The sun shined brightly in the beautiful blue sky during a warm summer afternoon. Ponyville was bustling with life, as pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns alike went about their daily lives within the humble town. Young fillies and colts ran through the streets, their laughter the most audible over the crowd. Merchants yelled above conversations, trying to make their sales pitches known among passersby. Artists and musicians shared the alleyways, playing their instruments and showing off their artistic talent for the sake of making just a few bits that day. Just another day in the streets of Ponyville.
Among the many ponies that walked the streets was the ever lively Pinkie Pie that everypony ever so fondly knew. She wore a basket upon her head like a hat, its contents consisting of what she had purchased that day. She bounded and hopped along her way through the crowd, humming happily to herself as she went, only ever stopping to greet anypony that took notice. It took only a few minutes for her to reach her favorite bakery, where she stopped to take notice of a note that was nailed to the door. She furrowed her brow as she leaned forth to read it.
"Pinkie Pie,
My husband and I received a really big order to fill that called for us to depart to Manehatten. We apologize for leaving at such short notice, we would have told you last night, but we didn't want to bother you when you were preparing your secret recipe. We hope it won't be too much of a bother for you to hold down the fort until Sunday.
Love,
~Mrs. Cake~"
Pinkie Pie finished reading with a shrug, before throwing the basket upon her head into the air as she thrust her head upward. As it came down, she skillfully caught it by the handle in her mouth as she proceeded to open the door with her hoof. She inhaled deeply as she entered, taking in the delightful smell of delectable confectionaries that filled the room. Pinkie Pie's mouth watered mildly as she imagined tasting one of them. She and Mrs. Cake had made an agreement, where she could enjoy all of the cake and pastries she wanted, as long as she replaced them by day's end.
She restrained herself today, however. Time was short, and she had a lot of work to do. She hurried into the kitchen, stopping to place the basket upon a nearby counter. She prepared the oven by preheating it before locating a medium sized bowl and a whisk from various cupboards. She proceeded to rummage through various places in the kitchen to gather all of the necessary ingredients, being mindful to not forget the vanilla and that ever important pinch of salt.
She approached her basket and reached within, gathering the contents and bringing them over to the counter, along with the other ingredients. Among the items she had removed from the basket were the strongest hallucinogens a pony could buy, along with some "Sleepy Time Power" powder. Both of which were purchased from none other than the enigmatic Zecora, whom hesitantly allowed Pinkie Pie to take what she needed, since the pink pony refused to disclose the intents and purposes of her business.
She examined the information written upon the back of the containers briefly before pushing them together with the other ingredients. She stood back, her gaze sweeping past all that was before her as she rubbed her hooves together with a gleeful grin stretched across her face. She prepared a cupcake pan, then placed it upon the oven, next to her trusty plaid pattern oven mitts. She turned to the ingredients once more, and got right to work.
"All you gotta do...is take a cup of flour..." She began to hum and sing to herself as she cracked the first egg open upon the side of the bowl.
The wind and clouds were all Rainbow Dash could hear and see as she sped through the skies. Her powerful wings propelled her forward, their strength being enough for her to lazily spend much of her time gliding upon the wind that screamed past. She twisted herself upside down as she flew, soaring through the sky in a position that suggested she was sleeping. Letting the whistling wind be her lullaby, she rested her eyes, flapping her wings only when she felt she was losing momentum. Letting her mind wander, she remembered why today was such a lazy day.
Pinkie Pie had scheduled something particularly special that day, and it was imperative that Rainbow Dash attend the occasion. She never bothered to pry for details, so Rainbow Dash wasn't truly aware of what her friend really wanted of her. Still, if her talents were needed to make the events to come possible, it must be rather important. She let her mind drift further as she felt the sun roll by, giving her warmth in the cold afternoon winds.
Rainbow Dash grew close to actually falling asleep in her bliss before she could hear somepony calling her name from the ground. Behind the whistle of the wind, she could identify it as a voice of a filly, beckoning her to come closer to the ground. She opened her eyes and looked to the ground, to find herself flying over the school of Ponyville. There were several of them out on the playground, more than half of them had their gaze glued upon the pegasus above. Rainbow Dash grinned down at them, flying back around over the school again.
"Might as well give 'em a show..." She chuckled to herself.
She was at top speed in seconds, tearing through the skies as she barrel rolled, wrapping the clouds nearby around her, bending and swirling them about as she flew through them. Spinning herself around, she managed to cause a small tornado that dissipated immediately after she flew from it. With a spectacular show of control and grace, loop-de-looping straight through her tornado, she pierced it and interrupting it's momentum. As the spinning winds died, she flew straight up with a crack, plowing through every cloud that laid in her path. As soon as she was too high to be seen, she twisted and dove back down, flapping her wings as hard as they could. Her eyes watered and her ears rang as the wind whistled ever loudly in her ears as she dove.
