Rainbow Dash: Rise of the Valkyrie

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: Resurrection and Regrets
Chapter 2: Planning Pie Parties
Chapter 3: Surprises and Sentiments

Prologue

Rise of the Valkyrie

Prologue

It was a peaceful night on Equestria. The moon had risen thanks to Luna, Princess of the Moon, but not before the sun came down thanks to Celestia, Princess of the Sun. Atop the tallest tower stood Twilight, Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship, as she looked through her magically enhanced telescope to try to see anything beyond the skies of their planet. Unfortunately, she did: a meteorite on a direct collision course for Equus, and its arrival was estimated to be in seven days. The lavender alicorn told the Royal Sisters, who ordered her to gather the Element bearers and try to come up with a plan to save Equus from destruction.

All six ponies came together the next morning to discuss options for a potential plan for destroying the meteor. Applejack suggested using the power of all four alicorns to blast the meteorite to bits, but Twilight countered saying that even the combined magical energies of all four alicorns wouldn’t be able to reach the outer atmosphere of the planet, much less the meteorite. Rainbow Dash suggested somepony fly up to the space rock and smash it up, but that was also denied, due to the logic of the lack of air in space as well as the escape velocity required to do so exceeded anything that even the rainbow-maned Pegasus had ever achieved. Rainbow told Twilight that with some practice and some extra spells from her friends, she believed that she could pull it off. With no other ideas on the table, everypony agreed to send Rainbow Dash out to space to smash the meteorite.

Over the course of the next few days, the Mane Six, as well as Spike and Starlight, went over the finer details of how to send Rainbow Dash up to destroy the giant rock and save the world. The Pegasus herself was almost always flying at top speeds to keep herself in tip-top shape for when the day came to execute the plan. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike ran through the books in the library to find spells that could help boost their friend’s speeds to exceed escape velocity in order to reach the meteorite. Starlight discovered a way to use a barrier to help the mare breath in space if applied on the ground to catch some air before flying out into space. Twilight found a speed-boosting spell, as well as a mind-link spell, so that they can keep in contact while Rainbow was off-planet. Starlight had the idea that both would cast the speed booster at the same time, with the mind-link spell cast by herself and Twilight would cast the barrier. The plan was to have Rainbow Dash build up to her top speed, then race towards the magical duo as they cast the spells in a connecting beam for a double speed boost as well as giving Rainbow the air barrier and the mind link to her friends and the princesses. She would immediately shoot up at an angle into the sky, the speed boosters helping her in her ascent towards space. She would then fly past the meteorite and slingshot around the moon, positioned by Luna for maximum effectiveness, for the final burst of speed needed for a massive Sonic Rainboom that would shatter the meteorite. There was a great risk that Rainbow Dash would not make it out alive, but the mare was confident that she’d be okay.

The day that the meteorite was due to crash into the planet, Rainbow Dash and her friends got themselves into position to begin their plan to save the world. The alicorn and unicorn duo began charging their spells as the Pegasus took off, quickly approaching her top speed. The spells were ready, and both magic users shot beams at each other, the spells connecting in the middle and combining as planned. In mere moments, the speedy flier reached top speed and crossed the spell line, getting a massive boost in speed while also gaining a shimmering blue-purple spherical barrier as well as the ability to hear her friends as she angled herself up towards the sky and in the meteorite’s direction.

Rainbow Dash managed to escape the atmosphere of Equus, flying towards the meteorite, and dodged to the side of the giant rock as planned. She continued on towards the moon, taking care to get into its orbit and not slam into its surface. She boomeranged around the dark side of the moon, and began to rocket towards the meteorite. The Pegasus had the familiar mach cone forming by her hooves during the entire journey, but it wasn’t until now that it began to fold around her body, ready to unleash the magical power of the Sonic Rainboom. She held firm, waiting for the right moment to obliterate every atom of the offending space rock. Once she neared the meteorite, Rainbow let everything loose, bursting forward with a speed she had only dreamed of achieving, a Sonic Rainboom more powerful and with richer colors exploding from the area right next to the meteorite, effectively atomizing the giant rock and accomplishing the task.

However, not all was well, as Rainbow realized that she was approaching Equus at speeds far too high to be anywhere near safe for landing purposes, but steeled herself for her friends. The barrier around her began to heat up from re-entry as her velocity increased form the planet’s gravity once again taking her in its grip. The mare rocketed right past Ponyville and went right into the Everfree, causing a massive cloud of dirt to fly into the air upon her impact. All of her friends ran straight to the forest, and it didn’t take long to discover the crash site. There was a massive crater in the ground, while a bolt-shaped burn mark sat at the very bottom with no sign of their rainbow-maned friend. Fluttershy immediately burst into tears and clung to Pinkie Pie, whose mane and tail deflated completely. Rarity turned her head away, and her eyes squeezed shut as tears threatened to stream down her cheeks. Applejack removed her hat and placed it on her chest, closing her eyes in silent prayer for the mare. Twilight was at a loss for words, and Spike covered his mouth with his claws. They all returned to town, and announced that there would be a funeral service for Rainbow Dash in two days time to honor her for her great sacrifice for the safety of the planet and its inhabitants.

Chapter 1: Resurrection and Regrets

Rise of the Valkyrie

Chapter 1

The funeral came and went. Not a single pony could find it within themselves to smile, not even Pinkie Pie, as the Elements of Harmony were no more. That day was sunny, though it was originally scheduled to rain. The Pegasi in charge of the weather wanted the funeral to be bright for their fallen friend, and made rainbows in the skies to commemorate the brave Pegasus. The Wonderbolts had also come down, officially inducting Rainbow Dash into the Wonderbolts’ Hall of Fame, along with many of the other heroes in Equestria’s history. The service ended up being a closed casket, considering there was no body to retrieve for anypony to even consider an open casket. Later that day, the coffin was lowered into her grave, and filled to the top with dirt as ponies said their final goodbyes.

“Rainbow Dash....” a tender and mild voice spoke, the image of Celestia appearing within the realm that she met Twilight in once before.

