Sunny. Actually, too sunny, thought a cyan mare as she lazily flew through the air on a cloud. The cloud she rode was the last one in the otherwise perfect skies above Ponyville's town square, which was hosting a market today. Shouts over haggling prices and exclamations of glee at a pony's bargain reached up into the sky and into the rainbow-maned mare's mind.
"Somepony's happy down there," she mumbled, drifting through the sky. Was there any kind of stunt that could be done on a cloud? Maybe that one with the three spinning clouds... what was it called? Too many stunts to count, and Rainbow was running out of cool-sounding names for them all. Ah well, more to show off to the Wonderbolts when the chance came, right?
"Hmm... wonder what Pinkie's doing?" Rainbow asked the air, raising her eyebrows. Wherever Pinkie was, there was sure to be something fun going on! Partying, pranks, jokes, Pinkie's really weird rambling...what goes on in her head, though? Deciding that was a storm she didn't want to try and clear, Rainbow puttered off to Sugarcube Corner. Slowly, yet surely, she proceeded through the streets on her cloud, slow flaps pushing her forward a few feet every beat.
"There she is!" A pink mare finally came into view, bouncing as she usually does. Rainbow pondered for a moment how she was able to bounce around all day, instead of walking like a normal pony... well, AJ could buck half the orchard in four hours, Pinkie could bounce around for days on end; maybe it was just an Earth Pony thing? Rainbow flapped her wings a few times to give herself some speed, soon zipping down the street, ponies jumping out of the way so they didn't get barreled over by the white, fluffy tank.
The pink mare looked to her side just in time to get a face full of cloud as Rainbow hit the brakes, flapping her wings twice to slow down. Rainbow looked down, seeing just Pinkie's mane, and she flapped once more to move backwards, staring at her friend's face.
"Oh, hey grandpa. You seen Pinkie anywhere?" Rainbow said with exaggerated looks over the streets and shop. "I can't find her anywhere!"
"Just a beard though, Dashie? Eyebrows and a mane would've made it funnier!" Pinkie flicked out her tongue and devoured the beard, smiling as she usually did. A few smoke circles were blown out of her mouth, one rising up like a halo over her head.
"The beard was pretty good."
"Yeah, tasted pretty good, too! Anyway, what's up?"
"Ah, nothing. I was just floating around, bored..."
Pinkie gasping response to this was surprisingly loud, "Bored?! We can't have that! Nopony is allowed to be bored around Pinkie Pie! C'mon, I've got just the thing!!" The last thing Rainbow remembered happening before being sucked into a hot-pink hurricane, was Pinkie grabbing her by the leg and pulling her off the cloud. The next few moments were a blur of pink, and surprising silence allowing for thought.
Granted, not much was going through Rainbow's mind, beyond how Pinkie was able to run so quickly while dragging Rainbow behind her; how in the world did she keep up such a speed? Rainbow considered challenging her pink friend to a footrace, just to study how she ran, when a scent from nearby finally broke down her mental wall; a sickeningly sweet smell from the mare beside her. Did she use sugar water to wash her mane or something? And how did the thought of racing Pinkie suddenly switch over to asking what she did to wash up?
Rainbow thought of shaking her head before the blurring hurricane suddenly stopped, and she was having a very close-up inspection of the wooden wall in front of her. First thought? Nice craftsmanship. Second thought? My muzzle hurts like nothing I've ever experienced before. Rainbow pushes herself out of the wall and grabs her muzzle, falling two feet to the floor. Well, this isn't the worst autograph she's left in somepony's house before! Wait, house?
"Lemme get something from my room! Wait here!" There and gone in a second, Pinkie sped up the stairs, leaving Rainbow with a possibly bleeding muzzle and her thoughts. How DID she move so fast? It's crazy! Better question is...didn't I run into her outside Sugarcube Corner? Where are we now? A quick inspection of the room reveals that, in fact, she is in the customer waiting area for none other than Sugarcube Corner.
Pinkie ran around at blinding speed for thirty seconds...just to come back to where she started. Rainbow wipes her nose and stares at the roof, furrowing her brow. A thirty second sprint...just to end up at the starting point. Displacement zero. They went nowhere. Wasted fuel, just to come home. She stops herself before diving too far into the illogical storm that is Pinkie's mind and simply busies herself with studying the cracks in the ceiling.
