How Pinkie Pie met Rainbow Dash

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

"Recall it as often as you want, a happy memory never wears out."

Chapter 1

Beginning with a Bang!

It was a bright and all around wonderifical day in the busy and bustling city of Manehattan. The clouds above hovered over the city like a super cozy blanket, protecting the inhabitants from the hot and often scorching raze of that rather bothersome sun overhead. Everypony was going about their business happily; everypony except for a certain lazy and very bored rainbow-maned Pegasus pony that is.

Rainbow Dash wandered down the streets of Manehattan aimlessly; her multi-colored mane swaying back and forth. She felt it rather odd when her hair was relaxed against her head; she was more accustomed to having it flowing behind her and out of her eyes, but the city was so packed with buildings and annoying obstacles that she had no choice but to walk – something Dash hated to do. She barely looked up from the ground to see who was coming and going in front of her, almost hitting a colt walking the other way in the process. Boredom was setting upon her as she saw the ponies of the city either walking everywhere dully or pulling carriages with other ponies inside them, looking even dullier still.

"Progress, huh?" She mumbled to herself. Rainbow Dash had come here looking for an exciting vacation away from all the tedious cloud clearing she had been doing in Cloudsdale, but now she regretted that decision. She would take her cloud clearing job over mind-numbing boredom any day.

She watched a group of ponies roll past in a carriage, being pulled along by two stallions. So boring, Dash thought to herself. What's the point in sitting around in carriages all day when you could be having some actual fun around here? The sight of the pony's uptight noses in the air made her sick. Why is everypony so boring?!

The ponies of this city are aristocratic fancy pants types: no time for play, workaholic, big boredy bored pants ponies to be exact. Manehattan was a city with so many dumb and complicated rules that all you are allowed to be was sad and un-fun all the time. And the only way you could throw a party was if you promised that it was for business and not at all fun in any possible way.

It was noon by now and Dash kept walking along with her head in the clouds, thinking of what she could be doing back in the cloud city right now. Doesn't anypony here pull pranks? I wonder what they would say to a sudden overcast downpour. She chuckled at the thought of wet, stuck up ponies running for cover. Well it'd sure be funny to watch, but it would remind me too much of the work in Cloudsdale. She heaved a giganterific sigh as she wandered past a collection of stores and in front of a lavender coloured hair care salon. I thought at least somepony would have a bounce in their step in a town like–

"Ooph!" Rainbow Dash fell backwards, landing on her rump. She shook her head and stood up angrily. "Hey, watch where you're going… you– huh?"

Dash looked down at the pony that had run into her. Her coat was a dull pink and her mane was a faded Magenta hew. It hung straight and limp in her face, blocking Rainbow from actually seeing her expression, but she could hear sniffs and whimpers coming from the pink pony. She looked up at Dash with her watery blue eyes; her heart sank. Is she… crying?

The pink pony rubbed a hoof over her face to wipe off the tears. "S-Sorry." She managed in between sniffs.

The anger Dash felt towards the pony had disappeared and was replaced with confusion and concern. "Hey, are you okay?" She walked closer to the crying pony to hear her answer more clearly.

The pink pony only sniffed and looked down at the floor with more wet tears staining her cheeks.

Hmm, too sad to talk huh? The Pegasus pony smirked as an idea struck her. We'll see about that. "My name's Dash. Rainbow Dash! What's yours?" She asked striking her signature pose, trying to get the sad pony to forget whatever it was that upset her.

The pony seated on the ground looked up warily and saw the seemingly comical pose Dash made. Quiet and still somewhat troubled giggles escaped through the sobs and she wiped the final tears away with a hoof. "P-Pinkie Pie." The pony answered shakily.

Dash stood back up normally and tilted her head at the pony's strange name. Hmm, I guess the name was kinda obvious. She thought to herself. She was happy that Pinkie Pie wasn't crying anymore; if she could wrap it up now she could get to flying outside of town for a few hours. Yeah, maybe that'll cheer me up.

"Well, Pinkie Pie I like your hair. It seems so manageable… not like mine." Rainbow Dash blew a piece of hair that had fallen down into her eyes away, but it just fell back into the same place. Dash groaned.

Pinkie Pie looked up and saw the rainbow-maned Pegasus' struggles. She giggled a little. "Really? You do?" The pink pony asked. Pinkie's hair bounced up into a few curls and her mane brightened a bit.

Dash, you're a genius. Smiling proudly, she sat down and nodded. "Mm hmm, I wish I had your hair. It wouldn't get in my eyes while I was flying." Rainbow Dash answered while brushing more of her mane out of the way; the more she talked about flying the more she wanted to finish up and get to it, but the pink pony's pleading eyes kept pulling her away from her reverie of a quick flight.

Pinkie jumped up as her mane and tail exploded with super bright pink curls, she started bouncing up and down around Dash happily. The rainbow-maned Pegasus' eyes followed the bouncing pony as she hopped around in a circle, her eyes widening at the sudden explosion of colour on top of the pink pony's head. Where– How did– Her mane… it's… puffy. How–

"Well, I like your hair." The thoughts soaring through Dash's mind were quickly grounded by Pinkie's unpredicted response. She stared more intently at the pony as if to say, Huh?! "There's sooo many colors. There's blue and green and red and orange and yellow and purple-" She stopped bouncing and put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Or is it violet? Hmm…" She looked to be in thought and then looked back at Dash with a smile. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"I know. You already said that." Rainbow Dash replied with some minor confusion.

Pinkie's head tilted to the right, quizzically. Her pink curly mane did the same. "I did? Oh."

"Do… do you really like my hair?" Dash asked with a confused expression spread across her face. Nopony had ever complimented her mane before. "I always thought it made me look weird. I mean, what kinda pony would want a mane like this?" She questioned, grabbing a hoof full of rainbow-coloured hair and gesturing to it.

Pinkie sat down in front of Dash with her head tilted slightly to the side, her curly mane and tail following soon after. "I would. You look super pretty with all those colours in one hair style," Pinkie Pie replied with closed blue eyes and a bright smile on her face.

Rainbow Dash looked embarrassed and tilted her head to the side. Pretty? Me? No way. She forced the growing heat off her cheeks and turned back to face the pink pony.

Pinkie continued rambling with a hoof to her chin. "Although, I'm not sure what kind of shampoo you would use for that hair; especially with all those different colours… It would be a total mess."

A silence came over the two and Pinkie and Dash just stared at each other. The rainbow-maned Pegasus decided that it was time to get to the bottom of this. Why was she sad? Why was she crying? And how did her mane suddenly get so bouncy? All of these thoughts zoomed and rainboomed through her head as she came to focus on figuring out what made this bouncy ball of fluff of a pony so un-bouncy.

"Pinkie? Why were you crying before?"

Pinkie Pie's gaze slipped to her hooves as her smile dropped, being replaced by a look of sadness. She moved some dirt along the ground in a circle as she looked down to the floor. "Oh, well… I was trying to get some shampoo *sniff* for curly hair… from this hair salon." She answered slowly as she pointed to the store she had just come from.

The pink pony suddenly looked apprehensive to continue with her story, so Dash became a tad impatient. "… And?" Rainbow asked, looking a little confused and annoyed at the pony's hesitation to explain why going to a hair salon could possibly make a pony sad at all… not that she'd ever bothered going to one. For all I know they could be torturing ponies with overly expensive and extremely unnecessary hair care products in there. She chuckled to herself at the unintentional humour in that thought.

The Earth pony gulped trying to hold back her tears, but they kept coming. "Well *sniff*… as soon as they saw me *sniff* they said my hair looked horrible *sniff* and I was hurting pony's eyes… by coming out in public with these *sniff* pink curls and… and-" Tears ran freely from her pink face and she couldn't bring herself to look at Dash. Pinkie rubbed her reddened, teary eyes again.

As she stared at the deflating pony again, Rainbow's expression changed from concern to anger; she had heard enough. "Wait here." Dash interrupted her and walked slowly into the salon. Suddenly, Pinkie heard crashing noises and girls screaming from inside. She could make out Dash's voice amongst the noises. "THIS is for making fun of PINKIE Pie! You should be HAPPY that she CAME here... and you should be GRATEFUL that she allowed you to even SEE her pink hair!" It was silent inside the store for a while except for the shuffling of hooves. After a minute Rainbow Dash walked back out with the same style she walked in with, but she sat down and started rubbing her hooves angrily.

A tear ran down Pinkie's left cheek and dropped to the floor. "What *sniff* was that about?"

"I just had some… business to take care of." She looked back into the store as she rubbed her knuckles. Then she looked at Pinkie, smirking. "Hey, what kind of shampoo do you usually get? Wave Behave or Crazy Curls?" She asked holding up two different shampoo products.

"Did you take those from the salon Dash?" She asked quizzically, wiping away the rest of her tears. Rainbow Dash started to whistle and looked to the side guiltily. "Dash." Pinkie Pie looked at her and chuckled with a smirk of her own, lightly hopping onto her face.

Dash started to giggle and turned her head back to face Pinkie with her rose-coloured eyes shut, but she was swiftly bounced to the ground by a pink blur. "Ooph!"

Pinkie hugged her tightly as Dash struggled to breathe through her surprisingly strong hold. "Oh, thank you, Rainbow Dash! Thank you!" After a few seconds of hugging she let go and hopped off, allowing the rainbow-maned Pegasus to regain her composure.

When she was up again, she took one more glance at the Earth pony and started walking away. She had had an idea. "Come on, Pinkie." She called back for her to follow.

"Where are we going?" Pinkie asked as she caught up and bounced joyfully around Dash.

"We're gonna have some fun!" Rainbow Dash replied as her eyes followed the pink filly, who continued to hop around.

"Ooh, I love to have fun; it's my favourite thing to do and when other ponies are having fun that makes me happier than I could be when I'm having fun all by my pony self. And I love to be happy and I love to make other ponies happy even more, 'cause it's fun to make ponies happy, which makes me happy and being happy and fun and funny is what I'm all about." Rainbow Dash's mind was mush. It took her a few seconds before she realised Pinkie Pie had stopped talking and was smiling at her. She shook her head to focus on the pony in front of her. "So, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna pull some pranks or have a party? Ooh, I love parties 'cause that's where most of the fun and happiness comes from and I love to have fun and mm mmm! Mm mmm!" Rainbow Dash had placed a hoof over the pink pony's mouth.

"I know. You said that." Dash replied with another smirk. She removed her hoof and stepped closer to Pinkie.

"I did?" Asked Pinkie with the same look of confusion she had on the first time Rainbow Dash said that.

"Yep. Hop on!" Dash yelled as she took a dramatic pose.

"Hop what?" Pinkie asked, looking even more confused.

"Hop on." Dash repeated more quietly, pointing to her back. Pinkie gave her a questioning look and tilted her head to the side. "Something wrong-? Ooph!"

Pinkie jumped onto Rainbow Dash's back. "Nopey dopey! I just wanted to make sure you meant your back and not your head." Pinkie placed both hooves over her mouth and tried to hold back giggles. "Could you believe it if I thought you meant your head instead? That would have been embarrassing! Then you wouldn't be able to see anything ha ha ha!"

Embarrassing is right. She thought to herself.

"Pinkie Pie, you're with the Dash now. And when you're with the Dash, you'd better hang ON!!" Rainbow Dash kicked off quickly and zoomed into the air with a burst of speed that took most of Pinkie's breath away, but just enough of it remained for her to say:

"Wooohooooo!!"

For the rest of the super-duper beautifully sunny day, Rainbow Dash flew around doing tricks – either with the pink pony on her back or following down below – and together they pulled a whole buncha pranks on those silly residents of Manehattan. Replacing its residents' ink supply with invisible ink; causing the shady clouds hanging over the city to rain down on the unsuspecting ponies; brightening up the dull houses with pink and green and blue and violet and yellow and orange and red, and many other hilarious pranks. At the end of the day Rainbow Dash and her pink friend walked along the empty streets, still laughing their heads off on another terrifically successful prank.

"Did you see that guys face? Priceless. Priceless!" Dash snickered, but then she lowered her head.

Pinkie didn't seem to notice; she answered the pony's question with some giggles and chuckles of her own. "I sure did. He was a real fast runner; even when we started to fly away from him, he still ran after us. What do you think he would have done with that broom if he caught up to us?" The pink pony turned her head to face Dash when she didn't reply. "Dash?"

Dash slowed down and Pinkie Pie followed soon after to look back at the Pegasus pony. "Phew. I'm tired after all that pranking and flying." She spoke with her head low to the ground.

Pinkie started bouncing higher when she saw Dash struggling to keep pace with her. "Maybe you should eat some candy. That's how I get my bounciness and Pinkie energy." She offered with a wide smile.

"Hmm, you don't say." Dash said, smirking across at Pinkie Pie. She picked her head up and quickened her stride, bouncing the troubled thoughts out of Pinkie's joyful mind.
Pinkie's smile then faded and her expression became serious; she stopped leaping about and matched the Pegasus' pace. She looked thoughtfully at Rainbow Dash and managed a tender smile. "Thanks for cheering me up Dash."

"No sweat. It was a lot of fun… pranking all of those uptight ponies." She responded, still chuckling to herself.

"Not just for pulling pranks with me… for cheering me up after those ponies at the salon. I've never, ever, ever been more sad in my entire life than when they made fun of me. But you, a pony I didn't even know, came from outta nowhere and helped me to laugh again. Thank you, Rainbow Dash." Her eyes were filled with happy tears as she stared at the rainbow-maned pony.

"It-" Rainbow Dash noticed the pink ponies' eyes welling up and looked away nervously. "Really, it was my pleasure. Those ponies deserved it and more." Dash replied with a slightly angry tone of voice at remembering. She turned her head back to the Earth pony to meet her teary eyes. "Anyway, today was a lot of fun Pinkie. I can't wait to hang out some more."

