Rainbow Dash was now gliding in the air. Why? Well, she was tired of pushing herself so hard (if she ever said that out loud, Equestria would freeze over), so she needed a bit of time to just gllliiiiddeee and stretch her wings. But noooo, she needed to open her muzzle and make a rather awesome but silly bet with the first and only human she’ll ever meet. Gah!

She frowned as her feathers were graced by the jetstream. She snorted through the sensation as the wind tickled her feathers. She dipped a bit further down, letting the air carry her back to Ponyville—or at least, she wanted that to be the case, but her wings flapped anyway. Gotta make sure she won that stupid bet and now she was remembering him again! Egh.

Clop.

It was unceremonious. She had stuck a rather simple landing in the midst of a few voices addressing her existence, but Rainbow Dash didn’t care. She was too focused on her mission. An impossible one. One that set herself right in front of her first destination, the one that would compromise her if she wasn’t too careful.

A gasp.

“Dashie!”

“Hey, Pinkie.” Don’t give off any sudden movements. She’ll know. She’ll know! “How was work today?”

She frowned. “Not many ponies came in. Carrot Top stopped by for her usual super-de-duper carrot cake, and Derpy and Dinky had one of the shakes I make for them every week—oh! Twilight also stopped by with some of her guards and everypony left with something in their hooves.”

Rainbow Dash felt a gentle breeze drift into her widened eyes. “Twilight has guards?”

“Duhhh, she’s a princess, Dashie! Why wouldn’t she have guards?!” A giggle pierced Rainbow Dash’s eardrums. She was nearly drenched as she sweated in place, her eyes tracking Pinkie Pie while her friend paced behind the counter. “Twilight told me about how she detected some magical anomaly somewhere near Ponyville. From what she said, her magic radar do-hickey did this exaggerated BOOM and WHOOSH thing, and it was amazing—” She interrupted herself by nearly exploding into confetti. She hopped down from her sudden wormhole and continued, “Anyway, Twilight said she was going to send out some ponies to investigate, but decided instead to deploy a guard detail on herselfwhile she drafted a really well-thought-out plan for us to investigate instead!” Pinkie Pie giggle-snorted herself into a tizzy, her mane bouncing all the while. “Don’t worry, Dashie! It’s probably just another magic misfire. Either that or Discord ate some burritos and had a nasty case of gas!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “P-Pinkie!”

“What?”

Rainbow Dash’s stomach felt like it was doing three-sixties after hearing that, but she couldn’t tell her dear friend that. It was like a cross between wanting to dry heave, and wanting to make sure she wasn’t laughing. Discord having gas? Disgusting and funny—but the three sixties were mostly because, maybe, just maybe… Twilight did find Brick through whatever magic he gave off, what could Rainbow Dash do? Rainbow Dash didn’t want Twilight even remotely close to him! And trying to get her friend to not dissect Brick was going to be a challenge… not that she couldn’t do it, right?

Rainbow Dash coughed as she tried to hold her breath, covering her muzzle with a hoof. She wiped her muzzle clean and smiled at Pinkie Pie, totally not hoping she’d be smited where she stood.

“Dashie, keeping yourself from laughing might be the most unhealthiest thing I’ve ever seen!” She blinked out of existence for a second before blinking back right in front of Rainbow Dash, her face mostly covered by a book titled, How Stopping Natural Bodily Functions Can Make Somepony Very, Very Sick!! and crudely scribbled on it was Pinkie Pie’s full name, which made Rainbow Dash baffled that she self-published a book. Does Twilight even know about this? And why was the cover smeared in cake frosting?

Wait, Pinkie Pie was talking! Featherbrain! Focus.

“...and that’s why it’s not-so-great to keep yourself from laughing!” Pinkie Pie finished, slamming the book shut. She flung it behind her, the book barrelling toward a random vase that shattered into several messy pieces. Rainbow Dash winced, while Pinkie Pie gasped rather loudly. “Oh, shoot! I hope that wasn’t the priceless vase I got from the Priceless Vases Convention™ I was given a priceless invitation to!” She turned around and breathed heavily through her muzzle. “No way! It was the vase I was thinking about. That’s not good!” She reared on her hindlegs and shoved her hooves towards Rainbow Dash. “Sorry, Dashie! I gotta clean up before somepony walks in and sees the mess I made. Not a good impression if it’s somepony new!” She scrunched up her muzzle and began walking back behind the counter. “Oh… I hope Mrs. Cake doesn’t see this—”

“Pinkie.”

“Yes?”