Oh, these cracks were very interesting indeed! Short cracks, long cracks, skinny and fat cracks...though luckily, none were as big as Rainbow's head! Some even looked like lightning bolts! But why was the ceiling in such a state, anyway? Rainbow didn't know where the Cakes actually lived, happy to just say they lived above the shop, but who's room was directly above her?
Thud...thud...thud...
...Were those cracks getting bigger? Nah, couldn't be. The room above Rainbow must be Pinkie's, though. The thuds match up with her unique bouncing, rather than the tap-tap-tap-tap of hoofsteps. Unless she was sneaking through her own room...but would anypony be crazy enough to do that?
Thud...thud...thud...
At least the beat provided a rhythm. One...two...three. One...two...three. Rainbow never was one for deep thinking, preferring her actions to speak for her, but anypony would be lulled into a state of thought by the uniform beat. Rainbow decided to play a couple of her stunts through her head. Nodding her head to the beat sub-consciously, she timed it with changes in altitude for a stunt, drawing a zig-zag through a line of clouds like a heartbeat monitor. It's too simple though...maybe do it upside-down? Yeah, I'll do it upside-down!
Thud...thud...crick...
Of course the stunt has to be done really fast, it just isn't worth calling it my stunt otherwise! Ok, so I'll start at my launch ramp...cloud? I could try working with AJ again with the catapult...that didn't end too well for her - or me - though. Alright, so I've got a launch CLOUD fourty feet above the line of clouds, that descent should give me enough speed. Then, timing it to this beat...
Thud...thud...crack...
I'll pass between each cloud, make a zig zag. Then, after I've done that...wait. Thump...thump...th-
Crack...
...Uh oh.
Rainbow's last thought passes through her mind as Pinkie's leg crashes through the ceiling. A high-pitched yelp answers the surprise of this intrusion into the room below, followed by more of the leg falling through.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow charges up the stairs to help her fallen friend, and is soon kicking down the door.
"Help!" Pinkie is face-down to the floor, flank stuck up high, and her tail over her back; a compromising position for any self-respecting mare. Rainbow covers her eyes as she comes into the room, walking forward slowly. This image wasn't going to leave her mind anytime soon...
"Erm, Pinkie...tail. Tail, down," Rainbow stops and gestures downwards, eyes clenched shut.
"Oh, sorry..." Pinkie lowers her tail, turning her head slightly with an embarrassed smile. "Did you, uh..."
"Not a thing. Did not see a thing," Rainbow answers with a quick shake of the head. She's lying, but who would want to tell the truth about that? "Need a hoof?"
"Considering mine's stuck in the floor, I could definitely use a fifth hoof!" Pinkie quickly nods, her chin smacking against the floor each time. "I'm kinda stuck here though...any ideas?"
"Hmm," Rainbow raises her eyebrow, staring at the hole in the floor. Well, her leg was sticking out in the customer area... "Alright, I've got an idea. I need you to work with me on it, though. Wait here."
"Hey, wa-" The door slams before Pinkie can finish her sentence, Rainbow's voice coming up from under her a few seconds later.
"Alright, listen. I'm gonna push your leg up from down here, and I need you to push up with your good hoof, got it?"
"Okie dokie lokey!"
Hovering in place, Rainbow places her hoof against Pinkie's. This was gonna be tough...she's lifted up a pony before with her wings, but this was going to be a precise operation. One badly aimed push or flap of the wings, and she might hurt Pinkie...worst case scenario? Rainbow was certainly strong enough to...that scenario sent chills down her spine; hardly something to think about when you're just getting a leg out of a ceiling! "Alright, on three, you push along with me! Ready?"
"Ready when you are!"
"Ok! One! Two! Three!!" Rainbow shouts as she pushes upwards, working in unison with Pinkie. Even beats, don't push up too hard or her leg will bend and get stuck, push up too lightly and Pinkie'll be doing all the work. One...two...three. One...two...three. Slow, strong beats.