"Hang out?" The pink pony suddenly seemed out of breath and just stared into Dash's beautiful rose-coloured eyes, eagerly waiting for a response.

Dash lifted off, her wings flapping to keep her aloft while she looked down at Pinkie's concerned face. "Yeah, how 'bout tomorrow? We could pull some more pranks on these totally unfun ponies-"

"T-tomorrow? What do you- what do you mean?" She leaned in closer to Rainbow, her huge blue eyes still glistening and pleading, as if hearing her answer was the most importantly portant thing in all of Equestria.

Dash smiled kindly, unfazed by the pink pony. She landed beside the Earth pony and smiled slyly, keeping pace with Pinkie. "Well, I had so much fun with my new best friend I thought I'd like to keep having fun with her." She sighed and looked around at the other ponies on the streets. Then she turned her head back to the abso-tively befuddled pony before her. "Nopony around here seems to have a funny bone in their boring-as-hay bodies and you seem to be the only pony with the slightest bit of fun in her. And let me tell you, you're bursting with tons of fun Pinkie."

"So, I… I'm your friend?" She asked with hope in her voice and her attention set firmly on the Pegasus pony.

As if just noticing her new friend's beautifully blue eyes pleading for an answer, she looked seriously at her. "Of course you are, Pinks. Why wouldn't I be?"

She pushed around some stray dirt on the floor; she seemed to be having trouble coming up with any words, something very bizarre for the pink pony. "Because I'm too energetic… b-b-because I'm weird and I bounce around everywhere like a crazy pony… and I smile all the time and I'm just too h-happy and cheerful to be around and-"

"Pinkie?" That was not the kind of response Dash had been expecting at all; which made her think of something awful. "Pinkie… don't you have other friends?" The Pegasus pony stopped and looked at the pink pony walking ahead; regret of asking such a question flew into Dash's heart, causing it to beat more quickly at the fear of actually getting a reply.

Pinkie came to a stop a few hooves ahead of Dash and said nothing. The two ponies stood in silence; the Pegasus pony's heart raced in concern for her friend until the pink pony quietly broke the uncomfortable silence between them. "… No." Pinkie's head tilted to the side to glance back at her friend with those sad blue eyes again.

The Earth pony's smoothly spoken answer brought Dash's feathery fear quickly down to reality. Her mouth felt dry; no words managed to escape her lips. The rainbow-maned pony thought of the impossibility of her friend's answer. No. Pinkie… how can you not have any friends? Just the thought of Pinkie being without laughter and fun for one second makes me want to–

"And all those things I just said were excuses made by all the ponies I've ever hung out with." Pinkie continued, regaining her composure; she turned around sadly, interrupting Dash's obviously violent thoughts. Her voice was calm, but the words she spoke held more emotion to the young pony's heart than any kind of voice could tell.

Rainbow walked up and put a comforting hoof on the pony's shoulder as she spoke confidently to Pinkie. "Well that's over. 'Cause you're my best friend and we're gonna hang out tomorrow."

"Really?" Her face lit up and she stared into Rainbow Dash's eyes again.

The Pegasus pony managed a small smile. "Of course, Pinks."

Pinkie's lip trembled slightly and suddenly broke down and started crying again, covering her head with her hooves.

Oh no. Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she cringed and looked down at Pinkie. What did I do? Doesn't she like the nickname I gave her? What about me being her friend? Doesn't she even know who I–

Rainbow stopped and listened with one eye opened. Is she laughing?

Pinkie erupted off the floor, laughing and giggling and began hopping around Dash. "I have a friend, I have a friend, I have a friend! Do you mean it? You're really my bestest best friend?" She bounced in front of Dash and stared deeply into her eyes, as if her eyes were posi-lutely bouncing with the answer she needed. Then Pinkie gasped with realization. "You do! You're my bestest best friend too, Dashie!"

"Dashie?" The Pegasus pony asked with a raised eyebrow directed at the pink pony.

Pinkie Pie smiled back kindly at her new bestest best friend as she replied. "Yeah, well your name's Rainbow Dash and my name's Pinkie Pie and Dashie rhymes with Pinkie so I thought it would be a good name for you to be called by me instead of Rainbow Dash a whole bunch. You must get pretty bored of being called by your full name all the time so I thought you'd like a cool nickname. In fact my name is short for Pinkamena Diane Pie, but then I thought 'that's an awful lot for ponies to say all the time', so I decided on just Pinkie Pie instead to save more time for having fun. So what d'ya say, Dashie?" Her smile had become a rather large grin by the end of her very long explanation of what the name Dashie was for.

"Well y-yes… sure, but haven't you ever had other friends?" Rainbow Dash asked, quite confused now. Dashie? It sounds kinda cool.

Pinkie spoke thoughtfully as if remembering all of the times she tried to unsuccessfully make friends. "No. Ponies don't really like me. They think I'm too excitable, so they avoid me. The last pony I tried to befriend must have heard of my hyper-actively fun pranks from the other ponies. I was really well and truly just asking him for the time, honest." She shrugged.

"What happened after that?" Dash enquired with a curious tilt of her head.

"He ran behind that barrel over there. Hi Paul!" She waved joyfully at the barrel with the pony hiding and shaking behind it.

The two ponies were silent for a few moments, staring at the pony behind the barrel; Pinkie seemed quite content to smile and wave at the other residents of Manehattan, while the Pegasus pony looked from the Earth pony to the pony behind the barrel and back to Pinkie Pie.

A smile graced Dash's face. She dropped her useless attempts at comprehending the impossibly bizarre relationship Pinkie must have had with the residents of the city to make them seek shelter behind a small barrel and sighed. "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore 'cause you're hangin' with me now." She saw Pinkie's smile brighten and her mane burst forth with maximum puffage. Dash lowered her head and groaned warily. "But I can barely walk after all the pranks we pulled and all the flying I had to do to get us both outta trouble."

Pinkie bounced in place in front of Rainbow Dash. "Do what I said before; eating some sweets always cheers me up after a long day of pranking." Pinkie gasped. "You should definitely do that!" She leaned in close to Rainbow Dash with her wide, beautiful blue eyes. "Ooh, we need to find a sweets shop around here!"

The sudden closeness of Pinkie's bright face and pleading eyes gazing profoundly into Dash's rose-coloured ones made her feel uncomfortable; she smiled back nervously. Staring into her eyes the Pegasus pony fell into a kind of trance; her wings spread wide without her permission. The two held this position for a while until Dash shook her head to escape the little pony's stare. "You know that's not a bad idea, Pinkie." She sat down and put a hoof to her chin. She smirked and stood up nose to nose with her new friend. "In fact, I challenge you to a candy eating contest tomorrow. We'll just see who the best candy eater is."

Pinkie smiled joyfully back at the Pegasus. "Okie dokey lokie!" She dropped her intense gaze and started to look around happily.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and looked down with a soft sigh. What was that? I couldn't look away. She opened her eyes and noticed her outspread wings. When did my wings unfurl? She asked herself confusedly.

The pink pony continued talking as she glanced back at Dash. "But first I need to figure out where we are."

She folded up her wings carefully and raised an eyebrow again. "What? Why we're right–" She stopped and looked around, quickly realizing that she had no idea where they were. "–here."

"Oh Rainbow Dash! I know we're right here, but the question is: where is here?" She sat down on her rump in thought. A sudden realisation hit her Pinkie Pie brain; she had figured it out. "We must've gone through a wormhole or something. Oh, I knew I should've brought my towel."

"Don't worry Pinks; I'll just fly up and– huh?" Rainbow Dash suddenly became 20% more confused at Pinkie Pie's statement and turned her head to look at her suspiciously.

The pink pony looked at her Pegasus friend with an expression that seemed to scream 'everypony should know about that'. "A wormhole. You know, sort of like time travel."

Dash sat down and waved her hoof back and forth. "No not that, but I don't quite understand that either." She scratched the back of her neck and tried to make sense of what Pinkie said, but all that she managed was:

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random."

She kept staring at her friend with the same confused look on her face, but this time she had a wide grin on her face.

Pinkie giggled at the newly created catch phrase. "Oh, you mean about the towel?" Dash nodded, speechless. "It's the most valuable thing you can have when travelling through space. I thought everypony knew that."

"… Okay. Well that 'answer' just brought up more questions, so I'm just gonna see where we are. Wait here." She pushed off the ground and flew up to look out over the towering buildings of Manehattan and attempted to figure out where they had found themselves.

On the ground, Pinkie smiled broadly and bounced up and down as she watched the Pegasus reach the tops of the skyscrapers and look around to find any sense of direction. However, Pinkie noticed that something was off about her friends flying this time. She stopped bouncing and tilted her head to the side in thought. Hmm. When I flew with Dashie before she seemed perfectly fine; she had no trouble soaring through the air, but now she looks like she's eaten a million cupcakes all at once. And that's a whole lot to eat in one sitting. I hope she's okay. A sudden, terrible thought tumbled into her Pinkie-mind; she gasped with both hooves covering her muzzle to muffle the sound. She shook the thought from her Pinkie-mind and her pink, curly mane shook with it. No, she's fine… please be okay.

After a few quick glances at the darkness that surrounded her, Dash soared back down and landed next to Pinkie. The Earth pony, of course, immediately started bouncing up and down excitedly again.

"Ooh, ooh! What did you see? What did you see?" Pinkie's excitement at seeing her friend again only seemed to grow as she watched Dash for an answer.

Rainbow bowed her head. "I… I don't know where we are. I've never really explored Manehattan; I always flew outta town to practice my flying for the Wonderbolt's, so I only know the place I'm staying at. I don't have a clue."

Pinkie placed a front hoof to her chin in thought while she still bounced in place with the other three. This took Rainbow's attention away from not knowing where they were and put it all on trying to figure out how she actually managed to do that. After giving up on ever coming up with an answer that would satisfy her, she couldn't help but smile at her pink friend's ever strange and happy go-lucky demeanour.

Pinkie gasped suddenly as she came up with something. "I've got an idea, Rainbow Dash. Wait here!" With that she crouched down, wiggled her rump, and bounced all the way up to the top of a rather tall building.

Dash's jaw dropped and yet again her thoughts shifted to another one of Pinkie's strange abilities. She blinked a few times to confirm that she just saw a pink Earth pony jump over 10 stories high. "How did she… do that?"

It was pitch black when she looked out across the city, but with her super sensitive eyes she could see as clear as day. As Pinkie twisted her head around in all directions to pick up exactly where they were, she soon spotted something familiar to her. Her smile brightened even more than it already had been – if that was even possible – and she quickly bounced back down to Dash to deliver the good news.

Before she could say anything, Rainbow Dash rushed over to her; confusion and worry spread across her cyan face. "How did you do that, Pinkie?"

"Do what?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head to the side quizzically.

"'Do what?' You just jumped 10 stories into the air and landed on a building! You coulda been hurt… or worse!" She stared angrily at the pink pony with her rose-coloured eyes for her response.

"Aww, Dashie. Were you worried about me?" A warm smile crossed her face.

Dash immediately dropped her angry gaze and replaced it with a look of embarrassment. "N-No. I was just… concerned. And why can't I be worried about a friend?" Rainbow looked to the side, covering her blush. "After all, if you get hurt there would be nopony here that could keep up with… the Dash." She finished, striking a pose.

Pinkie giggled. "Oh Rainbow Dash, you're so silly." She gasped and jumped up in place, landing with her legs spread out in a play bow and a huge smile on her face. "Dashie, I know where we are."

"Really? Awesome. So where do we have to go?" She asked while looking about the darkened area.

"Follow me!" She sang, hopping off into the dimly lit streets.

"Right behind you–" Rainbow went to follow her, but a sudden intense pain in her body prevented her from walking; instead she dropped to the ground and let out a heated scream. "Augh!"

"Dashie?" Pinkie looked back at her friend and found her on her stomach. Zipping over, she crouched down next to her and stared worriedly into Rainbow's eyes. "Dashie! What happened?! Are you hurt?!"

"No… I'm f–" Rainbow Dash tried to sit up, but collapsed to the ground from yet another surge of pain. "Urgh!" The pink pony stood up in realisation of the Pegasus pony's agony. "Y-Yeah, I… I think it was from all of the flying and pranking with…" She trailed off when she looked into Pinkie's widened eyes.

"With me." Pinkie glumly finished the rainbow-maned Pegasus' sentence and sat down, hunched over. "This is why I'm not supposed to have friends."

Dash raised her head with some difficulty to stare at the pony for an explanation. "What?"

Pinkie didn't seem to hear her question and kept scolding herself. "Oh, I knew I should have listened to my Pinkie-sense and stayed inside today. None of this would've happened. None of it." She said, staring down at the floor angrily.

Trying to sit up to look into the pink ponies eyes again, Rainbow caught sight of her dulled blue eyes. "What are you talking about, Pinkie?"

As if she just noticed her bestest best friend's questions Pinkie looked back at Dash and gulped. "My Pinkie-sense told me that if I went outside of my house today… somepony close to me would get hurt. But I didn't have any friends… so I thought it would be okay. I only wanted to get something for this messy mane of mine and now I've hurt the only friend I've ever ever had." She looked down as if to start crying. At the image of Pinkie in tears again, Dash felt some of her own coming on.

"Pinkie… it's okay. I'm not hurt bad, it's just a sprain." She put a hoof under Pinkie's chin and lifted it up to look into her big round eyes. "I don't blame you Pinkie. Or your Pinkie-sense – whatever that is. This happens to me a lot."

"R-Really?"

