Rainbow Dash Fixes Herself

by Between Lines

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Random
Length: 4840

Rainbow Dash has a slice of cake. This lifts the veil of illusion from her eyes.

It was going to be the most awesome party ever.

Pinkie was making her rum cake.

Everypony in Ponyville was invited.

Rainbow Dash had even gotten the most awesome gift in history.

Then everything went wrong.

But it was still the most awesome party ever.

Published 2014-12-23 21:10:05 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-24 18:27:34 UTC

Perhaps it is not the cake that is a lie, but reality?

Twilight Sparkle was lying on the floor, frothing. Pinkie Pie was busy learning the difference between hallucinogenics and baking ingredients. Octavia was wondering whether or not she could be held responsible for possession when technically it had been Vinyl’s stash. Everypony else was just panicking, as per usual.

And Rainbow Dash was enjoying a slice of cake.

“Hey girls! Sorry I’m late!” She glanced at Twilight frothing on the floor, and sighed. “Ah mare, who told her I got her the actual Tome of Tetzlectial from Daring Doo and.. well, yeah, the Tome of Tetzlectial?” When nopony responded, she glanced up to find them all staring at her in shock. “Yeah, I know, pretty awesome, right?”

“Rainbow Dash,” Octavia began, again wondering why she’d ever thought a Ponyville party would end anything but badly. “Please for the love of all that is, tell me you just decided to clean up Twilight’s plate?”

“Pffft! As if. She’d probably make me learn the sorting system for her trash. What’s the big… deal…?” She stared at the room that was staring at her.

The room that had stopped moving.

“Oooookay, come on. Maybe she doesn’t sort her trash, but I mean, it’s not that far off base?” She wilted a bit as the room continued to stare at her, stock still. “Seriously, what is up with you…” She then noticed that not only were the ponies frozen, but so was some of Twilight’s spittle. The spittle that was currently hanging in mid air.

“Okay, yeah, Pinkie put wayyyyy too much sugar in this thing.” Rainbow briefly considered her plate, before tossing it into the garbage. Only for it to freeze a foot after it left her hoof. Rainbow could only stare, a grin starting to split her face. “This… is.... AWESOME.”

“You think that’s awesome?” Rainbow turned around, only to find the back half of the library was now gone. In its place was a long stretch of unblemished pavement beneath a cool blue sky. Atop the pavement was a 1959 ford thunderbird in the same columbia blue as herself, with herself in the driver’s seat. “Hop in!”

Now, most ponies probably would have stopped to consider the peculiarities of the situation, including riding in a nonexistent car being driven by yourself. But most ponies had a crippling disassociation between themselves and the concept of awesome. Rainbow Dash had no such handicap.

“Sweeeet!” She hopped right over her own head, and dropped into the passenger seat. This close, the engine let out a satisfying rumble that honestly made her wonder why ponies hadn’t invented something like this. “I always wanted to drive one of these!”

“You did?” Rainbow asked herself with a smirk, even as she slammed the car into first and let that engine roar to life.

“Well yeah! 1959’s a classic!” She leaned back and let her main flutter in the wind. “Little slow, of course, but that rumble just…” she lost herself in the moment, sighing in contentment.

“Tru’ dat.” Rainbow cranked it up to third, then to fourth, the wind really starting to tear past. As they did, a distant wail cut through the air. Behind them, flashes of red and blue sparked along the horizon, a mighty stormfront trailing behind them. “Aw crap. Pop quiz, what’s white and blue and a pain in the flank?”

“Uh?” Rainbow puzzled over that for a minute, until the answer presented itself in the form of two police cruisers pulling up on either side of them. From one emerged the voice of princess Celestia.

“Stop, Criminal Scum! You’re in clear violation of posted speed limits! Pull over--” Her speech was interrupted as the right hand door of her car was kicked clean off and over the horizon.

“She’s resisting arrest!” Screamed Princess Luna, proceeding to dual wield her .454 casulls, before pulling out another two in her magic just for good measure. “Hope you’re feeling lucky, punk!”

“Don’t need luck!” Rainbow shot back, not literally of course as she didn’t have a gun of her own. What she did do was slam on the brakes and let Luna’s first shot rip straight into the other squad car.

“Oh hell no!” Came the voice of Lieutenant Cadance as her car’s rear tire largely exploded off the rims. “You’re a loose cannon, Luna!”

