Chapters Chapter 1: First Impressions
Chapter 1: First Impressions
Rainbow dashed away with a cheerful grin spread across her face. In only a couple minutes, she had met a new friend, by crashing into her, hilariously ruined her new friend's mane, and cleared out the skies in an outstanding record time.
While her first record for sky clearing was 11 seconds, she had claimed she could clear it in "ten seconds flat" as an exaggeration. But she was dealing with an uptight unicorn from Canterlot so she figured that this Twilight Sparkle girl would be exact about it. So the pegasus challenged herself to clear it in ten seconds. She succeeded, giving her a lasting smile from the experience.
After such a great triumph of beating her record, she decided to celebrate at her favorite place to eat. She sped toward Sugarcube Corner with a quickly fading rainbow trail following behind her. She was sure she heard people trying to say "Hi" to her, but she was going too fast for her to respond.
She quickly arrived at the frosting-covered Sugarcube Corner. She was attacked all at once by the smell of chocolate and coffee and soda and strawberry candies and bubble gum and cupcakes and countless other sweets to give her nose a sensation that made her feel like she was getting cavities.
Rainbow Dash proudly trotted to the counter surprised but pleased that there wasn't a line. She was greeted cheerily by the pony behind the counter. "Oh, hello there Rainbow Dash. How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing great Mrs. Cake. Have you seen Pinkie Pie around?" Rainbow Dash loved a celebration snack, but it was even better with a friend.
Mrs. Cake responded, "Actually, I heard her zoom in here rambling about some sort of weird surge and then a surprise party at the library in a couple hours. Typical Pinkie Pie."
Rainbow chuckled. "Yep. Typical Pinkie, alright. Wait a minute. Why would you throw a party at the library? And why would she do that on such short notice? She can't expect me to make it to her awesome parties if she doesn't have me time to be ready."
"It has something to do with somepony from Canterlot. Apparently she's come over to check on the preparations for tomorrow." The next day was the Summer Sun Celebration. It was a huge honor to Ponyville that the celebration was going to take place there.
"Oh yeah, Twilight. Just saw her. Sort of an uptight purple unicorn. Needs to relax."
Mrs. Cake let out a light giggle. "Well we can't all be as laid-back as you, Dash. Did you want something?"
"Just the usual 2 pieces of Rainbow Taffy," the pegasus said as she put two bits on the table. Mrs. Cake was quick to deliver Rainbow her taffy on a Sugarcube Corner tray. Dash stomped the tray, launching the taffies skyward. As the candies fell downward into her mouth, Dash kicked the tray back onto the counter with style. "Thanks Mrs. Cake," she said as she trotted off chewing on sweet taffies.
Lucky for her, she didn't have any plans for the rest of the day, so she figured a Pinkie Pie party would be a blast. So she sped off to the library with the sweet taste in her mouth. Knowing Pinkie it would be a surprise party, so she kept her eyes open for the unicorn as she made her beeline. Nopony wanted a spoiled surprise.
Surprisingly, she could see a lot of Ponyville clearly despite her speed. She managed to catch a glimpse of most of Ponyville. She saw the fountain, Fluttershy's cottage, and Rarity's boutique. WHAM! She didn't see Rarity walk out into her path.
The world was spinning from the collision, but when she regained consciousness, she saw her friend laying on the ground seemingly untouched, but still freaking out. "Oh wonderful Rainbow Dash, I JUST got my mane cleaned, but now I have to fix it up all over again. Ugh, I can NOT go out into public like this."
Rainbow was annoyed at the pickiness of the unicorn, and partially withheld it. "It looks just fine Rarity. I'm sure Pinkie wouldn't mind a messy mane at a party. After all, after what I did to her guest, I'm sure she'll hardly notice a speck of dirt." She laughed at the memory of Twilight's hair.
The pegasus hit her face with her hoof. "Rarity, this is a party for the new girl, not a fashion show. Go easy on the clothes for once. Please."