“Rainbow Dash, open your eyes....” another voice spoke, this one belonging to Luna.

“Ooooh, my head,” Rainbow groaned. “Anypony got something for a headache?”

“Rainbow Dash,” Luna said to the mare, “for your bravery, sacrifice, and loyalty to all of Equestria, we bestow upon you a grand gift. Receive it now, and awaken.”

As Luna finished her speech, the two sisters touched their horns together, a bright light shining upon the rainbow-maned Pegasus.

“You will find yourself stronger than before, but you will need training,” Celestia spoke. “Go now, and embrace yourself as an alicorn.”

The blue and white energies of the sisters’ magic swirled around the Element of Loyalty, taking her back to her home in Cloudsdale.

Rainbow blinked, finding herself back home, but still with the monumental headache. ‘Eh, I’ll worry about that later,’ she thought as an evil grin crept onto her face, rubbing her hooves in a sinister fashion. ‘Right now, I have some work to do!’

Twilight Sparkle had locked herself in her room again, crying into her pillows. Spike understood how hard it must be for her, as he wanted to cry as well.

“Um, Twilight? Maybe we should... go to Rainbow’s house and... you know,” he began to ask, and Twilight sniffled, blowing her nose as she came out of the pillows.

“I... I don’t know Spike,” the lavender alicorn said. “It’s honestly too soon.”

“O-Oh, right,” the dragon said nervously. “Sorry.”

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and from the sound of it, it had come from the castle library. Twilight sniffled, and went downstairs sluggishly after unlocking the door.

“Okay, whoever’s there, please go home,” she said, going into the library. “We’re closed.”

There was no answer, only the sight of a pile of books sitting in front of a shelf. Twilight sighed, and began to put the books back up on the shelves with her magic.

“Gotcha!!” Rainbow shouted, as she flew out of the pile and into Twilight’s face.

“AAAAH!!!” the lavender alicorn screamed, falling onto her back. “RAINBOW DASH, THAT WAS COMPLETE--- Wait, Rainbow Dash?!” she yelped, yanking the other mare down to her level with her aura, poking her with purple hooves here and there.

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow snipped, smacking the hoof away. “I know Pinkie has some boundary issues, but this is just ridiculous!”

“Can you open and close your wings for me?” Twilight asked softly. The rainbow-maned pony quirked a brow, but did so regardless.

“Hooray, I have wings,” Rainbow snarked in a deadpan.

“This is..... unbelievable,” Twilight said, tears in her eyes as she tightly hugged Rainbow, beginning to cry loudly.

“Twilight, is everything all- HOLY CELESTIA!!” Spike yelped, gaping at the light-blue mare.

“Okay, what the hay is going on?!” Rainbow demanded. “You’re all acting like I died or something!!”

“You did die!!” Twilight sobbed out. “You died destroying that meteorite! We... we never found your body, so we buried an empty casket....”

Rainbow blinked, then busted up laughing. This naturally caused Twilight to feel particularly angry that her friend is just laughing death off like it was one big joke, and the next thing she knew, a purple hoof was very harshly crossing paths with a light blue face complete with a loud ‘SMACK!!’

“Rainbow Dash, I can’t believe you!!” Twilight screamed, tears pouring from her eyes as she ran back to her room, slamming and locking her door tight.

“Jeez, what’s her deal?” Rainbow asked in confusion while she rubbed her cheek. “I wasn’t out for that long. No need to get so worked up about it.”

“If that’s what you think,” Spike growled, glaring at the slapped mare, “then I suggest you walk to Rarity’s place. And that means no flying, either.”

“Uh, okay, whatever you say, Spike,” Rainbow said as the dragon walked off. She shrugged, but began trotting out of the castle towards the Carousel Boutique. As she passed through town, ponies stopped and stared at her, wondering if it really was Rainbow Dash, the legendary meteor-smashing hero. The mare began to feel slightly uncomfortable noticing all the stares coming her direction, as if she had risen from the dead, like a zombie.

‘Okay, granted, being a zombie would be pretty awesome,’ Rainbow thought as she neared the Boutique, ‘but I’d have to be dead first, and that hasn’t happened. So what’s everypony’s deal?’ She then knocked on the door to the boutique.

Inside, the fashionista was busier than usual, trying to keep herself constantly busy with all sorts of designs and such to avoid thinking about her dearly departed friend. However, that was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Rarity, can I come in?” Rainbow asked on the other side of the door.

“Of all the...” Rarity grumbled, dropping the equipment she was using and threw her door open, a stern look on her face. “I do not want any more of you Rainbow Dash imposters on my doorstep, thank you! Neither business mares nor stallions. I’m just a unicorn trying to move on!!” The fashionista slammed the door in Rainbow’s face straight away.

“What the?” the rainbow-maned pony said, shocked at her friend’s behavior. “Move on from what?! Everypony is treating me like I’m dead! What the hay is going on here?!”

Rarity groaned once again. She opened the door, stepping in front of her home. The fashionista did not have her usual beauty-enhancing elements on her: no makeup, no fake lashes, and even her hair seemed a bit unkempt.

“Allow me to put it in a way that even a business pony like you can understand,” she said. Clearing her throat, she proceeded to yell, “LEAVE MY PROPERTY THIS INSTANT BEFORE I AM TO USE FORCE!!”

Rainbow flinched at the alabaster mare’s loud voice, and looked behind her to see if she could find this ‘business pony’ that Rarity was supposedly talking to. When she found no such pony, Rainbow turned back to her friend.

“Is this payback for the sewing machine cake?” she asked, genuinely curious. However, this caused Rarity to growl in further irritation.

“Very well, I warned you!” she said, and pulled a toy mouse from under a rock with her magic. The mare then tossed the mouse on top of Rainbow’s mane, much to her confusion. Rarity then turned her head towards the open door. “Oh, Opal darling! I do believe I have located your little mouse~!”