"Of course, don't think a little sprain will do me in..." She tried to sit up again and managed it, but the rest of her ached; she wisely decided:

'To not do that anymore'.

Rainbow Dash had arrived at the conclusion that she wouldn't be able to walk or fly home and attempted to relax her muscles. "For long anyway." She replied with another cringe as she glanced at her shoulder.

Wiping her eyes with a hoof, Pinkie sniffed. "So you don't hate me, Dash?"

Rainbow turned sharply to stare into the pony's eyes. "Why would I ever hate you? Spending time with you today has been the most fun I've had in a long time. You know Pinkie, you're not as annoying as everypony else thinks you are. Not to me."

Rainbow suddenly felt a third surge of pain as Pinkie jumped on her, wrapping her front hooves around the blue Pegasus, and knocking her to the ground in a huge hug for the second time that day. "Oh, I'm sooo happy you still like me Dashie!"

All that was audibly heard from Rainbow Dash as an answer was a reasonably loud:

"Oww!"

Upon hearing this Pinkie let go and Dash was allowed to relax her muscles again. "Oops! Heh heh… sorry." A nervous smile leapt onto her pink face.

Laying her back-legs down carefully so she could face the pink pony beside her, Rainbow groaned in discomfort. "It's okay Pinkie… but– How are we gonna get out of this place now?"

"Oh, that's easy peasy." Pinkie sat down next to her and answered, putting a hoof to her chest. "I can carry you."

"Are you sure?" Rainbow Dash asked uneasily. The pink pony was also a little pony.

"It's only fair. You flew me all over Manehattan today; which must have been real hard, even with your muscles. The least Pinkie can do for you is get you back home." Immediately after she said that, her eyes lit up. "Wait! I've got it! I could see my house from up there; it's just around the corner. I can bring you to my house instead for the night so you can get better faster."

"But–" Dash started, but Pinkie interrupted her.

"No buts Dashie!" She paused to giggle at the word, but then she quickly regained her seriousness and sustained her argument. "I've made up my mind. I'm the one who got you into this mess, so I'm gonna be the pony to make you all better again." A stern look appeared on the pink ponies face. Dash hadn't seen this side of Pinkie yet; it was a side of pure, unwavering determination.

Rainbow Dash didn't have any time to reply as Pinkie slid her head underneath the Pegasus pony's belly, slipping her onto her back to be carried. She started to walk along easily as she finished her serious speech. "I'm also not leaving my bestest best friend Rainbow Dash lying here."

Blushing, she looked at the pink Earth pony from the side. Whoa, she's stronger than I thought. "Uhh… thank you, Pinkie."

Pinkie smiled back cheerfully. "No problem, Rainbow Dash." She quickly turned her head to look at the ground, so her bestest best friend couldn't see her own reddened cheeks.

As they walked, Rainbow was having trouble with what she should do. Where do I put my tail? Where do I put my legs? Where do I put my head? The Pegasus inwardly gasped as a more important and embarrassing problem struck her:

Where do I put my rump?!

While she asked herself these questions she was involuntarily squirming on Pinkie's back.
Pinkie's blush grew and she giggled nervously to herself. "Hey, Rainbow Dash?" She asked with some strain in her voice.

"Yeah Pinks?" Dash answered, half listening and half still struggling to get comfortable.

Holding in more giggles, the Earth pony concentrated on her question. "So, why do you go outta the city to fly around? Isn't Manehattan a good place to just glide in?"

She stopped for a minute to recall her last flight. "Oh, well it's easier to fly out in the open. There's no tall buildings in the way; it's freedom out there Pinkie." Her eyes glazed over at the memory of a good cruise.

Pinkie Pie allowed herself to relax as Dash ceased moving around. "It sounds like a ton of fun."

She smiled kindly. "It is." Rainbow Dash drifted into her seemingly endless reverie; her mind lifted her up into the sky for her to begin soaring effortlessly through the wide blue yonder which she missed sooo much. She was sooo immersed in her dream in fact that she almost forgot she was an injured pony currently seated on a pink pony's back.

Pinkie turned her head down to the ground and whispered to herself. "Maybe I can do that someday."

Breaking out of her daze, Dash started fumbling her hooves around trying to find a comfy position again. "I'm sure you'll get the chance to fly someday, Pinkie." Her head, hooves, and tail tossed and turned every which way except Pinkie's rump and neck, fearing how the pink pony would react to that.

After a few minutes of almost abso-tive silence – excluding the frustrated noises of the rainbow-maned pony failing once again to relax – the pink pony spoke… rather awkwardly to the ground. "Uhm, Rainbow Dash? You can rest your head on my neck if you want."

Dash was silent; her muzzle hung somewhat open. Her wings had again unfurled without her taking notice and heat spread across her face with a ripe red apple tint appearing on her cheeks; she really didn't know what to do now.

Pinkie regretted saying that straightaway and was concerned with how the Pegasus might have taken that offer. "Dashie? Are you okay?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at the injured pony.

"Y-Yeah, thanks Pinkie." She answered and slowly lowered her head to rest on the pony's mane. She had been right from before:

It really is soft.

Dash saw her opened wings as she leaned carefully on the pink pony's neck, but she didn't care this time. She was too comfy to worry about anything.

The sudden weight on Pinkie's shoulders told her that Dash's head now rested on her neck, but now she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She just stared at the floor with a small smile on her face as she kept walking through the darkened streets.

The rest of the trip was taken in complete silence. As they walked, Dash became more and more comfortable and Pinkie became more and more nervous. By the time the Earth pony reached her home, Rainbow Dash was completely relaxed in the curly pink mane while Pinkie Pie's whole body was abso-posilutely tense. She hesitated, looking back at the rainbow-maned pony's beautiful face snoozing away on her shoulder, but soon she managed to speak. "Dashie, we're here."

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes blissfully and looked up at the house.

It was a strange home, with a bright shade of pink covering the outside of it. It was a happily cake-like house with swirling pink frosting spiralling up to the roof and all along the sides in colourfully colourful layers. The cake house had a far brighter outside then the other skyscrapers around it; most were a very dull shade of dull grey, yuck!

As her vision began to clear, Rainbow Dash also remembered she had nearly fallen asleep on Pinkie's mane and rapidly became just as nervous as her Earth pony friend had been the entire trip.

"Umm, thank you Pinkie… for the lift I mean." She spoke quickly, with anxiousness noticeably present in her voice.

Pinkie was silent for a while and stood at the door before answering calmly; quite unusual for the pink pony. "Yeah, but let me get you inside and comfy womfy. You can sleep in my bed and I'll find someplace else."

"But Pinkie–" Dash started.

"Dashie." Pinkie looked sternly over her shoulder at the Pegasus pony, interrupting her.

Rainbow Dash stared back at her, anxiously. "But… but where are you gonna sleep?"

"Oh, I have a couch. I can use that for tonight." She answered, suddenly confident in herself; she turned back and stepped into the pink house with a smile of a job well done and a good nap well deserved.

"Pinks… you don't have to do that." Dash protested, still apprehensive towards Pinkie's offerings.

The pink pony nudged the door closed with her muzzle and turned around, headed for the stairs and the second floor. "You're my friend Rainbow Dash. I… I want to do it."

As Pinkie walked up the steps to her room, neither she nor Dash said a word. When she reached the entrance, she nudged the door open with her muzzle and wandered up next to the huge, pink, and rather fluffy bed. The Earth pony stared confidently at the four poster bed; she was sure Dash would find it more comfortable that sleeping on her. She smiled briefly before speaking. "Okie dokey lokie! Here you go."

Rainbow Dash didn't answer.

Pinkie began to worry. Did I do something wrong again? Is she too nervous to speak anymore? Oh, I wish I could make Dashie feel better. She seemed so sad on the way back here and she hardly said a thing after I said I'd give her a lift. Suddenly, Pinkie heard a low rumbling sound. She looked over her shoulder at the Pegasus pony that had again leaned her head against the pink pony's neck. She was sound asleep and snoring with a smile on her face; her head rested quite comfortably on Pinkie Pie's magenta-coloured mane. She slipped the sleeping pony off her back and carefully into the bed. Walking quietly to the door, the little pony turned her head to look at her bestest best friend once more. "Goodnight, Dashie."

She smiled kindly and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Author's Note

First Story :/

Chapter 2

"No thorns aside from what you bring in yourself."

Chapter 2

Friendship is partying

It was late and the super-duper cool night air drifted calmly through the streets of Manehattan. The clouds hovering over the city had abruptly decided to become cumulonimbus clouds; once all of the water droplets were too heavy to be contained, the clouds burst open, dumping their contents onto the buildings and anypony unlucky enough to be out at this hour. However, the noise of the rain was buffered by the pink-coloured cake house and couldn't enter the ears of the sleeping Pegasus pony comfortably nestled inside it.

As Pinkie walked back down to the lower level to collapse on the couch, she thought of what she could do to thank Rainbow Dash. She's been so nice to me all this time and I haven't really done anything for her. What could I do for an awesome pony like her anyway? She slumped down onto her couch and put a hoof to her chin. She said she hasn't had fun in a long time, but what can I do to change that? With a moment more of pondering, she had her answer. A soft giggle escaped her lips as she face-hoofed. Silly Pinkie. Of course I know what to do for Dashie! She jumped up and off the couch and zoomed into a closet that seemed to appear out of nowhere; she wasn't seen again until morning.

As Pinkie went about her mysterious business in the previously none-existent closet – just off to the left of the couch, presently positioned off center to the room – a front window revealed many wet ponies (some with carriages in tow) cantering off for shelter at their dullier than dull homes. The sight would make a pony vacationing away from a more fun oriented place ask:

Why are all these ponies so boring all the time? Even in the rain they run for the shelter of their boring old grey homes. Another passing carriage would make that same vacationer add, Anypony with the least bit of fun in them would want to be out soaring in that downpour. With a huff the pony would turn around and leave with one more thought, being:

No fun at all.

The ponies of this city never had any true experience of what we call 'fun'; all they knew was work… how boring that must've been. Manehattan was a city of business and the ponies in it were quite content to keep it that way; at least, that's what it seemed to be. Now the whole party being un-fun idea was a very accepted concept of any Manehattanite's life; however, some parties cannot be anything… but fun.

In the morning, Pinkie had just finished her great work and was bounding up the steps three at a time to reach her room quicker. Ooh I can't wait until Dashie sees what I made for her. She's gonna be sooo super-duper excited! Ooh, I wonder what we're gonna do first… maybe we can– Before she could finish her thought, she heard something coming from the room. She put an ear to the door and listened closely.

"Pinkie Pie… you are sooo random." Rainbow muttered slowly. She was still sleeping; she must have been more tired than either of them had thought.

The pink Earth pony giggled to herself and smiled. That's me. But then she heard something else. Something that made her gasp, slip on the top step, and bounce all the way down to the first floor.

She sat up without a problem, but she still looked shocked as to what she had just heard from the Pegasus pony's lips. "D-Dashie… l-l-loves me?" She whispered to herself.

"Pinks, are you okay? What happened?" Dash's voice called from the top step. She stared down at the pink mess sitting on the bottom step with a worried look on her face.

"Oh, uhh… hi Rainbow Dash." Pinkie looked up into the concerned and still groggy eyes of her Pegasus pony friend and gulped. "Me? Happened? Why… nothing happened. I'm just sitting on the bottom step waiting for you to get up so we can have some more fun today. Other than that... abslotively nothing at all." She finished with a wide, uncomfy looking smile spread across her pink face.

A little put off by the ponies' noticeable, but untraceable nervousness, Dash raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Oookaay. So… what are we gonna do today?"

Pinkie suddenly gasped as she realised something. "Dashie! You're moving!"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be moving?" She asked, lifting up a hoof.

Pinkie was hopping up the stairs towards Rainbow as she spoke… quite rapidly and joyfully. "Yesterday you were hurt all over and I had to carry you back here so you could sleep and rest up, but now you're all better and you can move and walk and fly again. Oh, I'm so happy everything worked out!"

Rainbow looked down sadly. The pink pony noticed and stopped bouncing to look into her friend's rose-coloured eyes with her own worry glazed, circular ones. "About that Pinks." Attempting to move her wings cautiously, the rainbow-maned pony cringed; her entire body tensed up with a burning pain spread across her wings. "I don't think it's just a sprain anymore." She proceeded to relax them swiftly afterwards.

Pinkie immediately gasped at Dash's pain. "Oh no! Your wings, Dashie! Well, that settles it. You're staying here until you're better and I'm just the pony to make you well again. By the end of sometime, you'll be all better and flying in no time. That's a Pinkie promise."

Rainbow smiled and tilted her head to the left quizzically. "And what's a Pinkie promise?"

"Oh, it's what I do whenever I have an incredibly super amazing and importa-rific promise to keep. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She answered and did the proper hoof jesters to her rhyme.

At the sight of Pinkie jamming a hoof into her eye without any visual discomfort coming from such an act, Dash couldn't help but giggle. "Pinkie Pie, you are soo random."

Pinkie smiled brightly. "Of course. I am the most energetic and happy pony in Manehattan."

"More like all of Equestria." Rainbow smirked and started walking down the steps.

Pinkie blushed at the statement, but then looked distressed when she noticed her Pegasus friend wandering down to the lower floor. "Oh, Dashie. You need to get back to bed… quickly!"

Dash reached the bottom and turned to glance at Pinkie. "Oh Pinkie, I'm fine… and hey… I didn't see this door here before." She turned her head to look at the closet Pinkie had been in the entire night; the Earth pony winced and quickly leapt to the bottom.