Get her off the vase train. Fast. “Think once you’re done cleaning up, you can make me a cake?”

“A cake?”

Rainbow Dash nodded, humming as well.

“What type of cake, Dashie?”

That question made Rainbow Dash pause. What type of cake did she want to give to him? Heck, she didn’t even know if he was able to eat cake! Stupid, stupid, stupid. She should’ve asked, although that would’ve ruined the surprise…

Her muzzle scrunched up. “Could you make a white cake with vanilla frosting?”

She looked up at Pinkie and saw that she was way too ‘stuck in place’ for Rainbow Dash’s liking. She was about to unfurl a wing to possibly tap Pinkie’s muzzle with it, but opted not to as she noticed a muzzle twinge that was not-so-subtly making the mare shake.

“Uhh… Pinkie?”

As if the magic words triggered something, Pinkie Pie hopped almost through the ceiling, but bounced right back down to the floor with a grin plastered on her face. It nearly made Rainbow Dash jump out of her skin when Pinkie landed, but she kept herself tall, if puffing her chest out while her hooves felt like they were going to fall out from underneath her was ‘tall’ enough.

“I can totally do that for ya! What’s the occasion? Is it for another friend I know? OOooh is it for a friend I don’t know yet? Or is it for that special somepony that I also don’t know about yet! Or—eh, OR is it for somepony at the School of Friendship who just has a sweet tooth and—mmph?!”

Rainbow Dash stuffed a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth and sighed. “Pinkie, I can’t tell you. It’s… kinda a surprise.”

“Mmmph Mmff?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm?”

“No. They’re not into that.”

“Hmm…. mmmph?”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Uhhh? I don’t know. Are you speaking in Prench now?”

Pinkie Pie eyed the hoof that was still in her mouth. Oh, forgot to remove that from her—

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie gasped for air. “Phew, I was wondering when you were going to stop putting your hoof in my mouth. I was trying to breathe from my nose but then you were saying all this stuff and I forgot to breathe! Anyway, why vanilla?”

“I don’t know if they’re allergic to chocolate,” Rainbow Dash stated lamely (don’t tell anypony). She felt her ears splay against her head. “I’d rather them be alive and enjoy it, so I’m playing it safe.”

“Safe?” Pinkie Pie glowered her brows at Rainbow Dash, which made the latter feel like she was about to be questioned about her entire life. “Safe? That’s not a word you say often! And trust me, I’ve heard you talk waaaayyyy more than any other pony!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes glued themselves to the now muzzle-rubbing investigator, if her hat gracing her head was anything to go by. The monocled Pinkie Pie pursed her lips, shoving the lens closer to Rainbow Dash’s muzzle. “You’re not hiding anything from me, Dashie… right?”

“I-I’m not hiding anything, Pinkie!”

“Are you sure…?”

“P-Positive.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as Pinkie Pie brought her muzzle close to hers. Did she figure it out? Did she give Pinkie Pie too much information or something? Rainbow Dash felt like scooting back, probably bumping her backside against a wall, but then she’d have no place to go, and her heart started beating a bit more harshly, pelting her with a sense of panicked adrenaline.

She winced, closing her eyes tightly. She needed to breathe. It’ll all be over soon. She would fail, Pinkie Pie would figure things out, Brick would be found, and he’ll probably get put into a sugar coma or something. And it would be all her fault.

“Okay!”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, snapping to Pinkie Pie who had already stepped away from her with a smile on her face. Was Pinkie messing with her? “I…”

“When do you need the cake by?”

Shuffling behind the counter told Rainbow Dash just to go with Pinkie’s antics. “Think you could have it for me in a couple hours?”

“Sure! I can get my instant rise mix out for this baby!” More shuffling, and a giant can of mix flew into the air. “No… that’s not it. That’s a cheese grater…”

Rainbow Dash shuddered before taking a deep breath. “W-Well, I’m… glad you can get this done for me on such a—ahem—such a short notice, P-Pinkie!”

Pinkie Pie turned around in a flash, giving Dash a toothy grin. “I’m always happy to help a friend in need. Besides, I love making cakes. You know that!”

“I definitely do,” Rainbow Dash replied rather cautiously, her eyes darting away from Pinkie for a moment. She looked back at her and smiled, sorta. More like smiling in hopes Pinkie didn’t notice that she was about to jump out of her skin. “Well, see you later, Pinkie!”

“See ya later, Dashie!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t even spare a wave as she bolted out of there as quickly as possible. She had more things to get, and knowing Pinkie, getting this all sorted ahead of time will make getting the cake out of there without getting asked twenty questions all the more important.

