Rainbow Dash didn’t know how to feel.
Could it be fear? Maybe not. Confusion? Most likely, yeah. But truth be told, she mostly had difficulty understanding what happened.
It was so brief and so abrupt. One moment, she was enjoying the fresh air of the morning as she took on a casual flight—thinking of the farm work she would be doing by the afternoon at Sweet Apple Acres as part of the upcoming celebrations for Hearts and Hooves Day in about two days, to which, unsurprisingly coming from her, she had full intention of keeping her word; although, it became clear as Crystal Empire by the meddlesome intrusion of a particular country mare that this decision had proven not as loyalty-driven as some would’ve thought, but rather… by something else.
But then, in the blink of an eye, she was brought down from high by a pink silhouette, who dragged the mare with speed across town into Sugarcube Corner and up the stairs to Celestia knows where—okay, no, she did understand what exactly had happened.
And now here she was, sitting in a chair amongst intense darkness, or, well, what she could perceive was her hyperactive friend’s room, Pinkie, obscured by curtained windows and turned off lights.
Sitting there, Rainbow’s head could only ponder ideas about why she was there. Could it be that her friend was throwing another party for Gummy’s birthday? No, no, they had already celebrated that months ago. Still, it’s Pinkie she’s talking about—that mare would be capable of partying all month and still have the innate strength to keep going for another one if she wished.
What about the "Welcome to the beginning of the month" party? Impossible. It was still a few weeks away, and the party pony would never be that far ahead of such an event, especially being one of her favorites to host since she would adorn the entire Sugarcube Corner with representative décor of the month. "Pretty cool," Dash recalled remarking one time.
But then, if it wasn’t a party, then what could it be?
A sleepover was out of the question. It was barely morning, and even a pony like Pinkie Pie would be well aware that evenings are the best time to spend hours of sleep playing games, telling scary stories, and watching a movie with friends instead.
There's no way this was another 'Special Grammar Lesson for Rainbow Dash', she reasoned, especially considering last time, and that was only because she accidentally wrote her name wrong when she wrote the happy birthday card for Fluttershy—it was just an accident! And yet, she had to endure 5 hours of nonsense from her "teacher" about the importance of differentiating D from B and vice versa.
The mare's ensuing shivering was cut abruptly when a big light blinded her thoughts. Wincing, Rainbow shielded her eyes with her right foreleg as her sight slowly adjusted to it—trying to find her pink friend.
“So, she finally gotcha...” instead, a voice with a southern accent that she knew all too well came from the side. She turned toward it, only for her heart to skip a beat as she found her farmer friend sitting in a chair just like hers, seemingly unfazed by the whole ordeal unfolding.
“Applejack?” Her voice echoed instantly, “Did Pinkie drag you all the way here too?”
The country mare denied, “Nah. She asked if Ah’d spare some time for a little game she had in mind—when I said I couldn’t, she just straight up rushed like lightnin’ to Sweet Apple Acres and did our chores and work within a heartbeat.”
“Wait. Didn’t you almost lose the farm because of Pinkie with all that ‘Elements switch’ incident?” The cyan-blue mare argued, “I thought she didn't know her way around your farm.”
Applejack dismissed it with a shrug, “I mean, ah’m ‘ere. Aren’t I?” She chuckled, “But no, not really. That candy-scenting one can be a box full of surprises—ya just have tah know how to unlock it and voilà.”
Dash nodded in silence. It did make sense for somepony like Pinkie to know stuff about farming; she did work at one after all, the only big-small difference being a rock farm, not a normal one. But, hey, some similar stuff both places must have had. Right?
“Then, what about the dragging?”
The mare with the hat turned at her pegasus friend, her eyebrow rose a little. “What about it?”
“I mean, why would she so calmly, well, 'calmly', bring you here but then aggressively drag my flank across Ponyville only for us both to be in the exact same place?”
“Oh, that. Yeah, that was my idea.”
“Oh, okay.” Rainbow nodded in apparent understanding before she laid back into the chair; a second passed, and then her eyes opened wide as her face remained puzzled, just then processing the meaning of those words. And the following not-so-silent southern-accented chuckle. “Wait, what?”
"Ahem." The rainbow-maned pegasus jumped slightly as she heard somepony clear their throat behind her, and she had barely blinked when Pinkie Pie appeared from the darkness like a phantom.
"Welcome, precious participants."
Her chilling tone sent shivers down Rainbow's spine. It had been a long time since Pinkie had last caused the pegasus any uneasiness; after what happened with the biscuit pranks, she thought nothing could frighten her more than the thought of imminent death, but it seemed she was wrong.
That menacing whisper, with a Manechiavellian tone, contrasted terrifyingly with her friend's characteristic high-pitched voice. And that creepy look, capable of penetrating her soul and reading her thoughts, did little to comfort her.
Wait, she halted, realizing something, since when do I know who in the hay Manechiavello is anyway?
“Manequiavello is a pony of vast knowledge and devious methods whose existence Celestia has forbidden to divulge for confidential reasons.” The pink mare said in a threatening tone—Rainbow's eyes widened in terror. “For you to know of his existence is a danger to our species. You must not be kept alive.”
“W-what?!”
“I said I want to play a game!”