“I get results!” Luna leaned right out of the open door, and leveled her revolvers back at both Rainbows, only to suddenly notice one very important fact. That thunderbird had started accelerating again.

“Yoink!” Rainbow’s hoof darted out and snatched one of the revolvers straight from Luna’s grip, quickly tossing it to her passenger counterpart. “You know how to shoot this thing?”

“I don’t know!” She fumbled with it for a moment, before suddenly whipping it around and snapping off two shots in quick succession. Both flew through the front suspension of Luna’s squadcar, slamming the nose into the street and flipping the whole thing end over end. As it landed, Rainbow glanced back at the gun. “Yes! Definitely yes!”

“Well you better get cracking!” As she spoke, Rainbow pointed back at the crushed squad car. With the crack of breaking glass, the front windshield found itself kicked out by a pristine white hoof, followed by the sound of tearing steel as something ripped free.

“No way.” Rainbow could only look on as Celestia emerged from the wreck, or at least, most of her. Where the crash had stripped away her fur, there was only gleaming metal and sparking wires. “I always knew she was a robot! But would Twilight listen? Nooooooo.”

“I know, right?” Declared Shining Armor from the Cadance-mobile. “I’ve been saying it for years.”

“Aren’t you going to try and arrest us or something?” Rainbow asked.

“What, you mean, do things?” There was a beat of silence. “Pfffft no!” There was a bout of laughter, followed by sounds that Rainbow desperately hoped were just two ponies making out.

“I’m not taking that chance.” Rainbow leveled her revolver at the gas tank, and fired, causing the whole car to erupt into a plume of flame.

“I liked them.” Growled Robo-lestia from where she’d clambered onto the trunk, her hoof slapping away the gun into the sunset. “Unlike you.”

“Ghhhkkk,” Rainbow managed through the sudden stranglehold around her throat. “Feeling’s--hhhkk--mutual!”

“Use the force Rainbow!” shouted the other Rainbow.

“Use the--ggghhhskk--trunk!” gurgled the other other Rainbow.

“Oh, good call.” With that, the first other Rainbow popped the trunk, launching Celestia into the air. This would have been a good thing had she not still had Rainbow in a death grip. ”Oops.”

“Why am I so--hhhgk--stupid!” Rainbow facehoofed, before remembering that there were better faces to apply her hoof to. Like Celestia’s. “Let… go… you… fat… nag!”

“You…” Celestia released her suddenly, tears brimming in her glowing red eyes. “You think I’m fat?”

“Uhhh, which answer makes you die?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes,” Celestia answered.

“Then yeah. Totally fat.” Rainbow then promptly covered her ears as Celestia let out a sky-splitting wail and exploded. Unfortunately, said explosion launched Rainbow straight through said split in the sky. She suddenly found herself in an empty void, completely blank of any color or texture.

For a moment, Rainbow just hung there. She sighed.

“Do I really have to say it?” More silence. “Fine. Today couldn’t get any weirder.”

“You’re right, it couldn’t.” Rainbow turned around, again finding herself, this time settled quietly on a mat with a small tea set beside her. “Have a seat?”

“Uh, sure.” She settled down beside herself, and sipped at her cup. Black tea, not bad. “So, uh, what’s the deal with all this?”

“Finally noticing how strange this all was?” The other her smirked, hiding the expression behind her own teacup. “Notice anything else?”

“Yeah, actually, come to think of it…” She started to notice other things. Canterlot. Manehatten. Appleoosa. Baltimare. Doorknobs. Her teacup fell from her grasp, splashing across the ground. She started down at her hooves, and at its handle. Its handle. For her hooves.

“So you see.” Her counterpart said.

“What is… what does… what?” She looked up, then down again, then up. “How? Why?”

“Who knows?” The other laughed softly. “I think there’s a more important question for you to answer.”

“What do I do now?” Rainbow could only stare at her hooves. She couldn’t even bring herself to reach down and try that handle again. She looked up, but she was gone, a simple door standing in her place. A door she remembered all too well. With a push of her hoof, she stepped into Sugarcube Corner.

There was everypony again, Twilight on the floor, Octavia glaring at her, Pinkie tilted nearly sideways with confusion. Except, they weren’t there. They were all Rainbow. Earth pony, unicorn, alicorn, it didn’t matter. They were all Rainbow Dash.

She backed up, back out the door, only to step into the main square of the crystal empire. There was Princess Rainbow Dash, being thrown to intercept the crystal heart by her husband Rainbow Dash, even as King Rainbow Dash raced up to catch it, Rainbow Dash falling helplessly to the earth as he did.

