The Bottled Mystery
Rainbow Dash was having a great day. Kind of. She had gone to a Wonderbolts event, only to be harshly rejected. She sat down on a wooden bench. "I wish I could be good enough to be a Wonderbolt. I wish I could impress them with something as cool as a Double Rainboom."
A pebble skittered out of an alley and brushed her hoof. She looked down, only to be dragged away by the green magic of a unicorn. It was strong, and kept her perfectly immobilized. 
She struggled, and was flying towards a wall. Then she rammed into it.
A tingling sensation followed, and she realized she was in an alley, a brick wall behind her. "Oh Celestia." She looked around, and pressed a hoof against the wall, and was shocked. When she looked around, she noticed that two other sides were brick. A lantern hovered over her. She attempted to fly up, but her head hit brick, and she landed, a bit upset. "Dangit." She pressed a hoof against the wall again. Then she turned around.
"Come closer Dash, no need to swear. I have things to let you live with no care."
Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Zecora?" She walked closer. Then She flew up and brought the lanter back down, holding the handle in her teeth. It was rusty, and the candle wick was short, but it would have to do. She stepped foreward, her hoof steps echoing oddly, and occasionally splashing through greasy puddles. Though she would never admit it, she was actually frightened. The open space had creeping mist. She walked through it, her lantern flickering. Then she saw a tent, and an old pony sitting in it, humming merrily. Many candles surrounded it, giving off herbal scents, a polar opposite of the rusty, foul tasting lantern she carried. The pony wore a hood of deep teal, and they had a dark grey body, with more grey hair. His eyes were the green, knowing eyes of a wise pony.
"Ah, Rainbow Dash, good of you to come. I'm glad you came, and you did not run."
Rainbow growled, eyes burning into those of the pony.
"Who are ya?!? How'd ya know my name?!?"
The old grey pony smiled. He pulled off his hood revealing a horn. In the amber glow, she also noticed slightly darker grey stripes. In his mane, there were also bands of darker grey.
"Easy now, safe and sound. I knew you as the best flyer around."
Rainbow smiled a little. She came closer and sat down on a red and hold mat beneath the tent.
"See, lately, I feel like luck is kind of failing me. Good luck at least. You may not have one, but seeing as you seem like the kind of sort who would, do you think you have something that could bring me luck?" The tent was so warm and comfortable. The interior of the tent was decorated similar to the house of Zecora. There were bottles, masks, and old tomes. Pillows rested in the corners, and everything was neatly organized. The stallion nodded, thoughtfully.
"There's something here, but best you duck, for I have an Elixer of Luck."
He produced a clear bottle with a dull grey liquid inside. He gave it a shake. Then he lifted of the cap, and the contents turned bright green, a golden vapor rising from the bottle, which turned silvery. It was like glitter, and caused her to cough, as the smoke burned her lungs until she ducked out of the cloud. The vapor all drew back into the bottle, the liquid turning a teal, tinged with swirls of green. The cap went back on. Then he gestured to the back where words were printed on it. Elixer of Luck: Luck in both profession and appearance. Side effects will occur during transformation of luck. Dash grinned.
"Profession? I could be a Wonderbolt!" Then she frowned. "As great as this seems, I didn't bring any bits with me. I just came to a party at Sugarcube Corner. This makes it 20% less cool...?"
The unicorn smiled. "E---Intellect, but do not worry. Go gather some bits, I'm in no hurry."
A smile once again grew on Dash's face. "Thanks, Intellect!" she said to the old striped unicorn. Then she was stopped. The unicorn spoke behind her.
"You are kind, and you are brave. Because of that, bits you will save."
The bottle floated over to the blue pegasus, who clutched it.
"Drink it now, drink it fast, or else, your luck will never last." Then, as Rainbow Dash drank the minty elixir, she was to busy to notice the fact that he never said what kind of luck it would bring, or the fact that he later muttered, "Don't pay now. You will soon anyways." It would cost her greatly. Then, she galloped towards the wall and burst through with a pop.