"Alright, I'm out!" After a minute of effort from both sides, Pinkie is free from wooden ceiling shackle. She rolls over onto her back and smiles; Pinkie's leg survives another hole-in-the-wall problem! As Rainbow heads back up to her room, she wonders about just how many times she's gotten her leg stuck in some kind of hole; potholes, holes in ceilings, open windows, even her own mouth! That last one wasn't too fun...
The door swings open, hitting the wall quite hard as Rainbow comes in. "Sorry...you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks."
"So, what was the thing you wanted to get?"
"Well, I was looking for it before I got my leg stuck in the floor...hang on," The rhythmic beat of her bouncing returned to the room, though it wasn't that light thumping from when Rainbow was thinking; here, it was just distracting...Too bad, I was getting close to completing a new stunt...
"Well, what is it?"
"Can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"It's a surprise."
"So for all I know, you're gonna show me a rubber chicken?"
"Yep."
"Yep, as in that's it, or yep as in-"
"Not telling!"
"Pinkie..."
"Just wait...oh, where'd I put it!?"
Rainbow taps her hoof on the floor as Pinkie runs about the room, trying to hunt down...whatever it is she's looking for. Well, knowing Pinkie, it'll be fun at least, so it's worth the wait!
"Mmm, maybe it's ove-"
SLAM!
"OOF! Pi-"
Oh, that's not a good feeling...not now!
Pinkie crashes into Rainbow, bouncing off slightly as her coat becomes strangely hard. She watches Rainbow fall over and clunk onto the ground. Wait...clunk?
"R-Rainbow?! Are you ok!?"
"Nnnhnnn..." Rainbow responds through gritted teeth. How did Pinkie find that spot to hit?!
"W-What happened to you!?"
"Nnn...kin't...seak..." Rainbow hisses out.
"What?"
"Kint."
"Kint," Pinkie parrots, blinking a few times before planting her hoof over Rainbow's mouth in a flash of movement. "Oh! Oh! Let me guess! Kint, kint kint kint...kint...is that a cake?! Maybe it's a cupcake! Or a donut! Oooo, I love doughnuts! And pastries and cakes and snacks and sugar, ohohoho so much sugar!"
Rainbow has never wished harm of any kind upon her friends in the past, but right now, with her inability to move, she only wanted one thing: somepony, close this mare's jaw!
"...seak..."
"Seak...seek? Steak? Spake? Spike! You're saying Spike! Why would you want Spike?"
"Nnn-nnn...seak...steek..."
"Steek? Hmmm...saeek, sbeek, sceek, s-deek, seeeeeeeek, sfeek, sa-geek, sheek, that's a pretty cool word! Shiek! Sounds sneaky! Were you saying Shiek?"
"Nnn-nnn!"
"Hmmm. Sye-eek, si-jeek, skeek, sleek, you are pretty sleek, must be all that flying you do! Are you saying sleek?"
If Rainbow could scowl and lower her eyelids, she would, but right now, simply responding with the best hiss she could was enough...hopefully.
"Nnn-nnn!"
"Smeek, sneak, oh, I love sneaking!"
"Hinkie!!"
"Ok, calm down, so you aren't saying sneak...speak?"
"Nnnhnn!! Nnnhnn!" Finally she got it! Rainbow was worried for a while there; listening to Pinkie's rants all day long couldn't be good for your health. You'd probably contract some sugar related disease from breathing her air all day long...
"Ok, so you said kint, and speak. Kint...k...kan...can't? Did you say can't?"
"Nnnhnn!" Rainbow could almost jump right through the roof with joy! If she could move!
"Ok, so you can't speak. So how do we...actually..." Pinkie raises an eyebrow, keeping her squint and inquistive look on. "Woops, forgot..." She reaches into her mane as she speaks, pulling out a detective's hat. "Can't have the face without the hat!"
"Nnnnngh..."
"Alright, now how do we fix you?" Pinkie taps her chin before walking over, poking Rainbow in the side. Her coat's become hard as a rock! Or a boulder...or maybe an ingot, maybe a bar of iron. Maybe wood? Was wood really hard? Because it felt really ha-
"Hinkie!!!"
"Right, right, sorry! Got sidetracked!" Pinkie smiles apologetically before going back to her investigation. She pokes Rainbow's tail next, which looks more like a duster than that sleek, messy look. Well, it would be a duster, if it didn't feel as hard as a rock! She taps the tips next, and immediately regrets it; they're almost as sharp as spears!