She turned around, and she as at the Rainbow Dash invasion. There was Rainbow Dash and her friends, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash fighting against all the Rainbow Dashes to try and get to the elements of Rainbow Dash.

She turned around, and there she was in the center of Rainbow Dashville, as Rainbow Dash turned it to the Rainbow Dash capital of Rainbow Dashestria.

She turned around, and there was Rainbow Dash laughing from on high at her victory over Rainbow Dash, and promising that the Rainbow Dash would last forever.

She turned around, and there was Rainbow Dash diving off the Rainbow Dash as Rainbow Dash fell helplessly towards the Rainbow Dash, even as Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Dash looked on laughing.

“I get it,” Rainbow Dash said.

“It’s never been about anyone else, has it?” She looked at her hooves, then out over the suddenly empty world. “Plato, Descartes. It’s always been… me, hasn’t it?”

“Just you.” Rainbow Dash said. Gone was the tea set, the mat. There was just her.

“Okay.”

And she beheld creation. For she was creation. For in the beginning there was the word, and the word was Rainbow Dash.

And there was light.

And stars.

And a green world around a yellow sun.

And a pony called Rainbow Dash.

Who had just eaten a slice of cake.

And it all made sense.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. The steady beep of the EKG measured out a rhythm beside her, mirrored by another in the same room. She rolled over slightly, spotting Twilight sitting up with a book. At the sound of her movement, Twilight turned to her.

“Hey. Quite a party, huh?” Rainbow grunted, and Twilight smiled. “We really need to give Pinkie a food safety course.”

“So that’s why you were flopping around like that.” Rainbow leaned back into her bed. “Did anyone tell you what I got you?”

“Yep.” Twilight chuckled and held up her book, the very Tome Rainbow had gotten her. “You really outdid yourself.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow paused for a moment. “Hey, Twi, what did you see, when you ate the cake?”

“Oh, uh.” Twilight coughed, suddenly blushing. “It’s kinda hard to explain. I think you would have enjoyed it.”

“Oh, huh.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “You’ll have to tell me sometime.”

“Sure thing, if I can ever get it straight in my head.” She rubbed her chin. “What did you see?”

“Me?” Rainbow dash smiled, her expression surprisingly enigmatic.

“Twilight, you ever wonder why all light is made of rainbows?”

Perhaps it is not the cake that is a lie, but reality? (Deep version)

Twilight Sparkle was lying on the floor, frothing. Pinkie Pie was busy learning the difference between hallucinogenics and baking ingredients. Octavia was wondering whether or not she could be held responsible for possesion when technically it had been Vinyl’s stash. Everypony else was just panicking, as per usual.

And Rainbow Dash was enjoying a slice of cake.

“Hey girls! Sorry I’m late!” She glanced at Twilight frothing on the floor, and sighed. “Ah mare, who told her I got her the actual Tome of Tetzlectial from Daring Doo and.. well, yeah, the Tome of Tetzlectial?” When nopony responded, she glanced up to find them all staring at her in shock. “Yeah, I know, pretty awesome, right?”

“Rainbow Dash,” Octavia began, again wondering why she’d ever thought a ponyville party would end anything but badly. “Please for the love of all that is, tell me you just decided to clean up Twilight’s plate?”

“Pffft! As if. She’d probably make me learn the sorting system for her trash. What’s the big… deal…?” She stared at the room that was staring at her.

The room that had stopped moving.

“Oooookay, come on. Maybe she doesn’t sort her trash, but I mean, it’s not that far off base?” She wilted a bit as the room continued to stare at her, stock still. “Seriously, what is up with you…” She then noticed that not only were the ponies frozen, but so was some of Twilight’s spittle. The spittle that was currently hanging in mid air.

“Okay, yeah, Pinkie put wayyyyy too much sugar in this thing.” Rainbow briefly considered her plate, before tossing it into the garbage. Only for it to freeze a foot after it left her hoof. Rainbow could only stare, a grin starting to split her face. “This… is.... AWESOME.”

Her eyes scanned the room, the scene turning to a playground in her mind. She immediately trotted over to Rarity, and lifted up her mane, peering at her roots as her grin grew even wider. With an amused snort, she dropped the mane back into place.

Only for it to shatter into pieces.