Now outside, she pumped her wings, before pushing off the ground and flying out of there, her flight path set square for her home in the sky.

Home: it’s what she made of it. She walked inside into her rather expansive foyer, before realizing she was still timing herself—stupid bet!—and flew straight up to her room. She had passed by Tank, who she caught wearing a frown. She knew she’d need to feed him, but that wouldn’t do by just giving him the standard amount. That wouldn’t be cool enough in her Book of Awesome. She had Brick to deal with first though.

With reckless abandon, Rainbow Dash flew in and around her room. She checked under her bed.

Nothing.

She checked her cabinets.

Nothing but stuff.

She even checked her wardrobe full of Wonderbolt attire.

A boat load of blue and yellow lightning-strike-emblazoned suits. And a weird inflatable hoof with the phrase ‘Go Wonderbolts!’ on it. Oh, and nothing she needed now.

However, there was one thing she forgot she even had, and probably where she remembered all that junk she mentioned she had.

By her bedside was a large mahogany chest recently crafted by her parents—actually, she just misremembered. It was bought by her parents but was made by some really talented stallion up in Cloudsdale. He specialized in creating cloud-compliant furniture. It was cool, but… as her mother put it, she just needed a ‘chest big enough that it could fit an entire Wonderbolt fan collection’. Unfortunately for her, it would only fit about thirty percent of her collection, which is why this now fits all of the stuff she had to move to get more of her collection to fit in her deep closet.

She sighed and flicked it open with her wing.

Inside was exactly what she thought was in here. Junk. With her teeth, she flung out a coffee machine she got in Manhattan and placed it beside her. Somehow the machine was still broken from the last time she had used it! She really needed to take it into one of those repair shops, but she has not had the time nor the energy to deal with it. Oh well. No caffeine for her, then!

She also scooped up a few smaller items: a compass, a large nail filer, and a comb she thought she tossed out the window at the mail pony last week—wait what did she throw at him then?—she set aside the comb and the large nail filer next to the machine, before bringing the compass more into the light. The thing still seemed to work (maybe, the red arrow was pointing somewhere), but it was definitely not what she expected—an engraving on the side labeled DD told her it was definitely part of her Daring Do cosplay.

That thing…

Wait.

That cosplay!

She flung head first back into the chest. She fumbled around, nearly giving herself a black eye because something way heavier than she thought had hit her square in the noggin—egh, that was going to hurt later!—but with a bit of gumption, she found what she was looking for.

“Oh my gosh, I found it!”

In her hooves was a sharp short sword, the one that Daring Do ‘hypothetically’ used on one of her adventures. This wasn’t a carbon copy, obviously, but she apparently used it to hacksaw through the vines of the jungle during one of her temple raids. It had a name though, and Rainbow Dash being so… scatterbrained made it hard to remember. But she knew this was a really important blade, one that… well, Brick could use, right? It could work if it’s sharp enough!

Rainbow Dash hummed to herself and did a few quick swipes in the air. It sounded sharp, if that made any sense. Maybe she could thwack it on something, or see if it could cut through something thick! Yeah—except she probably should do it outside. Away from Tank. Away from herself, even.

With a sheepish grin on her face, Rainbow Dash sheathed the sword back in its handle, and placed it gently next to the compass. Two items down. What else could she find in her—

“Egh?”

She had in her mouth something that she couldn’t quite see. She hopped out and brought it into the limelight.

A butter knife that had some weird stains on it.

She spat it out and gagged. “Oh Celestia, what was on that knife?!”

Tank, who had finally climbed up the stairs, watched as the knife sailed out the door and down the stairs. He began to raise a brow.

Rainbow Dash saw that and threw her hooves in the air. “What? Don’t judge me.”

She could feel his glare, if it was even happening, that is. He probably was still raising his brow.

Agh.

She gritted her teeth and dove back in, her hindlegs doing imaginary hoof paddles to see if she could somehow go deeper into the chest. She managed to get a little bit further in, this time ensnaring more than one item in her maw.

She hopped out and saw what she pulled. The first tingled her mouth, and in the light, she could see it, especially with the mirror she had sitting up in the corner. It was a long rope she had gotten from Applejack. The brown rope dangled onto the ground, and was barely touching the side of the chest. This would definitely help Brick out. The other item however?

Ehh…

She wouldn’t mention it. It was way too… uhh…

She gulped and shoved it right back into the chest. She threw all the other stuff that wasn’t needed back in too, except the coffee machine. That thing was going in the trash, plus it was taking room that she could use to store more Daring Do stuff! Or maybe even Wonderbolts stuff. She’ll figure that out later.