"Sheesh, Rainbow, what happened to you?" Pinkie blinks, raising her brow. Even she couldn't pull this off! Well, maybe if she tried, she could...
"Nnn..."
"Right, gotta fix you first," Pinkie strokes her chin. Maybe Twilight would know how to help her? Yeah, the one bookworm in the group would definitely know how to fix this! Pinkie grabs Rainbow by the hind legs, rolling her onto her back. Rigid as a statue...that's weird.
"Hinkie!"
"What?"
The blush on Rainbow's cheeks was notice enough as to what she was thinking.
"Ohhh, right...well, I say 'eye for an eye'!"
"Hinkie!"
"Don't worry, I didn't look!" Pinkie grins, giggling to herself. She was lying, but who would talk about that, right? "Ok, time to get you to Twilight!" Pinkie nods, bringing her forehooves under Rainbow's back and lifting her up...wait, did she lift her? Pinkie looks up, confirming that Rainbow is indeed above her. Why is she so light then? "Maybe I've been working out..." Was she? She did organize and host five parties that week, plus her daily regiment of fourteen hours of bouncing gaily helped her legs, but was she really all that strong?
Well, she could try out at the farm later! Rainbow comes first! Pinkie levels Rainbow on her head and races for the door, hearing a hard CLUNK as she runs through the threshold.
"Hinkie! Hinkie!!"
"Sorry!" Ok, new plan! Turn Rainbow around so she fits through the door! It's brilliant! Following her ingenious plot, she gets Rainbow through the door and runs down the hall, the rigid statue of Rainbow bouncing lightly on her mane. Dashie was so lucky! Pinkie's always wanted to bounce on her own mane!
Through the hall, down the stairs, straight into- no, wait, skid to a stop in front of Mrs. Cake! Would've been really bad to run right into her!
"Excuse me, Pinkie, where do you think you're going?" Pinkie moves her eyes up to the mare's face, smiling. Shoot, she was supposed to be running the kitchen all day today...a quintuple shift to make up for all that partying...
"I'm off to visit Twilight...!" The smile isn't working, make it bigger!
"Pinkie, you know you're supposed to be working the till today. You've missed five days of work from your manic partying!" Her scowl's getting bigger just as fast! Um, um...puppy dog eyes! Yeah, that always works! Yeah Pinkie, work it! Make her heart melt!
"Pleeeeease Mrs. Cake? I'll be back as quick as I can!" Please work please work please work...
"No, Pinkie! Come now, have some dignity for your work! And you've tried those adorable eyes on me before, they weren't very good."
Curses. Foiled again by the "don't use the same trick twice" gimmick! Curse you, Fate! Curse you...um...what else was there to curse that wasn't somepony's name? Pinkie knew everypony in town, and it was really hard to think of something to curse when things weren't going well; for Celestia's sake, there was somepony named Rock Stone! What kind of silly name is that?
"Ok, how about this? I go and take my friend to Twilight," Pinkie points up to the rigid Rainbow on her head, "And I race right back here and work six shifts straight!"
"Hmmm," Mrs. Cake puts her hoof to her chin, squinting her eyes in appraisal of Pinkie's idea. Or maybe she was thinking of a better idea...or maybe something was just in her eye. It's a mystery! Or maybe an enigma! But a mystery is something that can be solved, and an enigma is a really confusing puzzle! But then you have a mystery in an enigma! But then wrapped around that is some really good cake! Wait, no, cake doesn't go around a puzzle! Silly Pinkie, all the puzzle pieces would get sticky!
"Well...I sup-" That's good enough! Pinkie bolts out of the shop, a pink cloud being left in her wake. "-pose...ohhh, Pinkie. What are we going to do with you?" Mrs. Cake smirks and chuckles to herself; ever since they gave that pony boarding and work, it's just been a non-stop tornado of energy in here. She's certainly helped boost spirits though, as well as profits! All that party food has to come from somewhere, and luckily enough for Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie was not stingy in the slightest with spending!
"Twilight! Twilight Twilight Twilight!" Pinkie screams as she smashes on the door. Something falls to the floor in the library, followed by quick footsteps. That would've gotten a hibernating dragon's attention!
