"...and my hooves smelled like cotton candy for three days!" said Rainbow Dash, prompting a fresh round of giggling from her friends.
"Mmmm. Cotton candy," said Pinkie Pie dreamily.
The day was beautiful, warm and a little breezy. Having a member of the weather team in their circle meant that Twilight could plan their meetups on perfect days like this every time. And who better to do the planning than her? Fluttershy had arrived as usual with enough feed for their pets, Rarity had produced a picnic mat that was more like a rug with its luxurious feel, and Applejack and Pinkie had prepared the bounty of baked sugary delights they currently enjoyed.
"Come to think of it," replied Rarity, "I'm a bit surprised you don't smell like cotton candy. Is that..." Her snout wrinkled. "What is that smell, Pinkie?"
"It's honey caramel!" said Pinkie happily. "Equal parts thickened cream, honey, milk chocolate and unsalted butter. It was supposed to be part of a much more complex dessert, but it tasted so good I decided to just stop there! I mean, unfortunately that meant the last apron went to Miles, but what can you do?" She turned to look at Applejack, who had snorted and was trying to hide it. "What's so funny?"
"Can't help it, Pinkie," said Applejack, cheeks blushing. "Always funny to hear somepony mention caramel, onnaccount of my cousin."
"I know the feeling," agreed Twilight. "When I was younger, we'd go and look at clothes or jewels, and when somepony said 'That's positively shining!' I'd frown and say, 'No it's not! Shining doesn't wear jewels!'"
Another round of giggling. Rarity waved her hoof and looked at Rainbow. "You know, Dashie, honestly, I'm really happy that you bounced back so quickly. You seemed a bit... how do we say... fragile when you went off to impress the Wonderbolts."
Pinkie swallowed a sandwich. "Yeah! Twilight said just be yourself and zing, off you went!"
"I'm guessing it didn't go so smooth," said Applejack with a smirk, "seeing as it drove you to do that consarn silly thing with the thundercloud. What were you thinking, anyway?"
"Hehe. About that... it's kinda embarrassing," said Rainbow Dash, trying to hide a look of uneasiness. She started to hover—to her friends, this was a clear sign of avoidance. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"You poor thing," said Fluttershy softly, but it was washed away by the volume of Applejack's widening grin.
"C'mon now, you can't just say that and think you can fly away," said Applejack, waving a fritter flippantly in her direction. "Tell the story, Rainbow. What was it you did?"
"Ooh! Did you do a sonic rainboom?" chirped Pinkie excitedly. "Because you know at this point the sonic rainboom is basically your defining trait, isn't it?"
"Pinkie, if Rainbow had done a rainboom, we'd have heard or seen it," interrupted Twilight. "Remember how you saw the rainboom even though your family's farm was nowhere near Cloudsdale? And so did I, and I was in Canterlot!"
"Did you do two sonic rainbooms?!"
"Pinkie, she wouldn't have done a rainboom!" Twilight blurted, and then blinked. Then she giggled. "Haha. Rainbow doing a rain-boom. Don't you think that sounds a bit childish?"
"No, I didn't do a rainboom," stammered Rainbow, floating a couple of inches higher.
"So what didya do, if it wasn't a boom-boom?" pressed Applejack, leaning forward. "Something embarrassing, ya mentioned? 'Cos that's pretty embarrassing, a grown mare doing something like that..."
"Maybe she challenged them to a race," said Rarity, though she didn't seem all that engaged; her gaze was locked on Tank as he hovered tantalizingly close to the reach of Opalescence's claws. "Seems like something she'd had done."
"I know!" squealed Pinkie, jumping up. "You misinterpreted what Twilight said when she said what she said as meaning instead of be yourself, you took on our personalities as you thought yours wasn't good enough, and you felt that you had a shot if you did imitations of your bestest friends because even though we're so different you think that all of us are awesome and that at least one of them would work!"
"Whaat? No, I did not soil myself, and no, Pinkie, I did not do that! Nope!" Rainbow spluttered vehemently. Then she caught sight of Applejack's deepening glare, and her head dropped low with her body. "Well... actually, yes."
"Oh my," said Fluttershy.
"Hmm?" said Rarity. "Pinkie, what did you say?"
"You what now?" asked Applejack, frowning.
"I, uhm... I did imitations of you guys to try and stand out," muttered Rainbow. Her wings tightened around her slender figure.
"Ooh," said Twilight.
There was a brief moment of silence.
"Cool, I guess," added Twilight, feeling that the onus fell to her as the last one to have spoken.
"Do me!" said Pinkie.
"Oh my," said Fluttershy, shrinking back.
Rainbow's cheeks flushed with a deep hue. "No, Pinkie! It's, uh... it's not very good."
"Of course it ain't," laughed Applejack, leaning back in the most smug way imaginable. "Rainbow Dash doing imitations. That'd be a gag for sore eyes."
"Are you saying I can't?" asked Rainbow, glaring despite herself.