Rainbow’s confusion was satisfied when she heard the unmistakable growl of Rarity’s cat. She screamed out of fear and immediately flew off, leaving behind a rainbow contrail as the toy mouse fell to the ground with a squeak. Opal then leaped out of the building and pounced on the toy, growling playfully.

“Alright, Opal,” Rarity said, returning to the confines of her home, “come play inside now.”

“Geez, what made Rarity think I was just some business pony?” she asked herself as she sat on a cloud above the boutique, watching as the fluffy white cat bounced back inside the home with her toy in her mouth as the door once again closed. “Ugh, maybe a drink will help me think this through.”

She flew over to Sweet Apple Acres to get some cider. Applejack was fast asleep at her cider stand from yet another sleepless night preparing for Cider Season, as ponies were all lined up to get their mugs of cider. Rainbow, of course, was not happy about seeing the large line.

“Ugh, not again!!” she griped. “I betcha anything she bought twenty mugs as usual, then they run out before I even get close, and I can’t get my hooves on any of it!”

Rainbow shook her head, and landed at the end of the line, which was moving much more slowly due to how sleepy Applejack was. It was some time later when the rainbow-maned pony finally made it to the front of the line.

“Nuhh, howdy partner,” Applejack said, yawning loudly. “Care fer cider?”

Rainbow blinked, then smiled and happily slapped a bit onto the counter.

“You bet!! I’ve been waiting for this forever!” she said with high levels of glee. She then noticed how the country mare looked. “Hey, AJ, you don’t look too good.”

“Ah’m fine. Th’ marshmallows are dancin’, and that there rock says hello,” Applejack said, smiling and waving tiredly at the rock. “Good mornin’ to ya too, Mr. Geode!”

“Applejack, you look like you need sleep,” Rainbow said. “Why aren’t you in bed, catching some z’s?”

“Nah, Ah’m good,” Applejack said. “The bed ran away, and Ah can’t seem to find the moon anymore. Say, that’s a mighty fine horn ya got there, Rainbow Dash. Oh, also, a bit of advice. Ah’d stay away from Rarity if Ah was you. She ain’t takin’ too kindly to folks no more. She’ll sic that cat on ya faster than y’all could clear th’ skies.”

“Little late for that,” Rainbow grumbled, then something clicked as Applejack poured a mug of cider for her. “Wait a sec, how did you manage to keep enough cider for me anyhow? Don’t you usually run out because Pinkie buys practically a whole barrel’s worth of mugs?”

“Nah, she moved back home after yer funeral,” Applejack replied, scooting the mug over to the mare. Rainbow growled a bit from hearing yet another pony treating her like she was dead.

“Go get some sleep, AJ,” she demanded, taking the mug. “You seriously need it.”

“Yeah, I know I do,” Applejack muttered sadly as Rainbow took to the skies with her mug in hoof.

The rainbow-maned pony found a cloud to sit on to stew while she drank her cider.

“Ok, seriously, what the heck is going on?” she muttered, taking a sip. “First, I try to prank Twilight, only to get nailed in the face. Spike tells me to find out by going to Rarity’s, and I get everypony staring at me like I’m some freaking ghost or something! Then Rarity looks at me like I’m some suit after my own name, and launches her stinkin’ cat on me! And what was Applejack talking about, ‘mighty nice horn’? Whatever, she’s tired, and probably was imagining it. But what the heck is up with Pinkie leaving? And to top it all off, I’ve had this killer headache all day long! Ugh, I guess the only thing left to do is see if Fluttershy can be somewhat reasonable.”

Rainbow drained the rest of her cider, tossing the mug over the cloud. It vanished in a light-blue flash, but the mare wasn’t paying attention as she took off from the cloud and flew down to her best friend’s cottage, knocking on the door. It opened up, and Discord’s familiar head popped out.

“Yees? What do you—oh,” the draconequus began, cutting himself off at Rainbow’s sight. “Well, this certainly is an event all wrapped up in its very own muffin basket! Why, Rainbow Dash, you look, well.... royally uncomfortable, to put it mildly. Is there anything I can do for you, madam?”

“Cut the chit-chat, Discord!” Rainbow snapped. “I’m really not in the mood right now for your shenanigans. Where’s Fluttershy?”

“Fluttershy.... Oh, yes!” Discord said, a light bulb appearing over his head. “She’s at the graveyard at the moment. Poor, poor Fluttershy. What a terrible time we all are going through since that meteorite nearly killed us all. But you, oh so brave Rainbow Dash, saaaaved us all~! Oh, if I may ask, what do you remember right after the meteorite?”

“Oh, geez,” Rainbow griped, rolling her eyes. “I remember re-entering the planet’s atmosphere at speeds I can hardly imagine, but then nothing until this morning.”

“Really?” Discord asked curiously. “Nothing in between? Nothing of significant detail, like, say, a dream?”

“I don’t have time for this!!” the mare yelled, causing Discord to flinch. “All day long, every single pony has either looked at me or treated me like I’m not supposed to be alive! Just tell me where she is so I can talk to her!!”

“Alright, alright, cool your jets!” he said, throwing his hands into the air. “A fuzzy friend of Fluttershy’s had passed away today, and she went to go bury the poor thing at the pet cemetery. She’s probably fallen fast asleep at a nearby statue of a famous Pegasus by now. Oh, and do take this muffin basket! I baked her favorite, Lemon Poppy Seed! And I did it the natural way, no magic involved. I do so hope she likes them. Ta-taaaa~!”

Rainbow Dash took the muffin basket in her mouth as the draconequus closed the door to the cottage. She turned and flew off to the graveyard, landing at its entrance. As much as she wanted to see Fluttershy right away, she also wanted to respect those that passed away and were buried here by not flying by them and potentially landing on somepony’s grave. She pushed the gate open, and a slight squeak came from it. The Pegasus trotted in, looking for a marble statue. She found the statue, with the familiar form of a butter yellow Pegasus sleeping next to it, the fur on her face slightly matted, most likely from the tears she shed. Rainbow set the basket next to her, and went to wake her up when the plaque on the statue caught her eye. Looking at it, she could see that it read:

Rainbow Dash

The glorious Pegasus who loyally defended her friends, family, and many more from the meteorite at the cost of her own life. She will always be honored and remembered by many.