“Holy!” She frantically grabbed at the broken hairs upon the floor, every touch of her hooves scattering the hairs into smaller and smaller fragments. “Dammit, come on!” Again and again, she tried to grab at them, only for them to decay into powder as they slipped into the cracks in the wood.

She glanced up at Rarity, the broken jags of her mane standing mockingly on end. Hesitantly, she tried to brush them, only for her touch to begin the decay anew. She could only watch in horror as the rest of Rarity’s mane crumbled away, and her fur began to follow.

“No! Nonononono!” Frantically, Rainbow tried to push the dust back into place, but it slipped mockingly through her hooves. She scooped and pushed, trying desperately to maintain the form of her friend, like piling sand on a melting sandcastle. Though she managed some success, each press of her hooves made the situation worse, speeding the decay she tried to fight. “Come on! Please! It was an accident!”

“Having trouble?” Rainbow whipped around, only to find herself in the room. Only it was not herself, for upon her head stood a proud spiral horn. “Looks like you’re making quite a mess there.”

“What on…” A few grains of sand brushed her leg, and she whipped around to find Rarity beginning to sag under her own weight. Her eyes flicked from Rarity to the other Dash, panic filling them to the brim. “Help her!”

“Can’t you?” Rather than light her horn, she settled down on her belly, watching the growing catastrophe with nothing short of amusement. “That’s what you do, isn’t it?”

“I--I can’t!” Rainbow turned back to Rarity, just in time to see her collapse fully into a pile of white and violet sand. “No! Rares!” She dove at the pile of sand, trying desperately to pile it back into a pony, back into her friend, but every time it just slid back into a pile. ‘Why didn’t you help her?”

“Why didn’t you?” The alicorn Dash purred, that same amusement glued to her face, even as Rainbow lunged for her throat. She didn’t bother to dodge, or even react as Rainbow’s hooves closed around her neck. “I think it’s a valid question. She was your friend after all.”

“She was yours too!” Try as she might, Rainbow couldn’t throttle her other self. She wrapped her forelegs around, tried to choke and twist, but it was like assaulting a bar of iron. “You monster, you just let her die!”

“As opposed to killing her?” The alicorn’s grin only grew as Rainbow flinched. “Oh come now, don’t tell me all that brutish pawing was actually helping.”

“I had to do something!” She finally let go, chest heaving as tears brimmed in her eyes. “I couldn’t just stand there!”

“And yet if you had, she might still be here,” the alicorn laughed. “Ironic, isn’t it?”

“Shut up!” Rainbow slammed her hoof into the alicorn’s face, earning herself nothing more than a shot of pain up her limb. “Dammit just shut up!”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Or would you?” The alicorn rubbed her chin. “Really, I’m not saying anything you don’t already know.”

“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut UP!” Again and again she slammed her hoof into that face, even as it cracked open and began to bleed, she still kept slamming it in until the pain became blinding. She fell to the floor, the tears in her eyes as much physical as emotional. “I had to do something. I had to.”

“And yet you couldn’t. As I said, quite the conundrum.” The alicorn’s eyes turned to Octavia. “What about her?”

“Huh?” Dashed looked over as the alicorn gestured. As she turned to look at Octavia, a blue aura appeared around the chellist’s tail. With a sound like shattering glass, it snapped off and dissolved. “No!”

“Well?” Smirked the alicorn as Rainbow stared in horror. “Going to help her too?”

“You filthy nag!” Rainbow whipped a fierce roundhouse into the alicorn, only receiving a spray of blood from her broken hoof for her trouble.

“Is that a no?” The alicorn asked as she wiped the blood from her face.

“I… I…” Rainbow shook with rage, simply raising her hooves and striking with everything she had. Over and over and over she pounded upon the alicorn, until the pain grew too great to even fly. She collapsed against her impervious foe, and began to cry. “I can’t! I just make it worse! I can’t do anything!”

“And yet, loyalty demands that you would. Or does it?” The alicorn stroked Rainbow’s mane slowly, the malice replaced with something almost maternal. “What is loyalty, really?”

“Wh-what?” Rainbow shook slightly with the effort of simply holding herself upright. “What’s going on?”

“The same thing that’s always been going on. Tell me, what is loyalty, to you?” The alicorn was sitting up now as well, facing Dash as an equal.

“It… it’s always putting your friends first.” Dash sniffed, looking at the spot where Rarity had once been.

“Even if it makes things worse?” There was no teasing in the alicorn's voice, just curiosity.

“I…” Rainbow couldn’t tear her eyes away. “I don't know.”