When she reached the last step it was already too late to shout. Rainbow Dash had opened the closet and was staring, open-mouthed, into a large room, full of brightly coloured decorations with rainbow coloured cakes and multi-coloured cupcakes and muffins and sarsaparilla and many other delicious looking sweets placed along the tables inside it. Gazillions of balloons were tied to all the seats at the tables, with green and blue and violet and yellow and orange and red colours all jumbled up confusedly. Streamers hung down from the ceiling and a giant cake was at the center; which read, in pink icing on top:

'Thank you, Rainbow Dash'.

Pinkie suddenly called from behind Rainbow Dash. "I– Well…" The Pegasus pony turned around to face her; her muzzle still hung somewhat open in disbelief. She saw the pink pony staring at the floor and rubbing a fore-hoof against the other nervously. Bouncing along in her Pinkie-mind with the strength she needed, the little pony continued her explanation. "I thought I should do something nice for you since you cheered me up so much yesterday. So I decided to throw you a huge 'thank you' party in your splendiferous honour." The bright smile returned to her face, along with a few giggles directed at her friend's befuddled muzzle.

"How did you do all this… in a closet?" Dash asked breathlessly with an eyebrow raised high and a hoof motioning behind her.

Pinkie smiled awkwardly and spoke uncharacteristically slowly and quietly. "I was up all night, finding all the decorations and streamers and cupcakes… and I even made that cake there too. It's the first one I ever really made. The other cakes for my parties were just bought from the old sweet's shop down the street, but this time I decided I wanted to make it all by my-pony-self. Ooh, it was super-duper fun to watch it bake too; I've never seen something so cool before – except for your terrifically colourful mane though – and it was even more fun to decorate it." A subtle silence swept over the room, like a huge pink blanket on a cold winter's night, and the pink Earth pony stared down at the floor dreamily. Breaking the silence after a few moments, Pinkie hesitantly looked up into Dash's eyes once more. "So, do you like–? Ooph!"

The pink pony was abruptly interrupted by a rainbow blur as Dash gave her pink friend a huge hug. But the sudden movement and contact with the mare made her wings spread out of their own accord; all that came from the Pegasus' lips as a response to this was:

"Oww, oww, oww!"

But she kept hugging the little pony, despite the stinging sensation pouring from her now splayed out wings.

Stunned at Dash's embrace, Pinkie Pie's hooves wouldn't move up to return the hug. "Rainbow Dash… are you–?"

"Thank you, Pinkie." The blue pony spoke as she closed her eyes and nuzzled the Earth pony's mane.

Pinkie's mouth was open for a few seconds after, but then a caring smile formed on her face and she finally hugged her friend back. "Sure thing, Dash."

The two held their hug for a few minutes; their eyes closed until Rainbow Dash released the Earth pony from her hooves. "So, what are we gonna do first Pinks?"

Pinkie's head tilted to the side in confusion. "What do you mean, Dash?"

"At the party." Rainbow Dash sat down and spoke with a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "I think it's a pretty big waste for me to be in a bed and for you to be looking after me, so let's go to your awesome party instead. We can have that candy eating contest too." She jumped back up and struck her flight pose.

The pink pony smirked, sat down, and looked at up slightly to properly count off in her pink mind, what she had set-up at said pony party. "Well, I brought pin-the-tail-on-the-pony and bobbing for apples and super tasty punch drinking contests and a whole buncha other stuff for us to do." She bounced up and kept bouncing as she finished. "And the tons and tons of goodies I made should keep us both fully energized for the whole entire day!"

"Sounds like fun. Hey, are you any good at pin-the-tail-on-the-pony?" Rainbow asked, gesturing quizzically to Pinkie with a sly left hoof.

The Earth pony on the other right hoof looked insulted. "'Any good'? Who do you think you're talking to, Dashie? Anything partier-ific is my specialty." She answered with a hoof to her chest proudly. She beamed a wide, closed eyed smile at the Pegasus pony; her proud jester turning into another self-inflicted giggle-fit. She looked down at the floor with a hoof to her mouth to suppress her laughter.

"Then I challenge you to a pin-the-tail-on-the-pony contest. Now where's a suitable prize for one of us to win?" Rainbow Dash progressed to sit down on her rump and tilted her head around the brightly coloured room in thought. She strained to find something for a prize to such a contest, but couldn't find anything that they didn't already have plenty of. There's gotta be something here worth winning. Suddenly, an idea came to her. Perfect. "The winner of this first competition gets the name of… the Premier party pony. Deal?" Proud of her brilliant suggestion, she turned back from gazing longingly at the stairs for an answer to her self-imposed question and put a hoof out to shake Pinkie's, but found that she was nowhere to be found.

Before the Pegasus could figure out where her pink friend could have gone, a cheerful, but impatient sounding voice called from inside the room. "Dashie? Are you coming… or do I have to play all by my-pony-self?" Dash looked over at the back corner of the extraordinarily large closet and spotted Pinkie on her rump next to the pony poster with her back legs spread out in front of her and her fore-hooves placed between them in a sitting posture. She wore a jokingly bored expression on her face.

Rainbow giggled and began to wander over to the Earth pony, navigating through the maze of tables and streamers that the pink pony had set up. "Wow! Those games must last for a long time." She said, sarcastically.

"Heh, tell me about it." She answered, just as sarcastically rolling her beautiful blue eyes in acknowledgement of the continuing joke.

The two ponies initiated their game with a coin flip to decide which pony would go first; Pinkie would always call 'tails' no matter what game they played. Unfortunately for her, Dash was aware of this fact all too well, be it from the two ceremoniously flipping a coin to decide on what prank they should pull next on the ponies of Manehattan or from boredom when the pony being pranked wouldn't show up. This time, like all the others, with this knowledge, won her the flip. Rainbow would be the first pony to go.

Pinkie tied the blindfold carefully behind the rainbow-maned pony and began spinning her around and around. Once she had stopped turning Dash, the Pegasus could only just stand on all four hooves; walking clumsily towards tables of sweets and bowls of punch, the pink pony only just managed to keep her bestest best friend out of trouble. However, she did unintentionally allow Dash to dunk her head into the punch bowl in front of the poster in order to eat a few cupcakes placed right next to the punch bowl. This earned Pinkie Pie a swift pink and blue cupcake to the face from the Pegasus soon after words, allowing the pink pony to have the first cupcakes of the party; which she accepted gratefully of course. When Rainbow was finished laughing at Pinkie for licking the tiny cake from her bright pink muzzle in the most comical and cute way she possibly could, she placed the blindfold on again and walked carefully to the wall.

As Rainbow Dash had her turn, Pinkie could have sworn the Pegasus pony had played this game tons and tons before. She watched her friend in amazement at how she had focused back to her task so quickly and how her hoof was nearly perfectly aligned with the center of the poster; she wanted to win.

Dash's hoof slowly moved from left to right, trying to find her mark while Pinkie began to tremble with excitement. She seems so calm and relaxed about everything. Ooh, this'll definitely be a fun-tabulistical game of pin-the-tail-on-the-pony. I can feel it in my hoovsie-oovsies. With that, she saw Dash place the tail a centimeter from the 'X' and her muzzle fell open.

Removing the blindfold to see her achievement, Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie Pie with a smug look on her pretty face. "Top that Pinks." She smirked at the pink pony.

Pinkie gulped. No pony but me has ever got that close before. Oh, maybe I'm not as partier-ific as I thought I was.

Rainbow noticed that her friend was uneasy about something and her competitive attitude dropped to one of encouragement. "Come on Pinks. If I can get it that close to the mark, then you have nothing to worry about. Now get your rump up there and hit that 'X'."

From the Pegasus' reassurances, Pinkie suddenly drew on a face of pure concentration and fortitude. She nodded her head at Rainbow Dash's stunning rose-coloured eyes and turned to the poster to take her turn. The intensity of the situation only became more so as the rainbow-maned pony prudently wrapped the blind-fold around the pink pony's head and spun her around and around, being careful not to spin her too much as to make her fall over. When Pinkie Pie had spun Dash around, the ordeal left her cyan-coloured friend a tad dizzy, but the Earth pony was so focused on the task at hoof she didn't even notice.

The blue pony's words still bounced around in her curly-maned head:

'Now get your rump up there and hit that 'X''.

As she made her way to the poster, Pinkie found a sense of absolute calmness coursing through her entire being. There was no outside noise, no audible interruptions; just the echoing words of the Pegasus pony to keep her company. As they hopped this way and that inside her mind, her head somehow knew she was at the poster:

Her head had hit the wall.

The pink Earth pony quickly proceeded to rub the now tender spot with a hoof and whispered a soft, "Ow" before returning to her game. With the sudden pain fading, she focused her thoughts back on the game at hoof.

Memories of the numerous pin-the-tail-on-the-pony games she had planned and partaken in began to rush into her Pinkie Pie mind, developing a perfect rendition of the wall before her. The words still bounded in and out of perceptibility inside her pink head, calling out to her:

'Come on Pinks.'

The image of the 'X', implanted in her brain, was glaring at her to miss, but the Earth pony would not be swayed from her given task. And still the splendourifical encouragements of her bestest best friend kept with her, declaring:

'You have nothing to worry about.'

Pinkie was smiling, knowingly. She was going to win… For Dashie.

When she removed her blind-fold, she peered at the spot she had placed the tail. It was smack dab in the middle of the 'X'.

The pink pony stepped back, flabbergasted. I did it. Perfectly centered and everything. She couldn't believe her deep blue eyes no matter how long she stared at the poster.

Rainbow Dash trotted up to stand next to her friend, nudging Pinkie's shoulder with an elbow to get her attention. "You did it… yes! Right in the center. See? I told ya you could do it." The Pegasus looked from the poster to the pink pony for her response, but none came. "Uh… Pinkie Pie?" Dash wondered if she had broken her somehow or if she was in deep thought about something and couldn't hear her. Why is she staring at me like that?

Pinkie gazed dreamily into her friend's utter-tastically gorgeous rose-coloured eyes for a moment; they were soo beautiful she felt herself becoming lost in them. Freeing herself from those compassionate eyes, she leaned forward slowly and kissed her on the cheek. It only lasted a few seconds, but that was long enough for both of them to feel heat forming in their cheeks. She knew now what had helped her win, but the sensation from that realisation felt so odd and somehow relaxing to her.

"Thanks, Dash." The pink party pony spoke absentmindedly to the Pegasus pony, with a hesitant smile on her face. Realising what she had just done and what she remembered from the morning, she began to move away, blushing profusely.

Meanwhile, her friend's cheeks were rapidly becoming as red as an apple; this sensation was continued with another wide spread of her wings, but the magenta-maned pony was already out of viewing range to take notice. Nice going Pinkie. She scolded herself. You're not supposed to kiss other girls. … I must have heard her wrong anyway. Maybe she said, 'I love your mane and tail, Pinkie'. That must've been it; I mean… we're friends. Bestest best friends.

Seconds after Pinkie's lips touched her cheek the blue pony's wings flew open again, but this time she didn't even notice the pain that came along with them. She was too shocked to notice anything but the growing feeling on her reddened cheeks.

It's okay Dash, She told herself as she looked down at the ground and slowly recovered from the situation. She was just saying thank you; no big deal. Dash looked at Pinkie, wandering away. Then why am I so nervous? Shaking that unsettling question to the back of her mind, she found herself suggesting their next party move. "Hey, Pinks… why don't we have that candy eating contest now?"

"Ooh, great idea Dashie! I'll get it all set up in a jiffy!" She shouted with a sudden spring in her step.

And it was all there in a jiffy. Before Rainbow Dash's eyes, Pinkie Pie became a blur of pink as she zoomed from table to table and placed an equal amount of goodies on the two tables directly in front of the Pegasus pony.

The only thing Dash had time to say before she too was grabbed by the pink blur was:

"Wow."

As Pinkie placed Rainbow at one table, she rushed over to hers and began speaking. "Ready? Steady?"

By the time she had got there, Dash was by no means ready or steady and she tried to say so: "W-Wait Pinkie I–" But she was again interrupted.

"GO!" The pink pony yelled and she dove into the tables contents and began chowing down.
Reluctantly – and with an air of regret for ever challenging Pinkie to a contest like this – she too dove her head in and started with the rainbow cupcakes at the front of the surprisingly well organized pile of sweets.

In fact, all of the treats along the two tables were organized into their correct piles. The multi-coloured cakes were in one pile, as were the rainbow sprinkled, pink frosting cupcakes; which were stacked next to the sarsaparilla with pink and blue straws and beautifully decorated chocolate sundaes and blueberry muffins and just about every other sweet tasting food you could imagine. There were even some delicious looking piñatas stuffed on the ends of the two tables, full of candies that the pink pony had made and filled herself.

As Rainbow Dash had finished her fifth cupcake and was headed for some punch to gulp it down with, the Earth pony was already half-way through her sixth large cake and was showing no signs of slowing down.

Pinkie dove into the pile of cakes and sweets like any other time she would eat… with her mouth wide open as she gobbled the sweets down in one particularly messy go. She wasn't really trying to win; in fact after a while of eating soo many cakes and cookies, she almost forgot she was actually in a contest until she glanced up and spotted Dash eating like crazy to keep up with the now candy-coated pony.

Pinkie Pie was just eating at her natural pace, but after watching Rainbow struggle out of the corner of her eye for a while, she felt so sorry for her friend for not being able to sustain such a substantial pace like she could. It wasn't her fault she couldn't eat as much as Pinkie; the Earth pony just had more of an appetite for cakes and cupcakes and other tasterific goodies. She decided then that she would let Rainbow Dash win this time.