Her sacrifice will ring through history. As of now, her image stands in the Wonderbolts Hall of Fame with the greatest Wonderbolts in Equestrian history, and has been awarded the Rainbow Bolt, a new badge of honor created for her countless acts of bravery, justice, and moral guidance.

May she rest in peace.

“What? Rest in...?” Rainbow gasped, then looked up at the statue itself. It was a marble carving of the Pegasus herself, a smirk on the statue’s face as its wings were flared wide open.

“Wha... No, it can’t be true.... I’m not dead.... I didn’t die!!” she gasped, fear beginning to grip her. The Pegasus tore out of the graveyard, and ran as fast as her hooves could carry her all the way back to the cottage, and began to pound on the door. “Discord!! Open up!!”

“Why, hellooo, Rainbow~” Discord said, the door opening immediately. “So, did you find Fluttershy? Or is there something else that’s bothering you, writhing inside you like a little wor--”

“Shut up!!” Rainbow shouted, as tears had begun to form in her eyes. “Where did I land?! Get me to where I landed right now!!”

“Alright, no need to be snappy!” Discord growled a bit, snapping his talons and the two vanished. They reappeared inside the Everfree forest, and Rainbow began looking around.

“The Everfree, huh?” she said, sniffling a bit. “I imagine that I made quite the impact, didn’t I?”

“Oh, indeed,” Discord said, and pointed to the right. “Look, it’s right over here.”

“Sweet Celestia,” Rainbow gasped, and looked to the right, finding a large crater measured at least a quarter mile radius. There were ponies working to preserve the impact made by the mare. “Heh, better me than that space rock, am I right?”

“Yes, that is true,” Discord agreed, seeing new tears forming on her matted face. “If that rock had hit, the entire planet would be nothing but shambles. To be honest, I find it rather funny that you’re alive. Usually that sort of thing is considered forbidden, ix-nayed, taboo, etcetera. But, I guess when your body burns up on re-entry, there’s pretty much no harm in resurrection. You see, that crater is pretty much made up of the magic that allowed you into space in the first place. Your remains indeed landed there, but alas, they were just a pile of ash, including the bones!”

“Care to explain the bolt sha --- actually, nevermind,” Rainbow said, answering her own question.

“Yes, well, I assume Twilight would be more than happy to teach you,” Discord said with a devious smirk as Rainbow pressed her ears firmly against her skull.

“Yeah, right after I apolo--- Hey, what would Twilight have to teach me?!” she asked with a bit of snip in her voice.

“Why, this of course!” Discord said, flicking Rainbow’s forehead, though to her it felt a little off.

“OW!! Not cool, Discord!!” Rainbow yelled, glaring at him. ‘Great, now my headache is even worse than..... wait a second,’ she thought, and then ran over to a nearby river. She looked down, seeing a light-blue horn sticking out of her rainbow mane. “Is this for real?”

“Indeed it is,” Discord answered. “What you’re currently experiencing is simply magic wishing to be released. No medicine is going to make that headache go away, that’s for sure. When you died, Celly and Lulu felt it would be greatly beneficial to not only you, but to Equus as well that you returned to life as an alicorn. What your title actually is, has yet to be determined. But yes, you’re no longer dead, and soon everypony will SMILE again~! Or, well, most ponies will smile.”

Rainbow bolted upright, taking in all this information and adding it to how everypony reacted to her after she woke up this morning. Her eyes bugged out after realizing one of the first things that happened and bolted out of the forest, heading straight to Twilight’s castle.

“You’re welcome!!” Discord called to the mare, grumbling afterwards. “Honestly, I do all the work around here, and do I get any thanks? Oh-hoho, nooooo!”

As Discord teleported back to the cottage, Rainbow ran up to the doors of the castle and banged heavily on them. One of the large golden doors opened, revealing Spike.

“Oh, hey,” the dragon said, a bit nervous. “She’s, uh, still in her room.”

Rainbow didn’t bother answering, running past the dragon and straight to Twilight’s room.

“You’re welcome,” Spike said, crossing his arms and walking off in a huff. “Seriously, do I get any thanks around here?”

The light-blue alicorn reached Twilight’s door, also banging heavily on it, praying that she would be forgiving. The lavender alicorn groaned, getting up from her bed after having cried herself to sleep.

“Spiiiike, that’s a little too loud,” she said groggily, opening the door with her magic, only to have a light-blue blur slam into her in a big hug.

“Whoa, I’m up!” Twilight yelped, and noticed that it was an alicorn Rainbow Dash that was hugging her tightly. She smiled and hugged her back. “It’s alright, Rainbow. I forgive you.”

“I died, Twilight,” Rainbow said softly. “I actually freaking died.”

“Yes, you did,” Twilight said. “But you’re back now, and everypony is going to be so---”

“Twilight, you are not going to be-LIEVE what happened today!” Rarity shouted as the doors burst open. “I was making a beautiful new dress for next year’s line, when this pony posing as our beloved and fallen friend Rainbow Dash tried to coerce me into their business sales! I gave them a warning, but they still insisted! With the warning out of the way, I—AAAH!! THERE SHE IS!! THERE’S THE IMPOSTER!!”

Rarity pointed an accusatory hoof at Rainbow Dash, but that only caused Twilight to laugh.

“What?” the fashionista said, astonished. “What are you laughing about, Twilight? This pony tried to----”

“Talk to you, Rarity,” Twilight interrupted. “She wanted to talk to you because Spike sent her to you after our, um, little problem we had here earlier.”

Rarity blinked, but shook her head.

“Darling, if you think for one second that you believe this pony is Rainbow Dash, then there may be something wrong with you,” Rarity said. “Perhaps we should get you to a doctor?”

“Oh, then I guess it’s acceptable for mares to launch their cats on ponies’ heads?” Twilight shot back.