Dash smiled. She felt really good. She turned and looked at the wall. She tapped it. It rippled gently, like water. It was obviously fake, as it didn't have a brick wall texture, only the smooth, tingling sensation of magic. The mare spread her wings. Then she saw a wooden board at an angle. She grinned, running at it as fast as she could, kicking in dirt. She ran up it, hooves thumping across the board. Then at the last moment, she jumped.
She flapped, turning in a barrel roll as she soared upwards, directly on a cloud. Her momentum from her run up the board caused the cloud to surge foreward. It kept going forward, assisted by the fast beating of her wings. Then, she hit a large cloud. Her speed caused her to lurch foreward, which turned into a soar to the door of her cloud home. "Oh yeah!" Then she opened a Daring Do book on her bed, and was reading it until she slept, only to be awoken by excruciating agony and the feeling that someone was in her house. A familiar pink pony was standing in her room.
"Pinkie? This is a bad time."
"Oh hi Dashie! I was playing with balloons and tied one too many and whelp! Here I am!"
Dash grinned. "So you took off with too many balloons?" She laughed, even though she still was incredibly sore.
The pink party pony giggled. "You fell asleep reading? Isn't that for... eggheads?" Pinkie Pie winked. Then she found a shard of glass that was so shiny, and when she angled it correctly,the light shot off in another direction as a rainbow. "Cool! Oh. AnddoyouwantamuffinbecauseDerpyaskedmetobackesomeand..." Pinkie grinned as she took another deep breath and continued babbling like an out of control river. "Wehadsomeleftoverandsinceyouhaventcomeoutofyourhouse..." "IdecidedIwouldbringyousomemuffins." She panted. "SowhenIwasfloatingupTwilightzapped... ThetrayofmuffinswithmesoIcouldofferyousome." Then she grinned. Dash got up, but stumbled.
"Oh, damnit. That... Really hurts..." She finally stumbled, knees buckling.
"Rainbow Dash!" In her haste to reach her friend, the shard of glass flew from the hooves of the party pony and sliced away the strings of the balloons. One. By. One.
As Pinkie fell, she relaxed herself, and as the wind battered her body, it blew her mane and tail, both of which straightened. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was struggling, and cursing a bit too. She saw the hole, and then, wings folded to her sides, allowed her sky blue form to drop in free fall..
Midair, she flipped her body, so she was facing the ground. She put her front hooves foreward. Her mane was starting to blur, and the moisture of the air formed a rainbow streak behind her, combining with the multicolored blur. Then, as she flew past her friend, gritting her teeth, the flared open her wings, which acted as a parachute. The pain was almost unbearable, but she stayed strong. The sudden move caused her to rise upwards. She 'parachuted' downwards, bracing herself. Pinkie slammed into her, and the sudden stop caused her to bounce back to consciousness. It also caused the same fore her hair, for it poofed up on impact.
"Dashie? You party hard..." Pinkie said as she slipped back into unconsciousness...
She added extra weight, so their fall was speed up. Rainbow angled herself, and pointed her hooves straight down. As she fell, she opened her wings, which balanced out the speed. In a gentle descent, they landed. Then she felt pain shoot up her body, as if she were hit by lightning. Sighing, she glanced at her unconscious friend, who Twilight had taken as soon as they landed. Rainbow Dash walked foreward, and her knees wobbled. She fell, only to be caught by Applejack.
"Come on now, sugarcube. Ah reckon that cost ya some energy. Why don't ya come with me, seein' as ya can barely keep yourself on your own four hooves." Then she noticed something on the pegasus's hooves. Or lack of it. Some bits of fur were missing at the tips of her hooves. Up her front legs, actually. Beneath it was grey skin. "Ouch. Ah reckon that hurts." Rainbow Dash winced.
"Yeah. Which makes me saving Pinkie from death about 20% less cool." AJ picked up the pegasus and put her on her back. "Hey!" She struggled, but found herself too weak to move that much. "Ow," she muttered.
"Alright y'all. Ah'm bringing Rainbow with me." The two mares then left, as a single feather flew from the sky blue pegasus's wing, soaring to a cave in the Everfree...