“And what kind of game would this be, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash's eyes fell on Applejack, dumbfounded by her friend's seemingly abrupt personality change and, on a personal level, horrified at the fact her other friend had just somehow read her mind so easily.
No time did she waste opening her mouth, ready to voice her mind about the totally-not-over-traumatizing event. However, she stopped—struck by a very important reminder.
It's Pinkie Pie she was talking about.
Swallowing her own words, the pegasus turned her attention back to the pink mare—her friend, who now jumped in ecstasy, sang, "Applejack wants to know! Applejack wants to know~" The mare then leaned a little too close to RD, who jumped back a few times with the chair to avoid booping noses with her friend, and asked, “You want to know what it is too, Dashie? Do you?! Do you?!”
“Sure, tell us about this grand, masterful event that you’ve totally not just made up by waking up at 3 in the morning.”
As soon as those words loaded with sarcasm left her mouth, she felt the weight of the earth pony's glare upon her. It felt tense for a moment, and after a few seconds, it became awkward for the mare in blue, evident by her cheeks reddening intensely before being suppressed as the realization hit her. She only hoped that her friend hadn't noticed.
“It’s a pastry competitionTM!” Pinkie excitedly proclaimed at both of her friends as the light returned to the room. The curtains were fully opened as if by magic, allowing the sunlight to illuminate the place, thus allowing the mare to see her friends’ reactions to the news as she’d surely expected excitement just like hers to be reflected on their faces.
But instead, her gaze was received by a disappointing sight. Applejack’s expression had barely changed the entire time, and now was no exception, as it showed a serious look; not disapproving though, just a little less unimpressed than what Pinkie would’ve preferred. Still, that didn’t demoralize the party pony, who was sure that whatever she had planned with this ‘Pastry CompetitionTM’ of hers would work out just the way she intended—especially for both Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
The second mare in question, on the other hoof, was, as Pinkie would’ve put it, “Bamboozled.”
“You want us to do what?”
“A pastry competitionTM!” She repeated.
“...You want us to do what?”
Pinkie Pie blinked, seemingly confused. Her high-pitched voice was now wrapped in an unsure tone that the cyan-blue pony had rarely heard before. “I just told you, silly. It’s a pastry competitionTM.”
“Hun, I swear to Celestia-”
Dash raised her hooves as a gesture of innocence at her orange friend, “Hey, I just- I mean- …Did I hear that right? Did we hear that right?”
“Dash.” The earth pony looked straight into the mare’s eyes, her voice lowered so that the mare with worrying high levels of sugar in her blood couldn't hear at all, “The sooner we get this outta our flanks, the sooner ya’ll can leave. I promise. ‘Sides, she’s our friend—Done a lot of things for us.” She gave an honest smile, her eyes reflecting hope for her friend to agree on this gambit, the latter looking directly at her eyes “This here a thing ah’m sure she’d appreciate.”
“Okay,” Rainbow did not dare to take her gaze off those emerald eyes that seemed to have hypnotized her, barely allowing her to nod in reply to those sweet words from the country mare. “but what about the Hearts and Hooves festivity? We still have little more than two days to get everything ready. Remember?”
“Do you remember that she already did all the work for today at the farm?” Applejack reminded her, “That does include your stuff too.”
“Right,” The magenta-eyed pegasus sighed. Not in a relieved way, however, as the farmer earth pony thought she’d do. No. It sounded more of a disappointed type of sigh like when you lose a special opportunity you'd have preferred not to have missed. And, for some reason, she’d felt her mouth smiling. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Thank ya kindly, hun.” The country lady rose, shaking off those thoughts as she looked over at her friend Pinkie Pie. “And what would this pastry competition be about, sugarcube?”
“Why, baking, of course!”
Dash’s ears fell flat, unimpressed at the obvious choice of words, “Of course,” she repeated with a slightly annoyed sigh, “what is it gonna be? Cupcakes?”
“Absolutely!” The hyperactive mare affirmed before her expression shifted into a doubtful one as if she was trying to reword her statement. “Well, kind of. Most definitely, yes, for sure! But it won’t be the only thing to bake—there’s gonna be so many cakes, lots of heart-shaped cookies, croissants with cherry and white chocolate syrup on top, and cupcakes decorated with candy-flavored roses- Oh! And also-”
“Wait, hold on.” The pegasus interrupted her, clearly confused at the verbiage her friend was spitting out, “Heart-shaped cookies? Cupcakes with candy roses? What- What are you talking about?”
Pinkie Pie halted at realizing her mistake, then broadly smiled excitedly, “Oh, didn't I tell you? It's a Hearts and Hooves Day-themed competition! And your goal is-” She lifted her hooves as in an important announcement; seemingly coordinated with this, confetti began falling from the ceiling as sounds of party horns filled the room with an enthusiastic vibe. “To win Her Pastry Majesty’s heart!”
However, this enthusiasm couldn’t be shared by the party mare’s now-unwilling competitor as Rainbow showed her dismay at the events before her very eyes with two simple words.
“Oh boy.”
Author's Note
To Be Continued...
What? You thought this was it? Oh, you poor, poor innocent one—the nightmare is gonna keep going, no matter how much y'all beg me to stop it.
*Evil laughter ensues*