“Seriously, Rares, not cool,” Rainbow huffed, crossing her forelegs and sniffling a bit. Rarity blinked, then her eyes widened.

“R-Rainbow Da--- Oh, my goodness!” she said apologetically. “I am so sorry, darling!! I didn’t possibly think that it was you and—Oh. My. Celestia. Twilight, did you, um, happen to notice something?”

“Uhhh, notice what?” Twilight asked, and Rarity groaned, slapping her forehead with a hoof.

“Really?!” Rainbow screeched at Twilight. “Applejack and Discord were the only two to notice this big honking horn on my head?!”

“I,... weeell.... it, uh.... I have no excuse,” Twilight admitted, blushing with embarrassment. “I guess that the fact I’ve always seen you as a Pegasus made the horn invisible in my mind. Wait, a se---OH, MY CELESTIA, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS~?!”

“I can do magic?” Rainbow said knowingly. “Discord said you can teach me.”

“I knooow~!!” Twilight said giddily, jumping for joy around Rainbow Dash much like Pinkie would. Seeing Twilight hop like this lit a serious light bulb in the mare’s head.

“Oh, my gosh, Twilight, where’s Pinkie?!” Rainbow shouted.

“Pinkie?” Twilight said, landing on the floor. “Oh, um, she moved back to the Rock Farm after the funeral.”

Rainbow Dash grinned a happy, sinister grin.

“Who wants to throw her the ultimate surprise party?” she asked, making Twilight’s eyes sparkle.

“You got it, Rainbow!” she said happily, then turned to the dragon. “Spike, I want you to send these invitations to everypony in Ponyville and the Rock Farm. I know it won’t be as good as any of Pinkie’s parties, but let’s do our best and put our heart in it! Rarity, I need you to get Fluttershy and tell Discord to make sure that Applejack gets some rest until an hour before the party, and have the rest of her family take over handling Cider Season. He is to report here so that he can join Fluttershy for baking. When you get back, Rarity, you will be handling the decorations. Rainbow Dash, considering your unique situation, I’m going to have to teach you the basic levitation spell and some beginner’s techniques before Pinkie gets here. When this is over, she’ll have the biggest smile we’ve ever seen!” Ready, girls?!”

“Ready!!!” the others shouted together.

“Excellent, Operation Smile Smile Smile is now underway!” Twilight said, and the others let out a cheer before beginning their assigned tasks.

Chapter 2: Planning Pie Parties

Rise of the Valkyrie

Chapter 2

Spike sped through Ponyville, giving everypony their invitations as Rarity ran to Fluttershy’s cottage, giving them their instructions from Twilight. Discord immediately snapped his talons, appearing next to Applejack and taking her away from the stall she was at, and popping into her room and putting her to bed. Big Mac, Granny, and Applebloom were then told by the draconequus to handle cider duty for the rest of the day and to wake up Applejack an hour before the start of the party. As that happened, Spike ran by and gave the three Apples their invitations to the big party. Discord returned to the cottage, and helped Fluttershy to bake the goods for all of the guests, while Rarity decorated Twilight’s castle with balloons and many of those little confetti poppers everywhere, using an enchantment Twilight taught her to set them off at certain times. In the meantime, Twilight had begun a crash course in basic magic for Rainbow Dash, this way the rainbow-maned alicorn could levitate the smallest objects in time for the party. It was difficult for her at first, but once she got over the initial burst of latent magic from her ascension, not only did it become easier for her to learn the levitation spell, she also felt a massive relief from her headache. As the lessons continued, Spike dropped by to retrieve the final invitations to be delivered to the Pie family. Twilight paused the lessons to give Spike a scroll to help him teleport back home before using a teleport spell herself to send the young dragon over to the rock farm. Spike knew not to take too long, as he figured it was going to be around the time for dinner for them. He jogged up to the front door and knocked on it, and it opened a moment later, revealing Pinkie’s father, Igneous Pie.

“Ah, hello, young dragon,” he said, having to tilt his head down a bit to look at Spike. “How can I help you?”

“Oh, uhm…. My name is Spike, and Twilight sent me here with invitations for the entire Pie family to attend a huge party! She figured Ponyville needed some cheering up, and it certainly can’t be a party without Ponyville’s local cheer meister herself! Plus, there’s going to be a special guest coming along to *really* make the party pop! I hope you all can make it!” Spike explained, smiling and holding out the invitations to the stallion.

“Special guest, eh?” Igneous said, intrigued. “Anypony we might know?”

“Uh, you *could* say that, but I can’t really say who it is, you know?” Spike said, chuckling.

Igneous laughed, taking the invitations from the young dragon. “If my daughter has taught me anything, it would be to never spoil the surprise!” he said, rubbing his hoof against Spike’s head. “Thank you, Spike, you can expect us all to be there.”

“Alright!” Spike said, pumping his fist with excitement. He then unrolled the scroll that Twilight gave him, mumbled the words that were scrawled on it, and waved the stallion goodbye before he vanished in a flash of purple light. Igneous shook his head with a smile before he returned inside and closed the door. He made his way to the table, placing the envelopes next to the plates of each of his family members, wanting to save the announcement for their usual mid-meal discussions.

Meanwhile, Spike returned to the castle in a similar purple flash and began helping out in the kitchen, making cupcakes for the Pies with rock candy, shaped like gems and in various colors of the rainbow. As the hour of the party neared, Rainbow Dash had gotten a basic understanding of magic to use the levitation spell, and the first thing she picked up outside of her lessons was a party hat to place over her horn, which had the tip cut off by Twilight to allow her magic to seep through during the party. The pair of alicorns then began to put together a spherical container for Rainbow to sit in, allowing her to comfortably wait in the center of a ‘cake’ placed in the room.

Applejack arrived approximately an hour before the party was scheduled to begin, and she looked considerably better than before after getting some much needed rest.

“Hoo-wee! Ah feel better already!” the farmer said with an extra kick in her step. “Though Ah coulda sworn Ah was talkin’ to Rainbow Dash with a horn on her head earlier today. Must’ve been mah eyes playin’ tricks on me again. Or Ah was just that tired.”