"W-What?! What is it, Pi-" Spike throws open the door to see a paralyzed Rainbow lying on Pinkie's head. "Oh no, no no no!"
"She's fine, just kind of...I dunno, stuck! Where's Twilight?" Pinkie asks, sticking her head through the threshold and looking around. She's probably hiding under the couch, or maybe the cushion. Maybe the chimney? Oh! Behind the bookcase! Yeah, that's definitely where she'd be hiding! Pinkie would too if there was a surprise party!
"Uh, she's in her room, wait here," Spike gestures for Pinkie to sit down, a worried look on his face. What's he got to worry about? Pinkie can totally sit still! Unless it's for a time over thirty seconds, then things get questionable. Pinkie thankfully follows the gesture and lands on her rump at the doorway, and Spike runs off for the stair case. Suddenly, the air in front of Pinkie shatters open in a flash of light, the wall of white fading as quickly as it came to reveal Twilight.
"I heard there was a problem, Pinkie? What's wro-" Twilight stalls as she looks up at Rainbow. "...So that's what's wrong?"
"Yep! She's stuck!"
"To your mane?"
"No, silly! She's just stuck!"
"Stuck to what?"
"Ok, maybe stuck isn't what I should say...ummm...what's the word you use when you can't move any of your body parts?" Pinkie wiggles her leg with surprisingly liquid flexibility to demonstrate.
"Paralyzed."
"Yeah, she's paralyzed!"
"What?!"
...Maybe paralyzed isn't what Pinkie wanted to say either? Quick, think of something to fix it!
"Well, um-"
"Pinkie, we need to take her to the hospital!"
"Hwiligh!"
"...What?" Twilight blinks, looking around.
"Hwiligh! Uh! Uh here!"
"Huh? Rainbow?" Twilight raises her eyebrow and quirks her mouth.
"She can't speak because I crashed into her!"
"Wait, you did this?! Pinkie, you could've seriously injured her!" Twilight furrows her brow before taking Rainbow off Pinkie's head. "Wow, you're...really light, Rainbow."
"Hnnn..."
"Well, she is pretty light, but there's something else too!" Pinkie grabs Rainbow by the tail and hangs, Twilight grimacing under the new weight. The aura gives way as Pinkie and Rainbow fall to the ground. "See? Rigid as a rock!"
"P-Pinkie, maybe you shouldn't-"
Pinkie starts swinging Rainbow around, giggling. She really was light! Very light! Light and ri-
Squeak.
Pinkie and Twilight stare at each other, Rainbow plastered against the side of Twilight's face. Wait a minute...
Pinkie raises Rainbow again and bonks Twilight on the head.
Squeak.
A smile grows on Pinkie's face as she keeps doing it.
Squeak.
Squeakie squeak.
Squeaksqueakiesqueaksqueaksqueaksqueak-
"Pinkie!! Stop!" Twilight grabs Rainbow with her magic, now glaring at Pinkie. Somepony didn't get a good sleep last night! What was wrong with a little fun? Plus, the sound she made was hilarious! It's like she was made of rubber! "...I'm taking Rainbow to the hospital. You're going back-"
"Oh, right, shoot! I'm working six shifts today!" Pinkie smacks herself on the forehead before vanishing in a pink blur, leaving Twilight in the middle of a word.
"...Six shifts?"
The trip to the hospital was, thankfully, a short one, but the sprint left Twilight exhausted as she fell through the doors. Rainbow hit the ground pretty hard, bouncing halfway across the pristine white lobby. Not even a grunt...what was her coat made of? Steel?
"Oyy...somepony, call a doctor...we've got a problem!" Twilight shouts into the room, getting up on her hooves. Sprinting from the library to the hospital...what was that, three blocks? She feels like she did after that Hydra chase, ready to melt and burst into flames. Her legs hurt like nothing else.
"Will do!" The receptionist shouts as he vaults the desk and runs into the hospital proper. At least somepony's on the ball today!
"Good...now I can just si-"
The doors float open, revealing a doctor in a coat that looked far too clean and white for the dirt-brown stallion under its cover, the blonde mane just adding more confusion to the coloring. A name tag hangs from his neck, a Doctor Sye Ringe...