I don't mind giving up my title for a friend like her. She smiled at the thought of Dash being happy to have beaten a candy-crazed pony such as her on her first try and put her hooves on her stomach. She gladly began a very exaggerated and very fake sounding speech of defeat at the hooves of the Pegasus pony. "Oh, no more. I can't… eat… another bite." Pinkie pushed the cake she would normally be gobbling right now away and rested her hooves on her stomach again. "Too full, Dashie. I think you've finally beaten me at my own game."

Rainbow Dash looked at the pink pony quizzically for a moment, then smirked. She pumped a hoof into the air in triumph. "Yes ha ha! Victory is mine!" Dash looked happily down to her Earth pony friend and found that she was staring back at her with widened blue eyes.

"Dashie… you-you're flying! Your wings are all better!" She quickly jumped up from her seat and started bouncing up and down happily.

Dash was shocked to see the pink pony was correct. She was in fact right near the ceiling of the first floor. Huh? When did that happen? She shook off the question and smiled back down at the pony as she hovered back down to the ground. "I guess I am. And I guess they are." She answered, flapping her wings about. There's no pain at all. How is that–?

Leaping on top of the Pegasus and knocking her yet again to the ground in a huge Pinkie Pie hug, the pink pony shouted with glee. "Yay! You're okay again!" She relaxed her grip on Rainbow Dash once she remembered doing that was what had injured her friend and she looked down at the blue pony underneath apologetically. "Oops. Sorry Rainbow Dash. I wouldn't want to hurt your wings again just after they got better." Looking down happily at her friend, she noticed that Dash was staring back up at her with a look of calmness and curiosity that made Pinkie Pie feel a bit self-conscious. Getting off Dash, the Earth pony lent a hoof to pull her back up.

Regaining her senses the Pegasus pony took the pony's fore-hoof gratefully. "That's okay Pinks. Thanks." She replied trying to sound relaxed about being tackled.

It didn't fool Pinkie though.

As she stood on her hooves Rainbow saw the ginormous cake the pink pony had made with her own four hooves and stared, entranced at it. "Hey, Pinks. Think it's time we had some real cake?" Dash grinned back at the Pinkie Pie, who smiled softly.

"Waaay ahead of you, Dashie." She quickly zoomed off to the table directly in the center of the closet. The Pegasus pony chuckled to herself at her friend's energetic bounciness and trotted casually over to the table.

Hoofing over a freshly cut piece of rainbow-coloured cake – with red velvet filling – to Rainbow, the Earth pony wore a smile that seemed too large for her to actually manage, but somehow it worked on her large and vibrantly pink face.

The Pegasus took the cake in her hooves and began eating it right away; while Pinkie cut herself a noticeably larger piece for herself. She licked her lips and prepared to gobble the first cake she ever baked ever.

Rainbow Dash noticed her obvious excitement to gobble her creation and grinned almost as widely as her pink friend was. "Hey, Pinks. You know you sure got your appetite back fast. A few seconds ago you seemed to be about to explode." She was just barely holding back bursts of laughter as she saw Pinkie's face grow redder and redder.

Pinkie looked over to her friend uncomfortably and tilted her head to the side. "He he yeah, maybe even twice."

"Good one, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash was having a giggle-fit at seeing her friend so nervous for being found out. She held out a hoof for the pink pony to low-hoof, but kept pulling it back before she could reach. After two tries the magenta-maned pony burst into laughter, being followed soon after by Rainbow Dash.

Once the fits of giggles had died down, Pinkie opened her eyes and stared into the rose-coloured eyes before her. "… I guess I'm not much of a pretender am I?"

"Well you're not the best liar in Equestria, but you still have the Premier party pony sown up." Dash finished eating her piece of cake and waited to see how her pink friend ate hers in one bite. It was quite fascinating for Rainbow to watch Pinkie manage such a bizarre feat as this.

"Thanks Dashie." Pinkie popped the ginormous piece into her mouth with party pony ease and chomped down on the pink and rainbow-coloured frosting, succeeding once again in making Dash smile with confusion on how the pony managed to eat soo much. After swallowing loudly, the pink pony smiled at her Pegasus friend and continued to return Rainbow's compliment. "You're a good bestest best friend and a totally terrifitastic flier… So what should we do now? You're all better, so I guess you'd wanna get back home right?" Pinkie asked as she rubbed a fore-hoof against the other.

Dash put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Well, actually… I was kinda hoping to get some flying and pranking done with the only pony in all of Manehattan that can eat as much candy as Rainbow Dash. How 'bout you Pinks?"

A second later all that could be seen of the pink pony was a streak of pink, beginning from in front of Rainbow Dash, leading out the door, and into the streets. Dash chuckled and flew out of the house as well. Phew. It feels good to be able to fly again, but how did it happen so quickly? I thought I'd be down for a whole week with an injury like this. The only thing I can think of that would have helped was–! She shook the sudden thought from her head. No, that can't be right; ponies can't affect the healing process just by being happy and cheerful all the time.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, where are you going?" The pink pony shouted from the ground.

Rainbow stopped and looked at the small pink mare on the ground far below. She had been flying up into the sky absentmindedly while she was daydreaming and didn't even notice. It must be from a lack of sleep, she thought, trying to calm herself down. Yeah, that's it. I just need a little rest is all. I'll just make up a fluff ol' cumulous cloud for a little nap later. With that relaxing thought in mind, she coasted back down to Pinkie Pie. "Sorry Pinks, I was thinking of something and I must've gotten distracted." She scratched the back of her mane apologetically.

"Oh? What were you thinking about?" She implored with rapidly blinking blue eyes as her head and mane tilted to the side questioningly.

The rainbow-maned Pegasus pony began sweating nervously. "Oh, you know, just all the things I'm gonna have to catch up on in flying to make up for my injury, that's all." The smile spread awkwardly across her face didn't seem at all natural for her, probably because what she just said was a terrible lie to an embarrassing thought she had had. She was thinking that Pinkie Pie and her ever cheerful demeanour had been what healed her wings.

Realising that only made her feel worse.

The pony in question noticed the nervousness of the rainbow-maned pony before her and stared deeply into Rainbow Dash's rose-coloured eyes. Dash had never felt tenser in all her life than how she felt right now.

It appeared to her like Pinkie was staring right through her soul and it made her quite uncomfortable. She felt shivers run down her spine; however she kept staring into her friend's beautiful blue eyes as if she was in an inescapable trance to which there was no end. But just as suddenly as it had made itself known on the pink pony's face, the stare disappeared and was replaced by a look of genuine bouncerific gladness. "Okie dokey lokie!" She shouted and she began bounding away cheerfully.

"Phew. That was close." Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash spread her wings gracefully and took off after her. As she caught up to the pink pony, she noticed something different about her bouncing. It seemed more forced to her now, like she was worried about something. Is it another prediction? Rainbow pondered. Nah couldn't be. After a prediction like the one yesterday, she wouldn't let me go anywhere if she had another one. She chuckled at her bestest best friend's concern for her safety. I'm sure it's nothing.

With her head cleared of worry and full of new pranking ideas for the silly inhabitants of Manehattan, Rainbow Dash flew down low and landed next to her bestest best friend, with a smirk across her beautiful cyan-coloured face. "So Pinkie, who're we gonna prank first this time?" While Rainbow looked absentmindedly in Pinkie's direction, looking for somepony new to prank, Pinkie Pie had her shoulders raised high against her body. She was smiling broadly at Dash's face with eyes half-closed in giggly anticipation. "We need another victim who's made of tougher stuff." When Rainbow turned away from the pink pony, to look about the streets for said victim, Pinkie turned her head to the opposite side she was and began snickering to herself with a hoof raised slightly in an attempt to muffle her laughter. "So, who's it gonna be?" Keeping pace with the Earth pony, Dash looked back to the front slyly.

Rainbow heard a faint chuckle from beside her and the Pegasus pony looked to see Pinkie giggling almost uncontrollably now. What is she laughing at? She thought to herself. Before she could answer it herself, the pink pony stopped laughing and looked at Dash.

She smiled back fondly and switched to a slow trot with her bestest best friend following swiftly. "Oh, I've got somepony in mind." A hoof rose again, managing to hold off her giggle-fit as she continued. "The toughest around." She turned her head away from Rainbow with an even larger grin, muffling her voice with increasing difficulty.

Dash took to the skies once more and rubbed her fore-hooves together in anticipation. "Oh awesome! Who who, do I know them?"

Pinkie looked back at the rainbow-maned Pegasus as her eyes began to sparkle with glee and her laughing became more profound. "Oh yes. You're very close." She struggled to hold back giggles as she kept walking forward.

Rainbow Dash stopped to think; her wings flapping just enough to keep her at Pinkie's level. Who do I know here that she knows I know? Hmm. Dash looked around at the residents of the town to see if she knew any of them, but was coming up blank. I don't know anypony here, so who could she be talking about? Suddenly, something in a nearby mirror caught her eye.

Soaring over to it, she saw her face covered in pink and blue frosting from the party they just came from. Smirking, Dash wiped the icing off on her hoof and heard the pink pony breaking into a rather loud giggle-fit a few hooves ahead of her. With her eyes closed from her laughter, Dash managed to crash into Pinkie Pie, successfully knocking the party pony to the ground. "So ya think you're a funny pony, huh?" With a broad smirk, Dash glared down at the Earth pony and held up a hoof covered in icing; she waved it over her hyper-active pink friend menacingly.

Pinkie gulped loudly and waited, with her eyes shut tight, for her inevitable demise; which was surely filled with pink and blue frosting. This is it. Waves of imaginings and possible outcomes to this situation bounded in and out of her Pinkie Pie-mind; all of them left her imagined self with a face full of sugary cake frosting.

The intensity of the situation only grew as seconds went on for the captured pony, lapsing into minutes and yet more minutes.

But nothing ever happened.

There was no sound or movement the pink pony could pick up; she was becoming anxious. Am I… already gone? She thought. That was fast; I didn't feel anything. Pinkie paused to feel her tummy with both hooves and came to a relieving realisation. No, I'm still here. But– Her ears rose up, picking up a new sound.

Interrupting her thought process – which would surely have more bizarre assumptions and imaginings later – she heard a high-pitched "Mmm", resonating in her ears from on top of her. Pinkie then cautiously opened one blue eye to see Dash licking the last of the icing off of her hoof and giggling at the pink pony's confused pink face.

With her mouth still full of face-cake, the Pegasus' words came out muffled. "What? This is good." Dash replied, licking her candy-coated lips and smiling.

Shortly after that comment, the two erupted with laughter at the pranks they pulled on each other; neither of them even noticed that Rainbow was still lying on top of Pinkie's pink form. Hopping off of the Earth pony, Dash leant a fore-hoof for Pinkie to grab and allowed her bestest best friend to jump onto her back again. With Pinkie laid comfortably on Rainbow's back, the Pegasus pony kicked off and zoomed further into Manehattan city.

The two adventure loving ponies had another terrifical day of pranking and soaring through the skies, but Pinkie made sure that Dash would land on the ground as soon as she felt any pain in her wings. Dash never stopped flying her around the busy and bustling city until it was quite late in the afternoon. And this time, Rainbow Dash flew Pinkie Pie back to her cake home. As they landed Pinkie hopped off and walked up to the door, nudging it open for her friend to walk through.

They chatted long into the evening about another prank day well achieved and how much they both loved the prank they played on Paul:

Dash flew through a deep grey rain cloud hanging over the city and collected the rain into a rather large water balloon and then – carrying Pinkie in her hooves – she flew just above the colt's head, allowing the Earth pony to drop it for a direct hit on him. The result was obviously hilarious when they saw just how much water his mane could actually hold when wet.

After their laughter died down at the memory, they both sat down and faced each other as they smiled. "Another great day, Pinks." She stood up and stretched her back and legs. "Well, I better get out of your mane so you can sleep tonight. Making that party must've been quite the task… even for you–" Rainbow Dash started walking towards the door to leave, but Pinkie called back to her.

"Wait!" Dash looked back to her friend, wondering what the pink pony could have to say. "We can have a sleepover here if you want. I mean yesterday you were just resting up, but now that you're all better I thought we could tell some ghost stories or have a pillow fight or something. I've never really had a sleepover before… 'cause without any friends to join you in the slumber party it's really just bedtime and since you're my bestest best friend in all of Equestria I thought you'd be the number one choice for my first one." She finished with a small smile and gazed pleadingly into the rose-coloured eyes of her friend, waiting for an answer. Both ponies were silently staring at each other now and before Pinkie could regret what she asked, Rainbow Dash gave her reply.

"Sure Pinkie." She answered with a joyful smile.

Pinkie seemed surprised at the blue pony's quick response. "Really?" Standing up, the Earth pony began walking over to Dash.

"Yep. I'd be honoured to be the first slumber party guest of Pinkie Pie's, but you have to promise me something." She looked sternly at the pink pony in front of her.

"What's that Dashie?" She asked with a quizzical smile. She sat down in front of her Pegasus pony friend and leaned in close to hear her demand more clearly.

Dash kept her stern expression, but it was betrayed by the growing smile on her face. "No more late-night closet-party planning. You have to actually sleep this time, okay?"

Pinkie held back giggles. "Okie dokey lokie. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She agreed with her hoof jesters.

The rainbow-maned Pegasus laughed at Pinkie's strange way of making promises and began stretching her back and wings. "Great. Guess I'll turn in then; I'm exhausted from all the running and flying away from angry citizens. Goodnight Pinkie Pie." She said sleepily as she began climbing the stairs to bed.

"Okay. Good–" Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped, grabbing Dash's full attention. "I just remembered I have a sleeping bag in my room. You can sleep in my room in my bed and I can use the sleeping bag in my room too! It'll be just like a real sleepover." She exclaimed, clapping her hooves together.

Rainbow Dash looked down at the pink pony with a sincere expression on her blue face. "Well Pinkie, are you sure you don't want your bed back then? I don't mind using the sleeping bag."