“Uh, about that, Applejack,” Rainbow said, as an apple levitated over to her friend.

“Thank ya kindly, Rainbow. Now, as Ah was sa--” Applejack stopped short, looking between the apple and her supposedly perished friend. “Rainbow Dash? I…. is that you?”

“What do think I am, an imposter?” Rainbow joked, though Rarity gave a slight cough at that.

“But… Ah thought you were….” Applejack stammered, unable to process what was in front of her.

“Apparently I was for a couple days… but I’m back and cooler than ever!” Rainbow happily exclaimed.

“Well, Ah’ll be a pig in the shade,” the farmer said, and ran over to hug her friend.

As the preparations continued, dinner was being served at the Pie family residence. It was, as usual, rock soup. However, what was unusual for the dinner was an envelope with a purple seal on each of them.

“Dad, what are these?” Limestone asked the stallion that sat at the end of the table.

“Not much,” Igneous replied, a small grin on his muzzle. “Just invitations to a party in Ponyville, that’s all.”

Pinkie Pie simply stared at the envelope, specifically the seal, which had a familiar six-pointed star with five small sparkles surrounding it.

“What’s the occasion?” Limestone asked, getting a shrug from her father.

“I was not able to receive the details pertaining to the party, save for what’s in the envelope, which I have yet to open,” Igneous said, picking his envelope up and breaking the seal. Upon slipping the invitation out of the envelope, he read it aloud. “’Igneous Rock Pie, you are formally invited to a party in the Castle of Friendship. Please meet at this location at eight o’ clock in the evening, on the dot. Also, please expect a very special guest to be there. The purpose of this party is to help bring a smile back to everypony in Ponyville.’ Well, this might be interesting.”

“Yeah, might be a bit of fun,” Limestone said.

“Mmhmm,” Marble said softly with a nod.

“I’m not going…” Pinkie said, looking away from the envelope and towards the ground. This caused her entire family to look at her with wide eyes.

“But… why not?” her mother, Cloudy Quartz, asked.

“I don’t feel like going,” the former party pony said.

“Pinkie, please,” Igneous pleaded to her. “It seems to me that your friends put quite the effort into getting this party together. I’m sure they miss you, and I’m also sure that they want you to be happy.”

“I’m. Not. Going,” Pinkie said a bit more firmly.

“Father’s right,” Maud said in her usual monotonic voice, though if one were to pay an extra bit of attention, they might have heard a slight pleading tone to it. “At least go and give it a try for them? If you don’t like it, you can always come back here.”

“No,” Pinkie said softly after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry, Maudie, but… I just can’t. I don’t have the will to party anymore. I can’t get myself to smile. Heck, I can’t even look at the sky without crying my eyes out… When Dashie died, my heart just… shattered. Every party I set up, I always looked forward to her coming to it. And she was even the reason why I smiled for the first time in my life… I just…” At that moment, Pinkie began crying at the table. “I just can’t do it anymooooore!”

The rest of the family looked at the one member sobbing literal waterfalls of tears from her eyes. Marble finally spoke up after a few minutes.

“I-I know this is hard, but… are you really going to let all of this go to waste?” she asked, holding up a round-trip train ticket as well as the invitation.

“Marble’s got a point, Pinkie!” Limestone said. “They took their time to make this party so Ponyville can smile again, just like old times, right?!”

“Well…. I guess,” Pinkie said, sniffling a bit.

“Then why are you sitting here and moping about?! I thought you were the Element of Laughter, for crying out loud!” she scolded her pink sister.

“Limestone, please!” Cloudy Quartz said, about to berate her angrier daughter, but Igneous shook his head, allowing her to continue.

“Yeah, I get it, it hurts that your best friend died! But, if she hadn’t gone out into space to crush that meteor, then she wouldn’t have been the only one crushed by the meteor! She died so we could live! Now, what do you think she would do if she saw you sitting here with that look on your face?”

This got Pinkie to blink a couple of times as she thought for a moment, before looking out through a nearby window and into the sunny sky. A moment later, a small bit of laughter could be heard coming from her.

“She’d tell me to get off of my flank and go out pranking with her,” she replied.

“Then what are we sitting around here for?!” Limestone shouted, a grin on her face. “It’s time to PAR-TAY!”

At Limestone’s declaration of partying, Pinkie’s hair suddenly started wiggling, before poofing out into its usual voluminous state. As that happened, her coat and hair color returned to the same brightness that everypony associated her with.

“Yeah! Pinkie Pie is coming back, Ponyville!” she announced to the world, standing proudly on her chair. “And this time, nothing’s gonna get me down!!”

“But perhaps we should finish our dinner first?” Igneous asked, a smile on her face. Pinkie laughed nervously and sat down.

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” she said, with her family nodding in agreement.

“Then we shall make our way to the train station once we conclude supper,” Igneous said, and Pinkie smiled widely, a soft squeak emanating from her as she did so. Soon, the Pie family finished their supper, and made their way to the train station.

Chapter 3: Surprises and Sentiments

Rise of the Valkyrie

Chapter 3

As Pinkie Pie and her family began boarding the train for Ponyville, preparations for the party neared completion. They only needed a few final touches to be perfectly ready for Pinkie to arrive. In the middle of the room was a massive cake made of cardboard, yet it looked so much like an actual cake that anypony that came in could've mistaken it for a real one. Twilight had placed Rainbow Dash into a sphere that was safely settled into the fake cake. The entirety of Ponyville had arrived to take part in the party, including the Cakes. Even the Princesses and Shining Armor arrived with their invitations. The grand majority of the attendees were aware of Rainbow's return to life, but it was only her closest friends and the other three alicorns that knew of Rainbow's ascension.

“Everything set, Twilight?” Rainbow asked from inside the 'cake'.