The fashionista was about to make a statement when a thought caught her mid-sentence. She let out a sigh. "You're right." She quickly returned to her royal attitude. "But, I'm still going to wash my hair. I still have a reputation to uphold, you know."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Suit yourself," she said as she sped away, returning to the high-speed rush she was experiencing before her meeting with Rarity.
She quickly arrived at the library. It seemed as if Pinkie had invited all of Ponyville. There were at least 50 ponies, pegasi, or unicorns in the previously ignored library.
One voice from the crowd stood out. Most likely because its source seemed to appear right next to her. "Hey Rainbow Dash! I'm so glad you could make it!" Pinkie Pie made her jump for surprise, but she quickly returned to a chilled composition.
"Of course! A party by Pinkie Pie is instantly awesome." The party was indeed awesome. It had everything: balloons, streamers, confetti, punch, a cake, and to top it all off, it takes place in a library, the most unexpected venue for a surprise party. This was a textbook example of a good party. But something bugged Rainbow Dash. Something seemed fishy.
"So why throw a special surprise party for the new girl if you hardly know her?"
Pinkie laughed. "Silly filly. Why wouldn't I throw a surprise party? You know I love to party!" She followed up with an adorable little grin that would make a grown colt squeal.
The pegasus was still suspicious. "Sorry, but I've known you long enough to know when you're hiding something," Rainbow Dash said accusingly.
The partying pony's grin turned into a more awkward one and deteriorated to a sigh. "Fine. But it's a huge secret. I can't have you telling ANYPONY."
"Um...I-"
"ANYPONY!"
"I promise," the pony with rainbow hair said as she leaned next to Pinkie Pie. The earth pony leaned into Rainbow Dash's face even closer to deliver the quietest sentence she had ever delivered.
"I think that new unicorn-"
Suddenly, the pink pony disappeared. It took a second for Rainbow Dash to realize she was gone since she thought Pinkie was just hesitant to respond. She looked up to realize her friend was gone.
Her head swung from left to right at a rapid pace, trying to find her friend in the huge crowd. Did she run off since she was too afraid to say anything? No. It couldn't be that. She didn't hear her galloping away, and Pinkie Pie wasn't exactly quiet.
Only seconds passed before the door swung open to reveal Pinkie Pie trotting into the party that she had just left. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped in shock. "How did...but...how..."
Pinkie sighed, "Sorry, I was about to say that the unicorn that came into town today put some kinda curse on me! I mean at least 6 times today I've been minding my own business when suddenly POOF! I'm somewhere else. I mean teleportation's cool and all, but I mean wouldn't it-"
"Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. Interrupting was sometimes the only way to keep a conversation with Pinkie Pie not one-sided. "So you're teleporting all of a sudden?"
The pink pony nodded. "Uh-huh. I can't control it."
Rainbow Dash was dazed by all of this, but still kept her head straight. "And what makes you think that Twilight Sparkle cursed you?"
"Well when we first met, she said 'Hi'. When she said 'Hi' I felt this weird tingling in my forehead, then I started to see weird colors like blue and olive and magenta and crimson and cerulean and lime green and-"
"Pinkie!"
"Sorry, so anyway, I saw the creepy colors and then a couple minutes later I teleported. I didn't even know why, but it happened."
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath trying to take it all in. "So...if Twilight laid a curse on you, then why are you throwing her a party?" She looked around at all of the decor set up for a unicorn that had cursed the hostess.
"Well when I had the curse laid on me, I sorta gasped and ran away. If she ever sees me again, which she will in a town this small, she'll ask me why I gasped, and then I'll have to tell her that she cursed me, and then she'll put ANOTHER curse on me. So when I throw this party, I'll tell her I gasped because I haven't seen her before even though I know everypony in Ponyville and I gasped so I could go throw this party."
This was a good alibi, Rainbow Dash thought. Pinkie Pie did know everypony in Ponyville so a party for the new pony made sense. And somepony like Pinkie would throw a party at any opportunity. "Why don't you tell her about your problem?"