Rarity sounded amused. She took a dainty sip from her thermos. "I have to agree with Applejack, Rainbow Dash. You're not the, hum, most observant one when it comes to the little details. In fact, I'd be surprised if you could do a halfway-correct impression of myself." She giggled. "Actually, the more we talk about it, the more curious I'm getting. Balance a full cup of tea on your head as you trot gracefully across the ballroom—now that's something I'd like to see you pull off."
"You're not as hard to imitate as you think," said Rainbow, pulling her lips into a vengeful grin.
"In all my years of knowing you, I've never seen you hold a coiffure longer than five minutes," replied Rarity with a wry look.
"Then prepare to be surprised."
Rainbow stood up and tossed her head back with a flourish. The breeze picked up just as she completed the action, and her tail wafted lightly as her mane fell into a perfect shape. She lifted a hoof and pointed at the picnic basket in the center of the blanket lightly.
"Would you be," she half-sang, voice lilting, "so kind as to pass me the cake? Not the chocolate one, though, my dear. The apple one, please." Her prim look twisted into a horrified expression. "Wait. Is. That. Cream? Oh, my dear, but you know how fattening cream can be!"
Now it was Rarity's turn to blush. Applejack guffawed, rolling along the grass, and even Fluttershy was having trouble holding back a grin.
"Woah, Rainbow!" wheezed Applejack. "That's so spot on!"
"How did you get your mane to do that?" asked Twilight, wide-eyed.
"A lady always keeps a handful of secrets close to her heart," replied Rainbow, giving Twilight a wink that made her gulp.
"Well," said Rarity, who had gone rigid. "I have to admit as... as shocking as it was, a lady"—she pointedly ignored Applejack's uncontrolled roaring—"knows when to give credit where it is due. And that is a, a good one." Then, to Applejack, who was dangerously close to knocking over her plate of food—"And will you please watch where you're kicking?"
"Do me!!" screamed Pinkie.
"How about you guess who I'm doing?" said Rainbow, smirking. She paced the ground for a few seconds, thinking hard, and then whipped out a worn hat from seemingly nowhere, donning it with a goofy grin. "Boy howdy, it's a fine day today, ain't it folks?"
Applejack, who had not quite recovered from her fit, looked up as she lay on her back.
"Yep, the sun is shining and there's nothin' Ah like more than rollin' in the grass, gettin' real in touch with the dirt 'nall," continued Rainbow, flopping down right next to Applejack, smushing her legs against the blades. "Well, 'xcept fer apples, of course. Apples are shore great, aren't they?"
"It's Applejack!" exclaimed Pinkie, as if she were expecting a million bits to fall from the sky upon utterance.
"Why, it shore is!" laughed Rainbow.
"It sure ain't," said Applejack, backing up quickly. "I think you're overdoin' it a little..."
"I think she's got you down pat," quipped Rarity with a sideways glance.
"The accent's a little overwrought, but as a caricature it is quite apt," added Twilight merrily.
"I actually think the accent's done just right," said Rainbow, jumping up and vanishing the hat—and accent—in favour of a pair of spectacles. "Caricatures over the ages have been exaggerations of defining traits, paintings in broad strokes so that it can be received by a wider audience with only passing knowledge of the subject." She adjusted her spectacles and flashed a remarkable imitation of a sincere smile. "I'm sure I could refer you the book I read it in once I have time."
"Ohohoho," grunted Applejack, settling back down into an uneasy kneel. "Now it's gettin' interesting."
"Oh really?" asked Twilight, an amused look creeping on her face. "Because I think I know exactly the book you're referring to. Isn't it Raygill's Imitations Explained?"
"Actually, it's Beerboom's series of articles in The Comic Magazine, which came twenty years before Raygill's work," answered Rainbow with a shrug. "I like to trace down the original works referenced in later compilations so that I can analyze the pioneering thought in its original context. Correct interpretation of bibliography is so important, it's like a lost art these days." Then, the killing blow that made even Twilight's smile falter: "It's tough being an intellectual sometimes, isn't it?"
"I was wrong," muttered Applejack. "Now I'm gettin' a headache."
"Sobering up does that to some ponies," sniffed Rarity.
"Rainbow Dash," said Twilight slowly. "Wow. I'm not sure if you're being real or not right now. I'm not sure if I want you to be real right now. Because the idea of having somepony to discuss the proper way of handling subject discourse with respect to chronology makes me really, really excited... but on the other hoof..."
Rainbow Dash shook her head vigorously. "Yeah, no. Sorry, Twilight. I was having trouble staying awake all that time to be honest."
Twilight tried to hide her downcast expression. "It's okay. I knew it. I still like you for how you are."
"DO ME!" squealed Pinkie, inflating herself to fill up Rainbow's vision. The pegasus stumbled backwards, yelping in surprise, but was caught by a weak, trembling grip. She quickly righted herself and exchanged glances with Fluttershy, who had kept her from falling.
"Uhm," said Fluttershy. "I, uh..."