Oh, and she needed to figure out what to do with the butter knife. She needed to wash that or burn it. Either one was acceptable.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. All she needed now was some snacks, some pillows, and a blanket or two, right?

She eyed her bed, but then realized that this stuff was going to be outside. She needed to think of something more appropriate. Like… hmm…

“Now where did I put that tarp…”

Rainbow Dash hummed to herself as she exited her room, wondering if she was going to have to enter her pseudo basement to find what she was looking for.

Flying with a bunch of goodies was one thing, but flying with a bunch of goodies while thinking about a cake Rainbow Dash had to pick up was… enlightening. Her stomach kept clawing at the idea of the cake, vanilla frosting and white cake. Simple, yet enticing. Mouthwatering.

Slurrrrp.

She licked her lips as she descended down from her house. She had found a tarp, sorta. It wasn’t really a tarp. It was like a blanket, except it crinkled. And it was blue. And it was flashy. And it was—

Rainbow Dash sighed.

It was a tarp. She had somehow got it in her saddlebags, next to the blanket and pillows. In her other saddlebag, she had all the other things she needed to get him. She actually cleaned the butter knife and brought it too. She thought he needed something sharp, but hey, the butter knife could be useful… for butter.

Rainbow Dash began to slow her descent, flapping her wings. With a few more flaps, and a sudden unceremonious furling, she landed on the ground with a smile. She trotted back into the Sugarcube Corner. Before, it was dead, with only her asking for some food. Now, she slowed her roll right past a couple sharing a milkshake, while another few fillies and colts laughed and cheered—did they have school today?—she shook her head, hoping to rid that thought from her mind. Of course they were playing hooky! Duh. Who would be here in the afternoon at their age other than they were off the hook? No one. Just them.

She sighed and walked up to the counter. Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, was nowhere to be found. Rainbow Dash started looking around, very subtly, darting her eyes to and fro like she was on a mission herself—wait she was on a mission. The same mission impossible as before, just a different part of the same mission. She kept herself on her toes, attempting to find Pinkie ‘The Snoops’ Pie. She could also be Pinkie ‘The Investigator’ Pie, but Rainbow Dash doubted that. There wasn’t a sense of a script being written by some absolute dund—

“Dashie! I’m so glad to see you—”

“Aghh? I mean, wow, d-didn’t see you there, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie ‘The Snorts A Lot’ Pie giggled and then subsequently snorted, in that exact order. “Gotta keep you on your toes! Wonderbolts’ protocol demands it.”

“How do you know Wonder—”

“Because in another world, similar to this one, I am a Wonderbolt! So I talked to that Pinkie Pie who knows another Pinkie Pie that was a clone from my dimension but also is a clone for her dimension and then I just—”

“Okay, that’s enough magic who-ha for one non-unicorn to say.” Rainbow Dash had also somewhat shoved her forehoof in Pinkie Pie’s face, making the mare stare right at her hoof like she’s about to shoot something out of them.

Rainbow Dash began drafting her will—

“Anyway, Rainbow Dash.”

“Huh?”

Pinkie Pie smiled. “Your cake is done!”

A random ding noise sounded off behind her. She flicked her hind leg, opening a random oven door that she had, and then out came the cake, somehow frosted and all. Pinkie scooted the cake over to Rainbow Dash, all while keeping her smile the same. She blinked.

“Uhh… why was the cake in the oven when it was already frosted?”

Pinkie Pie tilted her head. “What do you mean, Dashie? The frosting isn’t on it.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, and suddenly the frosting she saw was gone. She gasped. “W-Where did it go?”

“The frosting was a lie, silly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while hopping in a place. She squirted the frosting on the cake, squelching the piping with glee, and then gently smoothened it with a rather not sharp knife. Once she was done, she squee’d and slid the cake over.

“Now that puppy is done!”

Rainbow Dash eyed it like it was radioactive, surveying it from every angle. It looks… edible. Sorta. Kinda. She licked her lips.

Her stomach growled in response.

“I’ll take it!”

Pinkie Pie smiled as a few bits were slammed on the table at lightspeed, and the cake was gone too just as fast, leaving a rainbow trail toward the door.

Rainbow Dash didn’t need to hear anything else. The cake was great, the sky was blue, and she was about to make Brick’s day all the better.

Either that or she lost the bet and she was about to maim herself in more ways than one.

Author's Note

Aye lmaoo

Imagine getting mindblocked by a silly Daring Do addition.