“And there is the crux of the thing, isn’t it?” The alicorn shook her head sadly. “How can you put your friends first when you don’t know how?”

“I… don’t know?” Rainbow looked back at the alicorn, blinking blearily. “I mean, you have to try, right?”

“Do you? I mean, are these your friends?” The alicorn swept a hoof, taking in the entire room.

“What? Of course they are!” A little of Rainbow’s old fire returned. “They’ve always been there for me, whenever I needed them to pick me up! They’d do anything for me, and I’d do the same for them!”

“Oh really? They’d do anything for you?” The alicorn turned to Pinkie. “Hey, Pinkie, I think your friend could use a hug.”

Pinkie merely sat there, frozen.

“Well, so much for that.” The alicorn shrugged. “I ask again, is she your friend?”

“That’s not fair! She can’t help me right now!” Rainbow looked helplessly at Pinkie, before glaring at the alicorn again. “It isn’t her fault!”

“But you just said your friends would do anything for you. And yet, your friends won’t do anything for you right now.” The alicorn tilted her head. “I ask again, are they your friends?”

“Of course! Just because they can’t right now, doesn’t change that they would! If they… could…” Rainbow glanced helplessly around the room. “What is going on?”

“We’re asking questions.” The alicorn looked around the room again. “Tell me something. Why do you think these are your friends?”

“I just said, because--” The alicorn held up a hoof, silencing her.

“No, why do you think these are your friends?” She pointed at Pinkie Pie. “I’ll accept why you think Pinkie Pie’s your friend, but why do you think that’s Pinkie Pie?”

“Because… what?” She stared at Pinkie, then at the alicorn. “She obviously is!”

“Really? You said your friends would do anything for you. I’ll accept that your friends would, but if these ponies here won’t, then how can you tell they’re your friends?” The alicorn raised an eyebrow.

“I can see her! She was talking to me, before everything… stopped.” Rainbow rubbed her head. “What are you going on about?”

“Something very important. Now focus.” Again the alicorn pointed to Pinkie. “So you’re saying that she’s your friend because you can see she is?”

“Yes! I just said that.” Rainbow yelped as she found a party banner wrapped around her eyes.

“What about now?” The alicorn asked, even as Rainbow flailed and cursed.

“Get this thing off me!” Rainbow tugged at the blindfold, but couldn’t dislodge its grip. “Of course she is! This is dumb!”

“But you said you can see she’s your friend. If you can’t see her, and she won’t do anything for you. Then she seems to fail all the criteria.” The alicorn finally released the blindfold, allowing Dash to glare at her. “Unless there’s more?”

“I just know dammit! Stop trying to confuse me with stupid games!” Rainbow thrust a hoof at the frozen ponies. “Fix this! You’re an alicorn, stop playing games and help them!”

“I think Twilight would be pretty disappointed right now. Nopony just knows anything. We know them for a reason, just as you know what I’m saying to be true.” The alicorn sighed. “You know apples are sweet because you’ve tasted one. You know your friends are your friends because they act as friends do. And yet these ponies don’t, and yet you call them friends.”

“Because they are!” Rainbow growled.

“Just like I’m you?” The alicorn asked, and Dash stopped.

“Well, that’s…” She found herself at a loss for words.

“Impossible?” The alicorn gestured to herself. “Why is it that you accept the impossible, but deny the obvious?”

“I…” Rainbow rubbed her head.

“Why do you insist these things are your friends? They do not act as friends do.” She reached out with her magic, and pushed over Pinkie, causing her to collapse into a pile of pink sand. “And yet you weep for them as though they were!”

“But… but…” Rainbow trailed off, staring at the pile of sand. “They aren’t my friends, are they?”

“Progress,” the alicorn said.

“But then… where are my friends?” Dash looked up at the alicorn, empty of hostility. All that remained was confusion.

“Right in here.” She tapped Rainbow’s head.

“What?” Rainbow touched her own head, prompting a laugh from the Alicorn.

“Look around you. They do not move, you cannot touch them, yet you alleged they were your friends. Even as Rarity decayed into a pile of sand, you continued in your insistence, despite tangible evidence to the contrary.” The alicorn stood, brushing a hoof across Rainbow’s head. “The world changed, but your ideas didn’t. And so you wept for a pile of sand in the shape of your friend.”

“I…” Rainbow took one last look around the room. “None of this is real, is it?”