"Nope. The hostess always gives the guest her bed to sleep in. That's the rules… at least that's what Granny Pie told me." She put a hoof to her chin in thought.

"And who's this Granny Pie of yours, Pinks?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in interest.

"Oh silly. She's my Granny… duh." She replied, waving a hoof at Dash.

Dash tilted her head to the side with an impatient grin. "I know that Pinkie Pie, but what is she like? Is she a good Granny?"

"Oh, all Grannies are terrifically abso-posilutely perfect… but yes mine is good too. In fact, she's the one who taught me to giggle at all the ghostlies and guffaw at all the grosslies that are out there."

"And how did she do that?" She asked sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

Pinkie yawned suddenly. "I'll tell you tomorrow, 'kay Dashie? I'm real tired right now."

Rainbow Dash chuckled loudly at her usually hyper friend yawning. "What happened to the 'never ever gets tired Pinkie Pie' you told me about?"

"She's already asleep. This is the 'tired and wants to go to bed Pinkie'." She answered with a tired smile on her face and an even larger yawn than before. The Pegasus pony snickered at Pinkie's response.

Apparently Pinkie's yawns were contagious, because soon Dash was doing the same thing as she walked up the steps and slipped into her bed. Before Pinkie went to hers, she trotted over to Dash's bed and pulled the covers over her friend with a final:

"Goodnight Dashie."

Rainbow Dash suddenly felt flushed and afraid for a reason she couldn't understand; she gazed deeply into the pink pony's round, shimmering blue eyes as if they held the answer to her confusing and rather frightening question.

Pinkie didn't seem to notice her friend's gaze and turned around to begin walking to her sleeping bag, but Dash called back to her. "Pinkie?" She wanted these next seven words to be heard and understood only by herself and the pink pony. She spoke slowly and quietly, like this sentence held a deeper, more important, and more troubling meaning to her than anything else; a meaning that she both tried to figure out and fought to forget. "There's… something I want to tell you."

Spinning around and smiling brightly, the pink pony answered. "Yes Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie froze, as if all the warmth in her pink body was moved at once and was all gathered again at the spot where Dash had kissed her. The kiss didn't last long though, because the feeling that came with it only made the Pegasus pony more confused.

Dash pulled away from the kiss and concentrated, with some difficulty, on forming her next words. "Thank you… for looking after me." Her glimmering rose-coloured eyes were shut tightly, waiting for any response from the pony before her. Not hearing anything coming from her bestest best friend, she opened them and found that Pinkie still stood there with widened eyes and an unreadable expression on her pink face.

Her surprised expression softened considerably, being replaced with a very small smile, but her blush was all the more present on her face as she gave her reply. "S-Sure." Was all the little pink pony could say.

Pinkie Pie gradually turned around, looking at the floor, and walked over to her sleeping bag with a face as red as red can be. She had never been soo happy, sad, and confused in her entire life; she crawled clumsily into her sleeping bag with a dumb smile on her face and new scary feelings in her heart.

The Pegasus pony in bed was just as confused and flushed as the Earth pony was; she lay there with her wings spread out behind her, trying to determine her feelings. The bizarre thoughts that now raced through her mind were blocked by the sudden regret she felt for doing that and was about to apologize to Pinkie, but instead found herself fast asleep in the fluffy pink bed. The magenta-maned pony too soon found herself drifting off to sleep comfortably and they both dreamed of each other until the morning.

Chapter 3

"Let confusion reign. There was beauty in confusion, anyway. And in each other."

Chapter 3

Close Calls and Closer Feelings

It was morning in the super-duper-rifical streets of downtown Manehattan. Cumulonimbus clouds swiftly became cirrus clouds and floated away into the Everfree Forest, nestled closely by the busily growing city. Everything seemed soo quiet and peaceful in the large pink house, currently nuzzling the rainbow-maned Pegasus pony in a comfortable sleep; however, something had left the yummy-looking cake house since the dawn broke over the horizon.

As the next morning shifted dully into the afternoon for the uptight residents, Rainbow Dash – possibly breaking the laws of physics – got up early to see her friend about what she had done last night. "P-Pinks? I'm sorry about last night… I just wanted to–" Her sentence came up short when she realised the sleeping bag was empty. Clamouring out of bed, Dash trotted confusedly down the steps and looked around the bottom floor for anything bouncy and pink. Peering around the room, something caught her eye; a pink note was placed on the couch that the two ponies had chatted on, long about yesterday's pranks. The colourful note was filled with tons and tons of red hearts, decorating the outside with pink and magenta. Hesitantly, Dash hoofed open the letter to read its contents in her fearful mind; she gulped and began to read. To Dashie. Sorry I'm not there whenever you're reading this, but I have these super weird thoughts in my head right now and a walk usually helps me figure strange feelings out easier. Your bestest best friend, Pinkie Pie. This message worried Dash to no end; she let the brightly coloured letter fall to the ground at her cyan hooves. "No. Pinkie, please…"

She flew all through the house trying to find the little pony and even checked the secret places Pinkie had shown her, including the secret party closet, but found no pink pony. Finding no pony in the pantry, still filled to the brim with candies and sweets of all deliciously spectacular sorts, Rainbow's search for her bestest best friend became more frantic and more confusing as she sped out the front door.

Flustered, Rainbow flew through the skies staring down at the ground to find the pony. She was thinking of what the pony might do and fearing to get an answer all at once. I've gotta find her. I have to apologize before… Her eyes shut tightly to forget those kinds of imaginings; her thoughts trailed off as the confusing feelings she'd had last night returned to torment her, but she fought them off too and locked her mind on finding the pink pony. She looked all around Manehattan, flying by all of the places Pinkie had pointed out to her as they flew across the large and rather dull city – including the local sweet's shop and the hair salon where they first met. She looked by the movie theatre Pinkie had promised to take her one day and peered inside a streamer seller's store that the Earth pony bought all her party supplies from. Pinkie Pie. Where are you? She questioned the inside of the store with her fore-head and hooves plastered against the window pane.

In a bustling busy pony city such as Manehattan, there weren't too many stores that actually sold party supplies. Most buildings in the boring-as-hay city were business oriented and the ponies of those industries focused on such things as being unimaginably boring at most times of the day, only lightening a teensy-weensy bit once their day was done and they could go home. This fact of un-fun parties was known to everypony in Manehattan, but it appeared to be completely ignored by the pony running the shop. The fact that this was a store for party ponies in a city for boring businessie type ponies was not missed by the residents, or by the shop keeper; however there was also the really weird fact that he was still here and was of course, doing fine.

It was getting late and Dash had run out of places to check. She was out of breath from all of the searching she alone was doing. "Where is that pink pony? I've gotta find her quick, before something happens to her. I'd never forgive myself if–" She had just begun a second round of searching the stores, but then she spotted a rather large crowd gathered on the borders of the forest just outside. She flew down and hoped to Celestia that they hadn't done anything to Pinkie Pie. "Hey, what's going on?"

"We just ran that Pinkie Pie out of town and into the Everfree Forest." The colt in question turned around as he responded and Dash recognized him instantly as Paul. He obviously recognised her immediately too as he glared up at the airborne pony. "You! You're the one that dropped that balloon on my head!"

"Yes I am." She lied. "So why did you have to send her away? She didn't do anything." She lowered her head and whispered sadly to herself. "She has enough trouble as it is right now."

Paul didn't seem to hear her last words and focused angrily on answering her first question. "Because that pony has been a nuisance in this city for far too long and you joining her with these pranks just made her cross the line." The colt scowled at the hovering Pegasus pony. "We've wanted to do this for a long time and now she's finally gone, thanks to you."

Rainbow Dash recoiled at this statement and stared into the Everfree Forest. She lowered her head as she recovered and glanced to the side in thought for a moment. Turning back slowly, Dash squinted at Paul as she spoke, teeth clenched. "I'm going to get her back and then I will make you personally apologize to her for putting the blame on the wrong pony." She kicked off the ground in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

"Then which is the right pony to blame?" Paul shouted towards the forest anxiously.

Dash disappeared through the trees and yelled one word back at the startled pony:

"ME!"

As Rainbow Dash soared rapidly through the trees determined to find her friend, Pinkie was walking slowly as thoughts clouded her Pinkie mind. I'm sorry Dashie, but I can't stay there anymore. At least until I figure out these super confusing feelings I get whenever I'm with you. I don't know how you feel about me; I don't know how I feel about you anymore. I'm sooo super confused.

Before she could take another step she heard a large crash from in front of her and quickly collapsed to the ground in agony. A gimongous cobra had appeared from the trees and was quickly and easily crushing Pinkie to the floor. Her pink body – usually quite resistant to any kind of injury – was being squeezed with every fibre and feeling striking her body, mind, and heart at once. She felt like at any moment she would pop… and not the soda kind of pop. A very unpleasant balloon pop feeling was coming over her entire being and she lay there for quite a while in pain, until she heard a faint whistling from where she had recently come.

Something or somepony was zooming through the air at rainboom speeds. As the cobra relaxed its muscles to see the disturbance, Pinkie was allowed to look up just in time to see a rainbow blur dash in and kick the snake's giant head. The cobra was struck dumb for a moment; it slid off the pink pony it had previously seen as prey, to shake its battered cranium. Rainbow Dash landed sharply in front of the injured pony to protect her from any further harm and fearfully looked over her shoulder to see the visible damage done to the pony. Seeing her bestest best friend struggling to stay conscious from the super-duper huge constriction on her small body, Dash's fearful face turned to heated anger, all towards the ginormous predator. She turned back to glare at the cobra as the snake regained its senses to loom over Rainbow Dash, trying to intimidate the new threat. "You won't touch her again." She growled with a blazing fire in her gorgeous rose-coloured eyes.

Dash stood her ground against the great serpent and dug her hooves furiously through the dirt at the snake, until it lunged its entire form forth with surprising swiftness; Rainbow, however, had anticipated this move and feverishly kicked off the ground to avoid the snake's strike, spreading her wings to take flight. And then Rainbow Dash swooped down the large snake with determination on her beautiful face schoom and just before she hit the ground zoom, she pulled up vroom. Picking up great amounts of speed she looped around and around the cobra like woo woo woo woo woo woo woooo, making it dizzy as she tried to figure out the best way to solve this slippery serpent problem.

Sensing a weakness in its jaw she pulled her wings in tightly around her body, looped around once more with the wind parting effortlessly from her outstretched hooves, and skyrocketed up to the snake's mouth to kick her back hooves out with all her might at the vicious predator. The cobra reeled and collapsed to the floor with its jaw nearly unhinged; shaking its head to re-join the bottom jaw to the top, it decided that a little pink pony wasn't worth the trouble of a truly broken jaw. Slowly the snake recovered and slithered off into the tall trees of the Everfree Forest, back to where it came from.

As the sizable serpent slithered silently away (try saying that three times fast), Rainbow Dash focused all her attention on the injured pink pony. Another glance in her direction revealed a motionless pink mass near a rather large, shady tree. Rainbow Dash flew hastily over and landed a few hooves in front to trot the rest of the way, but stopped abruptly; she stood there for a while, frozen at the terrible state of her pink friend. Her eyebrows rose in worry for her bestest best friend as she hesitantly approached the unconscious pony to gently nudge her limp shoulder with her snout. "P… Pinkie?" Her voice was soft as her friend's name barely managed to escape Rainbow's mouth; her throat was dry with fear. Dash was met with a distressing silence as the pony didn't reply; she clenched her teeth and closed her eyes to force back her fears. Rainbow gulped and kept trying to wake the unresponsive pony with more forceful nudges and choked out pleas. "P-Pinks? Please…"

No movement came from her pink friend and Rainbow Dash began to fear the worst. I didn't fly fast enough. Why couldn't I get here sooner? She turned her head down in anger. It's all those Manehattanite's faults… Dash caught sight of the Earth pony and sadly rested her eyes on her. It's all my fault. She lied down on her stomach and rested her head on the pink pony's neck with glistening rose-coloured eyes. "Pinkie Pie… I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Just please don't be– Please don't–" She closed her eyes to stop tears from forming and kept talking. "I don't care. You can hate me all you want for what I did, just please be alright. I-I–" She stuttered and was suddenly interrupted by movement underneath her. She sat up quickly, hoping, praying.

"Dashie?" Pinkie started groggily.

"Y-Yes, Pinkie Pie?" Her eyes bright and wet at the sight of her bestest best friend moving.

"I could never hate you." She sat up and nuzzled her snout and cheek against the now teary eyed Pegasus' mane and cheek; Dash quickly returned the gesture with tightly shut eyes and a very relieved smile on her happy, tear-soaked face. Neither of them blushed; neither of them needed to. At this moment the two ponies were grateful that the other was okay.

The two lay there for a while, comfortably snuggled up to one another. Pinkie had rested her cheek on Dash's chest, with blue eyes closed blissfully and a quiet smile on her face; Rainbow gently placed her chin on top of the Earth pony's mane and carefully wrapped her fore-hooves around Pinkie's back and magenta-coloured mane. The two silently held each other; the only thing Rainbow could hear was her friend's gentle sobbing.

As the hugging drew on, Rainbow felt something boiling up inside her from Pinkie's warm embrace; for the first time since she saved Pinkie Pie, Dash started to feel embarrassed about how the pink pony was acting towards her. She uneasily buried her muzzle into her friend's curly mane to think. This is what got her here in the first place. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to feel about all this? After a few minutes of unanswered questions, she hesitantly raised her head off Pinkie and loosened her grip on the Earth pony. She stared down at the crying pony leaning against her, trying to get an answer from her beautiful round eyes. Dash didn't have much experience with mushy comfortie stuff – given that she was a Pegasus with a need for speed – so she brushed an uneasy hoof through Pinkie Pie's mane, hoping to comfort her. "It's okay now, Pinkie. I saved you."