"Well, what se-" He stalls as he sees the Rainbow Dash statue on the ground. Seems everypony has a problem with seeing paralyzed pegasi... "Oh my, what happened?!"
"I-I don't know! I was studying in my library when Spike came and got me, I teleported to the door a-and found Rainbow like...this!" Twilight shouts, still on the floor. Her lungs could have the strength of titans, it didn't help her emphasis much when her legs wouldn't stop being numb...
"Alright, I shall get her to the ER. Please, wait here," He says with a nod, picking up Rainbow in a light-blue aura. Ok, brown coat, blonde mane, white coat, violet eyes...and a light-blue aura when using his horn? This stallion was just a mismatch of every...no, Twilight, don't question it...science later, help friends now.
"Alright, thank you, Doctor..." Twilight offers a weak smile back. She flops onto her side and dozes off to the sound of the doctor's hooves moving through closing doors. Ahhh, sleep, so nice...so relaxing...so sud-
"Miss Twilight."
Wow, that was fast!
"Miss Twilight?"
"Right, sorry...must've fallen asleep. How is she?" Twilight rubs her eyes to see Rainbow standing next to the doctor. Her vision clears as a smile grows on her face. "Rainbow!"
"Hey. Sorry for scaring you like that," Rainbow smiles, rubbing the back of her neck. "I was just as surprised as you were when it happened...oof!" She finishes her sentence just as Twilight tackles her in a hug. "Hey, hey! What's with that?"
"Sorry, I was just worried! It's not every day I see you paralyzed like that..." Twilight releases her death hug on Rainbow, smirking slightly with an apologetic look. It's also not every day you nearly injure your friend with something as nice as a hug...
"It's fine," Rainbow rubs her throat, grimacing slightly. "Really, it's fine."
"So what happened to you?"
"Right, guess I have to explain how I suddenly turned into the most awesome statue in Equestria," Rainbow smirks at her remark, lowering her hoof. "Well, you know how I'm able to do the Sonic Rainboom?"
"Yeah, you're the only pony in Equestria who can."
"Yeah, there's a trick about it. Usually, when a Pegasus starts flying as fast as I do, it's hard for them to stay in that spearhead shape," Rainbow sticks her forehooves out to the side to demonstrate. "It helps them be aerodynamic to be as thin as possible, cutting through the air like an arrow."
"Uh huh, I know. This is rudimentary stuff, Rainbow. Air resistance acts more on objects with a higher surface area."
"Right. My trick to beating that problem about maintaining shape is to lock my skeleton and muscles. There's a special muscle under my wing that I clench, and it locks my joints."
"How does it do everything...else, though?"
"You mean hardening my coat, mane and tail? Yeah, that's something I can't really explain. It definitely helps me go way faster though, so I don't complain."
"That's a weird trick..."
"Still, without it, and this is gonna sound really weird, I don't think I could do the Sonic Rainboom," Rainbow raises her brow as she says it, lowering her hooves. Well...that's surprisingly humble of her.
"No kidding? That's something I'd like to study..."
"It took me a while to figure it out, but I guess I could help you...long as I'm not sitting around while you do your freaky magic thing."
"It's not a 'freaky magic thing', it's bio-analysis! And you'll be able to move around; I'll need you to in order to get some data..."
"Ahem," The doctor clears his throat, stepping between the two. "I'm sure your discussion is well worth making, but...you are in a hospital."
"Oh, right, very sorry! We'll head out right now. Thanks again!" Twilight says with a quick bow.
"Who knew a syringe would help fix that though?" Rainbow quirks her mouth, shrugging. A syringe can fix her paralysis? Well, at least there's a quick way to get her out of a fix during a test!
Twilight and Rainbow head out the door, Twilight wearing a stranger smile than before. How could she not? This opened so many possibilities!
Maybe other pegasi had the ability to use the Sonic Rainboom, and just didn't know the trick? Or maybe there's something beneath it that helps as well...a Sonic Rainboom does throw a pegasus forward at a frighteningly high speed...maybe there is something behind it besides typical wing strength?
Sadly, a pair of light blue eyes peers from a nearby corner, simply wanting her own piece of the fun with Rainbow Dash the Squeaky Statue. Twilight's in for a month of research she's never going to forget.