“One sec, doing one last check,” Twilight said, going over her checklist one final time. “Okay, looks like everything is good to go, except to make the castle as dark as possible!” she added, and began to make sure there was no light in the castle whatsoever, and ponies began to hide, as the time drew near. It was at this time that the train from the rock farm had arrived in Ponyville. Pinkie pronked out of the train, only to gaze upon what appeared to be a deserted town.

“Either Ponyville is now a ghost town, or everypony is huddled somewhere in town,” Marble joked, making Pinkie laugh. They made their way to Twilight's castle, as the invitation had told them to, Pinkie bouncing the entire way. The party pony knocked on the door just once, and it immediately creaked open.

“Huh, that's new,” she said, and walked right in.

“So, the doors never open on their own?” Igneous asked curiously.

“Usually? No,” Pinkie said, right before the doors slammed shut behind them as Cloudy was the last to enter, encasing the family in darkness. “Ooooooh, spooky~” the pink pony said in a ghostly manner.

The lights then came on, and several ponies jumped out of their hiding spots, shouting, “SURPRIIIIISE!!!” Pinkie yelped and jumped several feet in the air.

“WOW, that was a good one, everypony! Didn't see THAT one coming!” she said, giggling. She then blinked as she processed what had just happened. “Wait... a surprise party.... for me?”

“Of course, Pinkie,” Twilight said, giggling a bit as she put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. “We wanted to help bring a smile to everypony's face, including yours.”

“Wow, thank you, Twilight!” Pinkie said, hugging the lavender alicorn, and turned to face the rest of the attendees. “Thank you every-- GAAAHHH!!! IS THAT THE MARZIPAN MASCARPONE MERINGUE MADNESS CAKE?!” she ended up screeching, and zipped over to the cake, looking it up and down. “There are only two ponies in all of Equestria who can make such a delicacy!”

“Who might that be, I wonder~?” Carrot Cake's voice sounded to her left, making her turn that way and her eyes widened.

“OH MY GOSH, MR. AND MRS. CAKE! POUND CAKE! PUMPKIN CAKE!!” she cried out, running to the Cake family and hugging them tight.

“We missed you, Pinkie,” Carrot said as his family hugged her back.

“I missed you too!” Pinkie said, giggling.

“I do believe it is time to cut the cake,” Celestia said, hovering a knife and plate over to the pink pony. “Would you care to do the honors?”

Pinkie gasped, and took the knife and plate into her hooves. “Oh, of course I would, Princess Celestia!” she said, going over to cut into the MMMM cake, but not before Carrot Cake cut in front of her.

“Oh, not that cake, Pinkie!” he said, and Pinkie tilted her head in confusion.

“Huh? But that's the only cake I see here!” she pointed out, just as Discord brought in a much bigger cake.

“He means this one, dear Pinkie~” he said, and Pinkie turned around, gasping loudly.

“That is one BIG cake!” she exclaimed happily.

“It certainly is,” Carrot said, nudging her forward.

“Let's dig in!” Pinkie said, and went to cut the cake. Suddenly, the cake exploded, fireworks going off. But in the middle of the chaos was a familiar blue-coated, rainbow-maned, faster-than-sound Pegasus as she yelled, louder than the crowd earlier, “SURPRIIIISE!!!”

The entire Pie family's eyes went wider than dinner plates, save for Maud's, who simply blinked at the ordeal.

“WHAAAAAT?!” Pinkie screeched, tackling Rainbow into a hug.

“Ow, easy Pinks,” Rainbow said, wincing a bit. “I know you're excited to see me, but I don't think I'm ready to die again so soon!”

“S-sorry, Dashie.... I just... missed you SOOO, so much! In fact.... there's something I've wanted to tell you, but... I don't know how to say it.... Would it be alright if... I showed you?” Pinkie asked, tears of joy matting her face.

“Sure thing,” Rainbow agreed, standing up with her friend. “What's on your mind?” Before the newly minted alicorn knew it, the party pony had pulled her in and she felt something pressing against her lips. In a swift fashion, Pinkie had said all she needed with a passionate kiss, flooring almost the entirety of the party guests. Rainbow's eyes were wide as dinner plates for a moment, before she smiled and melted into her marefriend's kiss. 'Best. Party. EVER!!' she yelled happily in her mind.

“Atta girl,” Limestone said with a smirk.

“I honestly did not see that coming,” Twilight gasped, to which Applejack chuckled.

“Me neither,” the farmer said, continuing to chuckle a bit more.

“Well, Fluttershy and I certainly knew,” Rarity told the two, to which Twilight's jaw dropped.

“Wait, what?!” Twilight almost screeched. “How long have you known?!”

“When you look at it, it was pretty obvious,” Fluttershy said. “Theyve been friends for years before this, and the clues just started piling up.”

Applejack and Twilight both took in the information. The lavender alicorn's left eye began to twitch.

“How.... did I not.... see it?” Twilight said in frustration.

“Hey!” Pinkie's voice called over, gaining the four's attention. “Are we going to gossip or are we going to party?!”

“Heh, she's gotta point,” Applejack said. “Why don't we fret over this later and party?”

Twilight's eye twitched even more, but she put a hoof to her chest, breathing out as she extended it. “Okay, let's have some fun,” she said, and Pinkie cheered, the party officially beginning. Pinkie was finally allowed to cut into the MMMM, and she took a whopping bite out of her slice, making her friends laugh. Celestia came up and only took a small slice, about a quarter of an inch, claiming to be watching her intake. Spike exited the kitchen, carrying a couple trays of colorfully decorated cupcakes. Pieces of colored rock candy were sprinkled atop various icings, red rocks on purple icing, yellow rocks on red icing, and so on.

“Triple Rainbow Vanilla Rock Candy Cupcakes, anyone?” he asked, and several ponies came around and snatched one or two for themselves, including Discord himself. Seeing the two right next to each other, Rainbow decided to head on over.

“Hey, guys?” she said to the pair.

“Hey, Rainbow,” Spike said, grabbing a cupcake and holding it out for the mare. “Cupcake?”