Pinkie felt the grip around her lessen and the stroke of Rainbow's gentle hoof on her coat. With glistening eyes, she looked up at the cyan-coloured Pegasus and Dash stared back, now locked in the pink pony's eyes. She saw the fear and worry lingering on the rainbow-maned pony's face and her lip started to tremble; seeing her bestest best friend again was the happiest, saddest, and most confusingest thing she'd felt in those two days spent together. "Dashie!" She screamed, eyes shut tight, and embraced the Pegasus pony closely to continue sobbing into Rainbow's already soaked chest.

Dash grunted as Pinkie Pie pulled her hooves around the Pegasus' back in a biiig hug; for a moment Rainbow was terribly flustered and nervous. She tried to focus on staying seated from the force behind Pinkie's tender hug, to ignore the sudden embrace, until Rainbow felt how nice it was to have the pink pony snuggled up against her. The heat, the tenderness, and the happiness filled her with emotions; at this moment, she chose to feel just one of them. With warmth spreading through her, she pulled Pinkie Pie tighter and began brushing a gentle hoof through her friend's mane in an attempt to stop the pony from crying for a reason she didn't quite understand. She forgot her insecurities and spoke quietly to the pink pony nuzzled against her. "You're safe now Pinkie."

Relaxed again from the contact and Dash's calming words, Pinkie started to explain herself. "I'm sorry… I– I was just soo afraid and confused about–" A sob stopped her from finishing and she buried her muzzle into the cyan Pegasus' chest.

Dash grunted again briefly before smiling down on the party pony, continuing to hold her. "It's okay, Pinkie." They remained there a while longer, but Rainbow knew they couldn't be there forever. One more moment of soft sniffling and tender hugging went by until Rainbow stood up and lowered her snout to nudge Pinkie's soft pink coat. Rainbow Dash spoke quietly to the crying pony. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Pinkie asked, still a little groggy. Rainbow walked beside her friend and Pinkie followed with her gorgeous, deep blue eyes.

"I'm getting you home. I hope you have everything you need to treat injuries like this at your house." She answered as she put her head under Pinkie Pie's body and lifted her carefully on to her back. The pink pony giggled along quietly with the procedure, causing Dash to smile and blush lightly as she kicked off and began her flight back to town.

The Everfree Forest was a strange place. It was a dark, dank, and an oddly spoooky thing to wander into. The most strangest thing about the Everfree Forest, though, was that it was super wild. You really didn't know what was actually, truly in there. It was like if you threw a party for the first time and you had these little party popper thingies, but didn't know what they were and wanted to figure 'em out. So you put the end piece to your eye and pulled and pushed with your hoovsies on the other end until it popped with uncertainty – and streamers – into your very shocked face. The Everfree Forest was, however, more fun than Manehattan was. It was freedom out there; you could throw as many parties as you wanted and everypony would wanna be there with you!

As she flew through the forest, carrying Pinkie back to Manehattan, her relief was replaced with a slight anger towards her friend. She turned her head to the Earth pony on her back. "Pinkie, why did you run away? You got yourself hurt and if I hadn't come along when I did you would've–" She cut herself short as Pinkie smiled kindly back at her.

"Aww, were you worried about me again Dashie?" Despite just being injured by a huge snake, Pinkie seemed to recover quite quickly on her bestest best friend's back; her hooves were wrapped tenderly around the Pegasus' neck.

Dash's expression only lightened slightly at seeing her wounded friend grinning at her after being mauled by a giganterific cobra. "Yes I was; you silly filly." She turned her head back to see where she was going and found that they were out of the Everfree Forest and could see the city of Manehattan ahead.

The pink pony rubbed her cheek against the Pegasus' rainbow mane as she spoke quietly. "Thanks for saving me Rainbow Dash. I was just scared about something… something… super-duper important to me."

The Pegasus didn't seem to feel the pony resting her chin upon her neck and kept talking strictly. "And what was that? What was so scary and important that you had to go into the Everfree Forest at night time to figure it out?"

Pinkie tensed up, gulped, and hesitated, lowering her head to rest on Rainbow's multi-coloured mane again. "My Granny Pie taught me a song when I still lived with my parents. And by singing that song it made me not afraid of anything scary in the world."

"Then what was the deal with the snake? If you sang your 'no fear song' then you could've totally taken him." She asked angrily over her shoulder at the pony and noticed for the first time that she had rested her pink head on her mane. The anger in the Pegasus pony's face faded and was replaced with a gentle smile.

The Earth pony responded immediately, but held calmness in her voice. "I couldn't remember the words. I was too scared of something I felt on the inside to worry about that. All I could think of was… was–" Pinkie became choked up suddenly and lowered her head, trying not to be seen by her bestest best friend.

"Was…?" Rainbow Dash asked, becoming impatient with her friend as she spoke, trying to receive an answer. Dash lowered her head as well, so that she could gaze into Pinkie's eyes for her silent answer.

Pinkie stared directly into the rose-coloured eyes of the Pegasus pony and beamed. "You Dashie." Pinkie finally struggled out.

Dash almost fell out of the sky, but she recovered quickly and continued flying with her eyes facing forwards; a secret smile glided across her face. She was thinking about me? That smile flew away and another thought plagued her mind. I almost got her killed because I–? Because of what I did?

The pink pony sensed something was wrong with her friend; she nuzzled her beautiful rainbow-coloured mane gently in an attempt to get her attention. "Dashie, you okay?" Pinkie Pie asked, Rainbow's attention granted.

"I'm fine Pinkie Pie, just… fine. Did the snake get you?" She replied, concerned about her friend's injuries.

The pink pony looked her body over, turned back, and smiled again with her head tilted to the side happily. "Nope, I think he just squeezed me a teensy weensy bit too tightly."

The Pegasus pony raised a confused eyebrow and looked quizzically at the party pony. "And… that's okay to you?"

Pinkie seemed to consider the question and raised a hoof to her chin before answering. "Well it's better then what I thought would happen if he continued to squeeze me too ittsy bittsy much." The sunny disposition she held was never lost on her bright pink face.

"And what was that, Pinks?" Rainbow Dash asked, half trying to keep the conversation going in fear of Pinkie's injuries being more extensive than either of them thought and half actually interested in what the pink pony might have been thinking while the snake squeezed her 'too ittsy bittsy much'.

"Oh, popping like a balloon that's filled with too much stuff. Why?" She answered cheerfully as if she was talking about an over-filled party balloon exploding.

"Just… curious." She replied, trying to hold back giggles and stay airborne.

As they returned to the city Rainbow Dash spotted Paul trotting along happily and she decided to pay him a visit. She dropped down behind him with Pinkie Pie still on her back.

"Hey, Paul!" She shouted with a sly smirk.

"What is it you–" The end of this sentence has been replaced with a gasp to stop a certain inappropriate word from entering a child's television show… thanks for laughing at the joke. His face dropped open and his eyes grew twice as wide as they normally were.

"Hi Paul!" Pinkie waved a hoof from the blue Pegasus' back as if nothing had happened between the two of them in the last few hours.

Paul tilted his head nervously to see the pink pony on Dash's back. "Uh h-hello, Pinkie Pie."

"So," started Rainbow Dash as she put a hoof to her chin. "What did I say I'd get you to do after I brought Pinkie Pie back from the Everfree Forest?"

Paul gulped. "Uhm… a-apolo-gize?" He windily answered.

"Correct." Rainbow Dash indicated with a sharp nod.

"I'm s-sorry for… chasing you… out of town?" He finished with a questioning tone and a tense smile. Dash's eyes narrowed as she gave him an unsatisfied glance. "A-And it'll never happen again. I swear." He spoke quickly and closed his eyes tightly.

The Pegasus dropped her angry gaze and smirked at the scared colt that was practically sweating in front of her and Pinkie. "Oh no, you've gotta Pinkie swear that much."

Paul gazed from Dash to Pinkie before beginning the well-known rhyme. He – along with the other residents of Manehattan – had unintentionally heard the rhyme coming from the pink pony's mouth every time she passed by; which happened to be quite often. "Cross m-my heart… and hope to fly, s-stick a cupcake…" He gulped. "… In my eye– Oww!"

Rainbow Dash's grin widened and she raised her head in triumph. "What do you think Pinks? Should we believe this guy?" She turned her head towards the party pony for her answer.

"Hmm, I guess. But only on one condition." She smirked as an idea came to her evil Pinkie mind.

Paul looked even more uncomfortable at the Earth pony's expression. "And... what condition is that, Ms. Pie?" He asked tensely, watching the two ponies before him with a nervous smile plastered on his fearful face.

Pinkie's expression lightened and she waved a hoof at the cringing colt in dismissal. "Oh, Pinkie is fine… and my condition is…" She paused for dramatic affect and to hold back her giggles a little longer. "… for you to throw more parties around here!!" She finally burst out laughing at the colt's frightened face and began rolling over on Dash's back, holding her stomach tightly.

The rainbow-maned pony rolled her beautiful eyes with a chuckle. "I knew I should've just gone with my idea of giving him his wish to one day fly, but that can just be a warning to ya." She spoke with a wink.

Paul started backing away while he continued the conversation. "Yes… in fact… I'll start a party right now. Would you like to come and see it Pinkie?"

"Oh no. Thanks anyway Paul, but I need to rest up after being attacked by a gigantirific snake in the Everfree Forest; Rainbow Dash here is just carrying me back home to relax now." Pinkie relaxed her head on Rainbow's neck again and continued talking; Rainbow, on the other hoof, looked over at Pinkie and felt a warm smile growing on her face. "Sorry about that, I know how much you'd want me to help at one of your parties." She suddenly lifted her head off Dash's multi-coloured mane with another idea. "Oooh, maybe next time though?" She looked at him with glistening, hopeful eyes, waiting for his answer.

"Of course." He replied and trotted off, thankful that his 'wish' had not come true.

As they too walked away, Rainbow looked over her shoulder at the pony on her back. She seemed quite comfortable for a pony that was just recently mauled by a giant cobra. "Uhh, Pinks? About that. I was thinking that this place has been all pranked out and… well my vacation… here is almost done. So I have to move back to Cloudsdale soon." She tried to continue, but she was interrupted by the blue-eyed pony.

"Oh no, don't go Dashie. I'll-I'll miss you." Pinkie Pie suddenly looked very concerned and nervous, staring into Dash's eyes earnestly.

Rainbow quickly looked over her shoulder at the pink pony. "Let me finish Pinkie, I'm not gonna leave you. You are my bestest best friend after all." Dash lowered her head with a hopeful look on her face. "I was kinda thinking that you could come to Cloudsdale with me when I leave this boring place."

Pinkie stared silently into the blue pony's rose-coloured eyes, blushing deeply. A warm smile slowly bounced onto her face and she was about to answer, until a realisation struck the Earth pony. Pinkie's head tilted to the side quizzically and her blush and smile faded into a questioning look towards Rainbow Dash. "Cloudsdale, but isn't that a city in the clouds? Only Pegasi can get in there." When she finished talking, Pinkie seemed a bit downcast as to what she had said.

"Oh yeah." Rainbow's determined look turned to one of silent sorrow. "Never mind then." She turned her head away and kept walking towards Pinkie's cake-house.

Pinkie saw that look one too many times on her own face in the mirror and didn't want to see that expression on her bestest best friend's beautiful face any time. She had had another idea. She spoke out loud, but quietly enough so Dash wouldn't hear her. "I'm having tons of good ideas this week… Well except for the Everfree Forest one." She looked up thoughtfully again and spoke confidently. "But I do know where we could go."

"Really, where?" The Pegasus pony seemed hopeful and turned her head to see Pinkie's sparkling blue eyes again.

"My parents told me of a place not far from the rock farm we lived on and it's even closer to us from here." She continued with an ever widening grin.

"Cool." Dash replied, returning the Earth pony's expression. Confident now to get back to Pinkie's house, she turned her head forward.

Pinkie Pie, however, kept talking excitedly to the Pegasus, leaning her chin on Dash's shoulder gently. "Yeah, it's where I was headed to before I came here."

"Well, what's it called?" Dash looked over her shoulder and eagerly awaited the pony's response with bright, hopeful eyes.

Pinkie paused for suspense and then yelled:

"Ponyville!"

Rainbow Dash's cheerful gaze coasted down to one of confusion. "Ponyville?" She stopped for a moment to wonder why the pink pony wanted to go there, but shrugged it off and started again, walking more slowly than before.

The pink party pony popped her head up from her spot on Rainbow's shoulder and looked gleefully into her friend's baffled eyes. "Yeah, it's a really cute looking town. My Mom and Dad showed me all kinds of pictures from it and it looks real super cute and cuddly."

"Well okay, but we should pack all our stuff today and leave tomorrow. First I'll drop you off back at your place and help you get your stuff set and then I'll go to my house." Dash smirked as a thought came to mind and kept walking. "Hey Pinkie Pie, there's no real need to pay the rent for the next day if you're gonna leave the next day is there?" By this time, Rainbow Dash had passed the streamer sellers shop and was walking by the movie theatre Pinkie had told her about yesterday. Guess we'll have to find a movie theatre in Ponyville instead. She chuckled lightly when she imagined Pinkie Pie eating tons and tons of candy at the movies and laughing at all the scary and spooky parts, having a good time and just being Pinkie, until she imagined herself being there with her.