"Steady...Steady..." She whispered to herself.
She pierced the clouds once more, her form visible by the fillies below, whom all cheered loudly, knowing precisely what was about to happen. Rainbow Dash was coming closer and close to the ground, pacing herself, waiting for the perfect moment to reach full speed. Time slowed to a crawl as she came so close to the ground, she could lick it. In an instant, a deafening crack tore the air. A blur of color cleanly cut through the playground, flying mere inches from the fillies that cheered and hollered her name. Once she was past her spectators, she spread her wings and bore her hoofs into the ground, skidding to a dead halt in mere seconds. Not once did she stumble as she turned to the kids with a smile.
"Still got it!" She announced proudly, puffing out her chest.
The fillies were beyond ecstatic, some of them even tripping over one another to get as close as they could to the rainbow pegasus. She rose one hoof with a smile, signaling them to stop before she yelled over the cheering.
"As much as I'd love to stop and give autographs, I actually might be late for something. Any of you have the time?"
An orange pony hopped above the crowd with enthusiasm.
"It's Five'o clock, Rainbow Dash!" the filly chirped.
"...Oh shoot...I might be late...' Rainbow Dash muttered to herself with a dry laugh before she responded to the filly, 'Thanks Scoots!"
Without hesitation, she reared back and rocketed into the skies, flattening the grass below her. She could still hear the praises of the fillies as she sped away. Her incredible speed had her flying above the Bakery in what felt like mere moments, as she touched down weightlessly before the door. She stretched herself before making her way through the door. Even though the bell rang, announcing her entrance, she still made a point to have Pinkie Pie know it was her immediately.
"Yo, Pinkie! Sorry if I'm late!' She yelled inside as she let herself in. 'I'm here for the thing!"
"Oh good! Good, good, good!' a cheerful voice responded from the kitchen, 'Come on in the kitchen, Dashie! You're just in time!"
Rainbow Dash shrugged, complying to the request as she entered the kitchen as the entrance door swung closed. She stepped into a disaster area of flour and batter, the pink pony just finishing decorating a plate of cupcakes, wearing a look of glee on her face.
"Um...Pinkie Pie, you made quite a mess." Rainbow Dash chuckled.
Pinkie Pie giggled with embarrassment , "I sneezed when I got some flour in my nose, that's all."
Rainbow Dash smiled warmly. Pinkie Pie never ceased to amuse her.
"So what's up?" She broke the sudden silence.
Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up as she finished the last cupcake, hurriedly placing all of her cooking supplies into the sink before grabbing the plate of sweets she was preparing, walking past Rainbow Dash.
"Here, have a cupcake! They're especially fresh, and I thought you could use a snack before we start." She chirped to her friend with a smile. Rainbow Dash gladly accepted the cupcake, taking a bite out of it soon after.
"Mmm...Not bad.' She said to herself as she followed Pinkie Pie, 'So what'd ya need me for, Pinkie?"
"Oh, I needed a little help with the roof, that's all! It looks like it's gonna rain tonight, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to make a quick fix before it started alone, so I thought you could give me a hoof!"
Pinkie Pie placed the plate of cupcakes upon the serving counter, pausing due to her friend's hesitation to respond. She looked at Rainbow Dash with a puzzled look.
"Dashie?"
Rainbow Dash had dropped the cupcake, holding her head with her hoof, appearing to try to shake something off.
"Oof...I dunno Pinkie...I'm not sure if today isn't a good day...or it's something about this cupcake...I'm feeling...Meh..."
Rainbow Dash's vision grew blurry, as fatigue began to hit her like a brick wall. Clear thought and focus grew more and more difficult by the second as she staggered forth, her mind fogging up and her sight leaving her. Before she could properly give or feel a proper emotional response, everything went black. With a thud, the rainbow pony collapsed on the floor. Pinkie Pie's look of concern transformed into a smile as she pulled a sheet of paper from her apron. The paper had a series of numbers on it.
This particular paper read...
"18_ 1_ 9 _14 _2 _15_ 23 __ 4_ 1_ 19_ 8"
She tore the paper to shreds and discarded the remains into the bin behind the counter. She turned to her friend, a joyous giggle sneaking past her closed lips as she smiled ear to ear. Pinkie Pie grabbed the unconscious Rainbow Dash by her hind legs as she dragged her from the room.