“Heh, thanks, Spike,” she said, taking it and then holding it up in a small toast. “You and Discord, thanks a bunch for what you did earlier.”

“Oh, uh.... you're welcome,” Spike said, smiling a bit. Discord, however, didn't reply. In fact, his face betrayed some confusion. Rainbow could tell what it was, seeing as barely anypony aside from Fluttershy ever thanked the draconequus for anything.

“It's okay, you don't have to say anything,” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof. “In fact, I came over to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Discord said, looking over at Spike, who looked back at him. They then looked right back at the rainbow-maned alicorn. “For what?”

“For running out on you both without saying thanks,” Rainbow clarified. “After you made me realize what had happened, I needed to find Twilight and apologize as soon as I could. Aaand it didn't help that having that kind of information running around in your brain kinda keeps you from thinking or saying things straight up.”

“Heeey, it's okay, we understand,” Spike said, looking at Discord. “Right, Discord?”

“You know,” the draconequus began, tears welling up in his eyes after hearing Rainbow's heartfelt apology, “I told myself I wasn't going to cry a river, but.... oh here it comes!” He began bawling, a literal fountain of tears flowing from his closed eyes, splashing on the floor and flowing into a river of sorts, with ponies moving out of the way to keep from slipping. Discord then grabbed Spike and Rainbow and brought them into a tight hug. Rainbow smiled, joining in on the hug. The party continued on, with Twilight finally putting together the clues in regards to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash's relationship, with some help from Rarity and Fluttershy. After a while, the party began to die down, which gave Rainbow Dash the opportunity to move to the center of the room.

“May I have your attention, please?” she called out to the guests, who turned towards her. “I am honored to have given my life for you all, that I have all of you to call my friends. Or in one case now, my marefriend,” she added, causing Pinkie to giggle and blush. “If I had to do it all over, I'd make the same choice again, if it means everypony here gets to keep living. I feel honored to have been given a statue in the cemetery, that I have a place in the Wonderbolt Hall of Fame-”

“She broke every record in the Academy,” somepony said in the background, causing a couple of chuckles before Rainbow continued.

“However, there are two gifts that I feel the most honored in accepting. The first one, the gift of a new life. And with that new life, comes the second gift,” she said, pausing to duck, removing the cone from her head. She slowly brought her head back up, causing ponies to gasp at the sight of the new protrusion from her head.

“Whoa!!” Pinkie shouted, looking at the horn while jumping in place. “You're an alicorn princess?!”

“Sort of,” Rainbow said. “According to Celestia and Luna, my bravery and the selfless act of destroying the meteor at the cost of my life showed them that I deserved to ascend to the same status as my friend Twilight Sparkle: an alicorn!”

“But why not a princess?” Twilight asked.

“Well, we'd have to do a coronation ceremony before we can officially declare her a princess, now wouldn't we?” Celestia asked rhetorically, winking at Twilight, who giggled a bit. Pinkie then let out a happy screech before tackling her marefriend into a hug yet again. Mrs. Cake covered Pound and Pumpkin's eyes, who griped and tried to move her hooves away.

As Rainbow and Pinkie got back up, the new alicorn posed a question to her marefriend, “Hey, Pinkie, I heard that you were, uh... down in the dumps when I bit the dust... What brought you back to Ponyville?”

“Well, let's just say that I wasn't exactly in my element, and it took my family to help me realize that,” Pinkie explained. “And I couldn't be happier for it!”

“Heh, alright!” Rainbow said, pulling Pinkie in and giving her a noogie, causing her marefriend to squeal happily, and she began to giggle madly, having a good time with Rainbow.

“Oh, I'll be right back, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash suddenly said, stopping her noogie business to make her way over to Fluttershy, tapping her on the shoulder. The butter-yellow pegasus gave out a light yelp before turning around.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy said, hugging her friend. “I've missed you so much!”

“So I've heard,” Rainbow said, returning the hug. “So, uh... I'm sorry to hear that one of your animal friends passed away....”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said, a tear escaping her eyes at the mention of it. “I... I'm going to miss him a lot....”

“Mind if I ask who it was?” Rainbow asked.

“Not at all, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said. “It, um.... it was Angel Bunny...”

“Oh, geez, really?” Rainbow asked in shock. Twilight spat out her drink upon hearing that, Rarity yelping because of it. Rainbow glared at Twilight for a second before turning her attention back to Fluttershy, motioning for her to continue.

“Y-yeah.... he passed in his sleep, so he's at peace...” Fluttershy explained further. “I'm not all too sad, to be honest. He was really sick, and I just took care of him as much as I was able to.”

“He'll live on in our memories,” Rainbow said, patting her friend on the back.

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said. “And... welcome back.”

“Heh, thanks,” Rainbow said, before trotting over to Pinkie, who had just given Celestia a more decently sized cut of the MMMM. Despite her best efforts, her true colors shone bright when she dove face-first into the slice. Some of the cake splattered onto Luna's face. When Celestia came back up for air from devouring the pastry, she looked at Luna, who looked back, both of them admiring the levels of face-cake before bursting into laughter. Rainbow then smirked and looked at Pinkie, who tilted her head a bit at her marefriend.

“Sooo..... I bet you're wondering what kind of cake I came out of, aren't you?” Rainbow asked.

“Uuuuum, actually, I was, but I was gonna wait to ask until later,” Pinkie said, when suddenly a bunch of confetti poppers went off, signaling the official end of the party. The poppers caught Pinkie off-guard, and she let out a quick yelp. “Confetti poppers!” she exclaimed, giggling and snorting. “Oh, right, what kind of cake didja come out of?!”

“Cardboard Cake!” Rainbow said with a massive grin.

“Oooh, that explains it! I took a bite out of it earlier, and it tasted exactly like cardboard!” Pinkie said, giggling again. Rainbow smacked her own forehead with a hoof.

“Still as random as ever, Pinkie,” the cyan alicorn said with a laugh.

“And that's why you love me~!” Pinkie said.

“Darn right!” Rainbow exclaimed before the two kissed.