly. There was Dash, in the center of the room. The first thing Twilight noticed was that her pegasus friend now had a horn. The second thing she noticed was that Rainbow's wings were gone.
“Sweet Celestia...” Sparkle intoned, awestruck. Her friend was not going to like this.
“Ugh... were you trying to kill me?!” Rainbow Dash winced. The mare stood weakly and shook her hooves out. In a bit of a daze, she stumbled over herself and smacked the floor face-first. A pool of moisture had collected on the ground, and Dash was able to make out the foggy reflection of a horn on her forehead. “That's disturbing,” she noted absently.
“Well, I think you've got a little more to be concerned about than the horn.”
The worst-case scenario instantly flashed through Rainbow Dash's mind. She instinctively attempted to stretch her wings, in case something had happened to them. Her wings were not there anymore. “What have you done?!” Rainbow screamed, and the tone shocked Twilight.
“I am so, so sorry,” the purple mare began frantically. “I have no idea what went wrong. I could swear that I did everything exactly as the book—” Twilight cut out suddenly, confused. Rainbow didn't look distraught anymore. After the initial explosion, an uncharacteristic calm had settled over her. The pegasus—no, unicorn—sighed deeply.
“It's alright, Twilight,” she assured. “You said the spell would wear off in a few days, right?”
A puzzled look came over Twilight's face. “You're not totally freaking out. Are you still Rainbow Dash?” she asked with a bit of sarcasm. Twilight immediately regretted it; she could see Rainbow wince from the implication of the statement.
“I guess I'm just trying to be mature,” the mare said quietly and turned her head aside.
Twilight's heart sank at her friend's sadness. This was uncharacteristic of her friend, and the difference was unsettling. She couldn’t stand it. “Rainbow, what’s wrong?” Her voice was gentle as she rested a hoof on her friend’s shoulder.
Dash hesitated to the point of stuttering. “I-I just feel like…” She stopped speaking when several dull thuds sounded from upstairs.
“Someone’s at the door,” Twilight observed. There were more knocks, and this time a voice accompanied them.
“Twilight Sparkle?”
Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “Oh gosh. I think that’s Spitfire. Hide me.”
It was Twilight's turn to roll her eyes. “You're in the secret basement, so you're pretty well hidden already. Do you want me to answer it?”
“Uhh, yes. I mean, no… but yes, you have to. I’m just not here.” Dash was instinctively looking around for something to duck under. “Please don’t let her see me like this.”
Twilight nodded. “I understand. I’ll just see what she wants.” With that, she darted upstairs and hasted to answer the door. As she opened it, Spitfire was turning to leave.
“How can I help you?” Sparkle asked, louder than usual to ensure that she caught the mare's attention.
Spitfire stopped and turned to face Twilight. She adjusted her sunglasses before saying, “I heard Rainbow Dash was hanging with you. There’s something important I need to give her.”
Twilight thought quickly. “Well, you… uh, just missed her.” she said, hoof to chin. “But... she’ll be back, and… maybe I could take a message?”
The Wonderbolt raised an eyebrow. “Sure. Just give her this when she returns.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out an envelope which was sealed with an ostentatious “W” logo.
“Oh… okay! Thank you.” Twilight grabbed the envelope with her magic and subconsciously took a few steps back from Spitfire into the safety of her library.
“No problem. Just make sure it gets to her; this message is pretty important.”
“Will do! See ya!” Twilight grinned ever-so-awkwardly. Spitfire nodded back and without delay bolted into the sky. A cloud of dust shot up from the space where the pegasus pony had just been. As the particles settled, Twilight swallowed hard. She had a weird and unmistakably bad feeling about this letter.