"If you don't want me to do you, that's okay, Fluttershy," offered Rainbow, as kindly as she could, but for some reason Fluttershy's face had lit up like a tomato field in harvest season.
"Oh my."
Rainbow turned around. Pinkie was vibrating with anticipation as if she were about to explode.
She grinned and flapped up, widening her legs. "But Pinkie, I've been doing you the whole time!"
"REALLY?"
"Where do you think all those props came from?" said Rainbow Dash with a wink.
Twilight suddenly sat up. "Hey, I was about to ask that—"
"I DON'T KNOW!" yelled Pinkie with glee. Several heads, including the pets' turned around.
"You don't know?" asked Twilight in disbelief. "Wait, but you're Pinkie—"
"AND SHE'S PINKIE TOO THIS IS THE BEST PICNIC EVER! PINKIEDASH! RAINBOW PIE! Mmm, rainbow pie..."
"I can't bake, though," said Rainbow.
"...AND WE CAN GO BOUNCING AROUND AND WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER PONY TO ADD TO THE PIE SISTERS' SURPRISE SWAP DAY, EXCEPT INSTEAD OF A SISTER IT'LL BE ME, JUST LIKE THAT TIME IN THE MAGIC CLONE POOL THINGY AND—"
"Uh, Fluttershy," hissed Twilight, nudging her, "you wanna step in?"
"—SO MANY TINY UMBRELLAS—"
"Pinkie," said Fluttershy, tapping her gently on the shoulder. Before Pinkie could respond—and this was a matter of milliseconds—Fluttershy whispered something in her ears, and Pinkie suddenly calmed down.
It was almost unreal. She was just there, sitting quietly, smiling all right, but it was like she had fallen into a trance compared to the jittery force of nature not five seconds ago.
"Uh..." started Rainbow.
"Guess there's some things you just can't imitate," giggled Fluttershy happily.
***
"Wait, what? You can't just say that and leave us hanging," protested Rainbow Dash. "And that isn't even a good line to end anything on!"
"Oh, it's fine," said Twilight, waving a hoof. "Come and finish the tea before it gets cold. Anyway, where were we?"
"I'm not too sure, darling," said Rarity, blinking. "I was so caught up in the events that I had lost track."
"And this is why we have minutes," responded Twilight happily, bringing out a notepad. "Let's see. We were trying to figure out what you had done to get a new nickname with the Wonderbolts, and after a few guesses which, ahem, really don't deserve to be repeated, Pinkie surmised correctly, Applejack challenged you, and yeah."
"Ooh," said Fluttershy, who was peering over Twilight's shoulder to look at the notepad. "You have, um, interesting hoofwriting."
"Oh, right. you said it was embarrassing." Applejack tilted her head. "But that weren't embarrassing. I think it was kinda neat, to be honest."
"Really?" asked Rainbow in disbelief. "But you seemed so offended just now when I did my impression of you!"
"Nah, shucks, what kinda pony would I be if I couldn't take it?" snorted Applejack dismissively. "I know it's all in good fun. We're your friends, and I know you didn't mean no harm. You were jus' confused, a bit desperate, and did what you thought you had to do. In fact, going in the complete wrong direction very fast is pretty you, ain't it?"
"She's right," said Twilight, nodding. "I actually enjoyed it when you did an impression of me. I thought it was well-balanced, not as tasteless as it could have been, and you even got my hopes up for a bit."
"And it's refreshing to just see how one pony thinks of another in plain sight, sometimes," said Rarity. "I could be offended if I thought you were stereotyping me, but, well, the truth is I am like that, and I'm happy to be this way." She bit her lip. "It's better than when we had that changeling invasion, at least."
"Huh. I'm surprised nopony thought of that. Are you a changeling, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight, peering intently at her.
"Hey, I might be a good imitator, but I'm not perfect. Or creepy and evil. Ugh." Rainbow shivered and drank her tea in stride.
"Would it matter if I was a—" asked Fluttershy curiously.
"We've been over this before," cut in Twilight bluntly.
Rainbow sighed and looked across the field. Their pets had grown tired of their play, and were now sitting in a loose circle underneath the shade of a tall oak tree. Or sleeping. Yeah, probably sleeping, because they had gone quiet. Of course, even if they were their usual loud selves, they wouldn't be saying anything to each other—they didn't share languages—but it would have been cool if they did.
"Oh, right. Where's Spike?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Hoofball?" said Twilight, shrugging. "He mentioned it this morning."
"And Starlight? I thought that maybe you'd invite her. Even if she didn't have a pet, I'm sure Fluttershy could hook her up with one," said Rainbow Dash. "Of course, there's no way it'll be as awesome as Tank is."
"Starlight's doing some study," replied Twilight. "You know, if you were interested, me and Starlight read up on friendship texts for a couple of hours every Thursday evening—"
"No, Twilight."
And the six friends burst into giggles, as another peaceful day came to a close.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading, liking, commenting, fav'ing—I appreciate it a ton.
Post-production blog is in the link if you're interested to see how this fic came about. Stay tuned for more!