Thinking about Dash's offer, Pinkie answered her question absentmindedly. "Not that I know of, but–" The Earth pony gasped, startling Dash out of her reverie. Pinkie didn't seem to notice the Pegasus jump as she smiled. Another super terrifical idea; how do I do it? Pinkie thought. "Ooh ooh! What if I go over to your house tonight? I mean to see where you haven't been sleeping this whole time." She giggled at her own joke and waited to hear Rainbow's answer.

Rainbow Dash smiled with the thought of finally being back in her own bed. "Not a problem… if I can remember where my house actually is; I've been away from it for so long I might not be able to find it." Her smile turned into a chuckle as she turned to see the pink pony's inevitably giggly reaction.

"Oh Dashie, you're such a silly filly." She hugged Dash from behind and leaned her head against the multi-coloured mane of her friend. This made the Pegasus pony stop, raise a fore-hoof, and gaze at the pink filly silently. Rainbow Dash's smile was again growing on her lovely blue face as she began to trot leisurely along the streets, facing forward.

The trip back was a silent one, but – unlike the many uncomfortable journeys from before that both of the ponies had awkwardly endured, accompanied by bizarre feelings creeping up on both of them – the two ponies couldn't have been more comfortable with each other at that moment. The pink pony became so relaxed in the multi-coloured mane of Rainbow Dash that she almost fell asleep. Just as the Pegasus pony noticed her friend relaxed in her mane and smiled gently at her, the house came into view; Dash prudently nudged Pinkie awake with her snout, making the pink pony slowly lift her tired head up to gaze at the building.

Once the two ponies entered Pinkie's cake-house, they quickly began packing all of the cupcakes and streamers and sarsaparilla and cakes and balloons and anything else the pony wanted to keep – and possibly eat later – into a bag. When they seemed to be done, Pinkie's bag didn't seem even half full yet.

"There's just one thing I'm forgetting. Wait here Dashie, I shouldn't take long." She started up to her room as Rainbow Dash watched her friend happily bounce up the stairs two steps at a time with the bag in her mouth.

Well, Thought Dash smugly. At least she's not jumping on top of skyscrapers anymore.

Pinkie had reached the top and trotted into the room, humming to herself. Loud crashing, glass breaking, and other unknown objects smashing following swiftly after filled the Pegasus pony's sensitive ears. She instantly began to worry and flew up to the top step to see what had happened, just in time to see the pink Earth pony bounding out and landing in front of her.

Pinkie Pie sat down and leaned into her Pegasus pony friend merrily. "Hiya Dashie. Did I take too long? Sorry about that; I'm usually a whole bunch quicker, but with the snake and all, my mind was on other things. Are ya ready, Rainbow Dashie?" She asked with a cheesy rhyme at the end and chuckled to herself, leaving Dash wide eyed and very confused.

"What happened? Did you even put anything in there, Pinkie?" She asked, gesturing to the bag next to the seated pony.

She responded with a look of concentration as she listed off the supplies on her fore-hooves. "Oh yeah, I got my bed sheets and my pillows… and my bed in there too." Finished with listing off what she now had in her bag, Pinkie Pie smiled back thoughtfully at the confused Pegasus pony.

Dash was staring, wide-eyed at the Earth pony. "Your whole bed?!"

Pinkie closed her eyes and lifted her head up proudly. "Yep!" But just as quickly as she answered, her expression turned quizzical and she lowered her head back down to look into Dash's gorgeous rose-coloured eyes. "Hey, do you know how much I looove pillows? A lot! That's why I have so many; 'cause they're all just soo super poufy and cuddly and comfy-umfy to rest my head on them. How do you feel about pillows, Rainbow Dash?" She asked with a tilt of her head and curly, pink mane.

Ignoring the pink pony's bizarre inquiry, she kept the wide-eyed expression on her face. "But… but you were only in there for a few seconds." Her voice cracked with confusion.

"I know I'm sorry. I'm usually faster, but we've still got plenty of time to get back to your house so you can pack. I think I have another packing bag around here somewhere. Ooh, here it is!" She replied, hoofing out another bag to the Pegasus pony with a cheerful smile that could have uncurled expired milk.

Standing up awkwardly, Rainbow Dash took the bag while still holding her wide-eyed expression. "Okay… uhh, thanks." Dash turned sideways, but kept her gaze on the pink pony.

The magenta-maned pony then proceeded to jump onto Dash's back again, wrap her fore-hooves around her friend's neck and give her another biiig Pinkie Pie hug. "No problem Dash. What are bestest best friends for?" Her hold relaxed and she leaned forward to look into the newly embarrassed pony's eyes. "But Dashie, you shouldn't hold that expression for too much longer… it might get stuck like that. You wouldn't want to walk around with a wide-eyed expression on your beautiful blue face for the rest of your life. All the ponies would think you were crazy!" She raised a hoof to her muzzle to prevent her giggles from escaping.

Rainbow Dash chuckled at Pinkie's warning and happily hugged her pink friend back. Me? Beautiful? She thought. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Now let's get goin'!" She kicked off from the top step and zoomed out of the house, leaving a trail of rainbow colour and a reverberating shout of:

"Woooohoooo!" from Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash's home wasn't as complex and confusing as Pinkie Pie's was, but her room was decorated with posters and pictures of her favourite high-flying group:

'The Wonderbolts'.

Pinkie was instantly interested in her heroes and began to rapidly ask her friend about them.

"How fast can they go? Do they ever get dizzy if they spin around really fast? What kind of trail do these ponies leave? How does my mane stay up like this all the time? And why is there tons of weird looking ponies staring at us through a little screen?" As she asked these questions, Pinkie appeared all over the room as she gestured to different pictures on the walls with Dash's eyes following swiftly after to try and keep a lock on her bouncy pink friend. As she reached her last inquiry, Pinkie Pie was staring directly into the computer screen with round, confused eyes.

As Pinkie's super-tastically odd questions ceased in record time, Dash – after a few minutes of careful thought processing – listed off her 'answers' in order. A hoof resting under her chin helped her to concentrate on what her friend had asked. "Real fast, no way, thunder, smoke, and fire, I don't know, and huh?" By now the Pegasus was accustomed to most of the pink pony's bizarre questions, but this last one was a doozy. Dash waited intently to hear what the pink pony could possibly be talking about, but she also knew that the answer would probably be just as none-sensical as the question.

The gravity defying pony just shrugged at Dash's answers. "Oh well, I guess we'll never know what makes my mane so puffy." She smiled sweetly at her Pegasus friend who eventually shrugged the unanswered question off and start packing again. This left the pink pony time to wave at the fourth wall she was currently involved in rapidly breaking down and speak to the viewing audience. "Hi weird creatures my name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours? Ooh, you must be new. 'Cause I know everypony and I mean everypony in Manehattan. And if I don't know you then you must be new and if you're new then you haven't met anypony yet and if you haven't met anypony yet then you must be lonely and that'll make me soo sad so I was thinking I'd throw you a super-duper fantabulistic party! Do you need a party? Of course you do! Wait here, I'll get one set up in a jiffy!" She went to rush off to set up the party, but was quickly interrupted from her mission by the blue Pegasus.

"Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash called over to here from inside her closet full of twenty percent more awesome stuff.

Pinkie cringed at Dash's voice and turned back to the screen with a nervous smile. "Oops. Sorry guys, but I gotta go. Dashie's calling me; maybe me and Rainbow Dash can give you strange, two legged things a party together later bye!" She winked at the screen and trotted off, saving the fourth wall from another Pinkie Pie break down.

As she reached Dash, she could plainly see how unorganised her blue pony friend was. Rainbow lifted up a collection of trophies she had won over the years at flight school and looked awkwardly at Pinkie. Pinkie Pie tutted loudly and shook her head, disappointedly. Rainbow Dash suddenly felt self-conscious and darted her eyes from left to right.

"What?" The Pegasus asked defensively.

"You Dashie! You're sooo messy. Here I'll help you." And with that, the pink pony yet again became a pink blur to Dash's eyes.

Pinkie zoomed and vroomed across the room gathering all of the poster and pictures and trophies and anything else Rainbow Dash seemed to want to keep, into their own neatly organized piles. By the end, the Pegasus pony thought she could still see three blurry images of Pinkie and an in focus one standing before her. She shook her head, opened her eyes, and there was only one pink pony again. Phew.

"Whoa, Pinks, that's the fastest I've ever seen you go. I'm still seein' spots of pink." Dash smiled and rubbed her slightly wobbly eyes with a fore-hoof.

Pinkie blushed and smiled. "Thanks." She turned her head down and brushed a fore-hoof of her own along the floor.

"Well, I guess we'd better get all of this stuff into your bag then." Rainbow Dash said as she looked around her room at the neatly organized piles and then back at the Premier pink party pony.

"Ooooh, done." Pinkie responded brightly, beginning to hop up and down joyfully.

"Huh?" The Pegasus pony peered around the room and saw that it was bare except for the fridge, the kitchen sink, and the bed. Dash looked as calm as ever back at Pinkie Pie. She wasn't at all shocked from this ability her pink Earth pony friend had. She sure is different from the other ponies I've met before and I'm glad for that; in fact I love that aspect of her. Most of the ponies I meet are sticks in the mud. Rainbow lowered her head nervously in a sudden realisation. Did I just think the word love?! She shook that thought from her mind, but found it was much more difficult to forget than she would have liked to admit. "On second thought, that is the fastest I've seen you go." Pinkie just grinned wider at the Pegasus pony before her.

It was late by the time the two had settled down. They had unpacked some of Pinkie's treats by 'accident' and had decided that the bag was too full for them to fit them all back in, so Dash sat comfortably next to her friend and ate more of Pinkie's delicious cupcakes. Rainbow and Pinkie were quite content to sit and eat sweets close together as the time bounded by. While the two ponies ate they shared stories of there foalhood, but Pinkie mostly sat and listened intently to Dash's stories about the Wonderbolts and her high-flying tricks that would surely get her into their group.

Rainbow Dash had lost track of the time by the end of her stories and the two happily ate in silence. They both finished their last cupcake and noticed the sun going down, so they started getting ready for bed. The moon rose, shimmering and gleaming brightly over the horizon and Dash was all set to sleep in her own house again.

Rainbow Dash watched from her bed as Pinkie brought out her sleeping bag and had a sudden, embarrassing thought. Dash gulped deeply as she stared at her friend laying out the bed. "Uh, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow's wings opened up as she called her friend's name. "You can… sleep in my bed if you want." Attention granted by the pink pony, Rainbow continued stuttering out her words. "I-It's not as comfy as your pink fluffy one, but… but there's enough room for both of us to sleep in it." Dash finished quickly and covered her muzzle with her fore-hooves loudly; her gorgeous eyes shut tight in suspense. She lowered her head to the sheets as she started to bite her bottom lip nervously. Why did I just say that? Stupid, stupid, stupid–!

"Okie dokey lokie!" The pink pony chimed in quickly. The Pegasus' eyes were shut so as not to see the pink pony's face in response to the awkward question, but to her Pinkie didn't seem to need much time to think it over.

The rainbow-maned pony's thought was interrupted so abruptly that all Rainbow Dash could manage was:

"You mean–" She was once again interrupted by the pink ball of fluff.

"Yep." She dragged a fore-hoof on the floor silently. "I mean the hostess always offers the guest her bed… even if the hostess still uses it." Pausing from her anxiety, Pinkie placed a hoof under her chin and sat down on her rump to wonder. "I think that's in the rules too. Although, if it was part of it, I think Granny Pie left that out." She lowered her hoof to the ground and looked off to the side, seeming to be even more baffled. "Hmm, why would Granny Pie leave a rule like that out? It seems to be a very important part of sleeping over after all." Pinkie glanced back at the pony in bed as if she could answer that befuddling question easily.

Dash chuckled at her friend's self-asked question, but still felt a bit odd at offering her bed to the Earth pony. She awkwardly waved a hoof towards herself as she spoke. "Well then… climb in."

"Okie dokey." She shook off her Granny Pie question and smiled as she looked at her friend in the bed and then down at her hooves.

As Pinkie wandered up to the right side and entered under the covers as well, the longest and most uncomfortable quiet yet came over the two ponies. They sat at opposite sides of the bed, twiddling their hooves and staring forward, unable to look at the other. After a few agonising minutes passed, they managed two words each as they slowly turned to the other and spoke in sequence.

"Goodnight Dashie."

"Goodnight Pinks."

As they smiled, they found themselves entranced by the other's gorgeously coloured eyes as the two ponies stared unblinkingly into them; unable to look anywhere else. Moments past unnoticed by the ponies, until they saw the other blushing profusely; they smiled timidly when they realised their own blush was growing. The two ponies turned just as slowly away as they had to each other and tucked themselves into the Pegasus pony's comfy bed with questioning looks on their faces. With another long silence, Pinkie began to relax under her friend's deep, blue-coloured blanket. She opened her closed blue eyes intently while still facing the opposite wall Dash was staring at.

"Rainbow Dash?" She asked, turning her head to look up at the ceiling.

Dash shuffled around in her bed and opened her own rose-coloured eyes carefully. "Yes Pinkie?"

Finding her courage, the pink Earth pony rolled over to look at Dash's side with a cheerful Pinkie Pie smile. "Thanks for letting me sleep in your bed. It's super cosy." She smiled intently at the rainbow-maned pony, waiting for her reply in the hope that the confusing feelings she now held would be answered with just one word from her bestest best friend.

The Pegasus was surprised and a little embarrassed that the pink pony had actually thought her bed was comfy. Her words made sense in her mind, but came out in a jumbled mess as she spoke to Pinkie, finding very little courage to shuffle around in her own bed at all. "N-No problem Pinks. What are bestest best friends... for?"

The two ponies didn't talk after that. They again faced away from each other and soon found themselves asleep. Neither of them dreamed anything that night.