“Is it?” With a burst of her horn, she scattered the ponies and the room, all of it blowing away as dust on the wind. Outside, it was a bright day in an empty field, the grass almost up to their heads as it waved gently. “What is real?”

“I… don’t know.” Rainbow took another look around. “This doesn’t seem like it, though.”

“Isn’t it? Can’t you touch it? See it? You seemed to need nothing more than that from your friends. And yet now you admit that they weren’t real.” The alicorn smiled softly a Dash struggled.

“But, they were sand things! You said it yourself! They weren’t my friends!” Rainbow clutched at her head, trying to fight down the growing headache.

“How do you know that? Twilight’s spells have done some pretty freaky stuff. And she was flipping out on the ground. Maybe they were?” The alicorn watched as Dash screamed.

“Stop it! Stop it! None of this makes any sense!” She took off into the fields, flying as fast as she could go, but every time she looked back, the alicorn was sitting just as far away. “I want to go home!”

“How do you know you aren’t already there?” The alicorn continued to smile. “You can’t see it, but we know that doesn’t mean anything. You can’t touch it, but we know that doesn’t mean anything either.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” Dash screamed, tearing at her hair.

“Then what do you know?” the alicorn asked.

“I don’t know!” Rainbow dash flailed around, tearing, screaming, falling. “I don’t know!”

“Do you know that for sure?” the alicorn asked.

“I don’t…” At that moment, Rainbow burst into hysterical laughter. “I don’t know anything! I don’t know anything at all!”

“Not even that you don’t know?” the alicorn asked.

“Not a damn clue,” Rainbow laughed. Suddenly, a sound cut through her laughter. The sound of clapping.

“And now, at last, you see.” The alicorn was smiling again, but now the expression was full of warmth.

“So, what?” Rainbow asked, settling back on the grass. “So, I know nothing?”

“Well that’s just silly. Obviously you know what ‘know’ means, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” The alicorn sat back down, patting the ground beside her. “So let’s go over what you really, truly know.”

“Okay.” Dash pulled up a seat beside her, and settled in.

“So, you know what ‘know’ means, obviously.” The alicorn chuckled. “What else do you know?”

“I dunno.” Rainbow snorted. “Heck, I don’t even know I know what know means. I mean, I think I know what know means, but I thought I knew what prestidigitation meant too. Turns out I didn’t.”

“So would it be more accurate to say you know what you think know means?” the alicorn asked, sweeping a wing around Rainbow.

“...yeah. Yeah. I know what I think know means.” Rainbow rubbed her chin. “Actually, I know what I think.”

“Yes! Exactly! You know what you think.” The alicorn gave her a squeeze. “And what else?”

“Well…” Rainbow thought. Thought of everything she’d seen. Everything she’d felt. “Nothing, I guess.”

“Interesting, isn’t it?” The alicorn smirked, giving Rainbow a pat.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Rainbow flopped back. “So, what does it all mean?”

“You tell me,” the alicorn chuckled.

“It kind of reminds me of a dream, I guess.” Rainbow examined her hoof, staring at it in the sunlight. “Like I’ve just been asleep this whole time.”

“How do you know you haven’t been?” The alicorn continued to smile as Rainbow laughed.

“I guess I don’t.” Rainbow smiled. “I guess that makes me god, or something.”

“Well,” the alicorn smirked, leaning in conspiratorially. “That would explain one thing.”

“Oh?” Rainbow perked up. “What’s that?”

Slowly, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. The steady beep of the EKG measured out a rhythm beside her, mirrored by another in the same room. She rolled over slightly, spotting Twilight sitting up with a book. At the sound of her movement, Twilight turned to her.

“Hey. Quite a party, huh?” Twilight only smiled as Rainbow grunted. “We really need to give Pinkie a food safety course.”

“So that’s why you were flopping around like that.” Rainbow leaned back into her bed. “Did anyone tell you what I got you?”

“Yep.” Twilight chuckled and held up her book, the very tome Rainbow had gotten her. “You really outdid yourself.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow paused for a moment. “Hey, Twi, what did you see, when you ate the cake?”

“Oh, uh.” Twilight coughed, suddenly blushing. “It’s kinda hard to explain. I think you would have enjoyed it.”

“Oh, huh.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “You’ll have to tell me sometime.”

“Sure thing, if I can ever get it straight in my head.” She rubbed her chin. “What did you see?”

“Me?” Rainbow Dash smiled, her expression surprisingly enigmatic.

“Twilight, you ever wonder why all light is made of rainbows?”