The party pony let out another exasperated sigh. "I can't tell her that. That would make my first impression even worse than bad. And it's already bad. I mean, how would you like it if somepony walked up to you and said, 'Hey Rainbow! Sorry about gasping in your face then running earlier today. You accidentally laid a curse on me upon first meeting me. Want some punch?'"
Rainbow Dash understood. First impressions were super important, especially if you want to be friends with somepony for a long time. Pinkie Pie wanted to be friends with everypony, so that made first impressions even more important.
"So do you promise to keep it a secret?" The earth pony stared at her friend with puppy dog eyes.
It was Rainbow Dash's turn to sigh; she gave one so strong her eyes were shut. She was still trying to process it all. She opened her eyes to see she wasn't there, but across the room next to the window.
"Alright, here they come! Places everypony! Rainbow Dash! Hit the lights!"
Rainbow Dash took a second to respond, and then she laughed and turned off the lights.
Twilight Sparkle was upstairs apparently trying to get some sleep, while downstairs the party was at full momentum. Everypony was either dancing on the floor, drinking some punch, socializing with other ponies, or more than one of the above. Even Spike, the baby dragon assistant of the new unicorn, was dancing around with a lampshade on his head.
Rainbow Dash was talking with Pinkie Pie completely dismissing the curse madness up until this point. Rainbow Dash brought up the topic again. "Well, think about it, if you just keep teleporting without control she's bound to find out sooner or later."
"You're right. Either way, Twilight Sparkle doesn't seem like a bad pony, so I don't think she cursed me on purpose. It was probably just an accident."
"So, are we gonna tell her?"
Pinkie Pie paused for a second to think. Then she gave a happy smile. "I know! Maybe if I can control the teleportation thing, maybe I can use it as like a superpower. Maybe I could be SuperPinkie!"
"Hey! That's a good idea! Twilight seems to be really smart with magic so maybe she can teach you when you tell her tomorrow."
Pinkie responded with a stare interrupted by a couple of blinks, as if she were thinking about it. "No way. She seems real nice and all, and she'd still be able to help me out, but if I work so hard to be friends with her, then I ask for help, then she'll think I'm only her friend so she can help me."
"Well I guess that makes sense. So long as you can at least try to not teleport at a bad time." Rainbow Dash laughed. "Like when Celestia is presented tomorrow. What if you teleported behind the curtain and then when the curtain was pulled up..."
Pinkie Pie cut in, "Helllooooooo Equestria!"
The two friends laughed together at the hilarity of any possible outcome of Pinkie Pie's new ability, or disability.
Chapter 2: The Accident
Since the discovery of Pinkie Pie's ability, weeks had passed. She wanted to ensure that she and Twilight were good friends before telling her. Today, Pinkie Pie planned to tell Twilight about the curse after Applejack helped her out with running Sugarcube Corner.
Rainbow Dash knew that Pinkie was going to do this, and was glad. Despite being the Element of Loyalty, she found it hard to not tell Twilight about it. Fortunately, she knew how much Pinkie Pie valued keeping secrets, so that would have her in hot water with her friend.
She was relieved that the secret keeping would finally be over, but it seemed to torment her how Applejack had accidentally propelled her into Twilight's treehouse, which led to a conversation between the two of them.
Twilight was on her way to Sweet Apple Acres to talk some sense into her Applebucking friend and as she left, she sparked the conversation with "So Rainbow, how did you get your cutie mark?"
The question seemed completely out of nowhere, but Rainbow Dash never passed up an opportunity to share her awesome story. "Well, there were the jerk pegasi colts that were picking on Fluttershy as a filly, so I decided to stick up for her. When I did this, I challenged them to a race."
Rainbow did her best to illustrate the race by flying away at lightning speed. Clouds and houses zoomed by the pegasus' face while she did a couple loops and barrel rolls. She finished off her performance with a corkscrew and a sky dive at near Sonic Rainboom speed. Then she made a midair stop. "Needless to say, I won."
Twilight chuckled. "Sounds pretty neat."
Rainbow Dash scoffed, "If you saw it, you'd know that neat is the biggest understatement in all of Equestria." Rainbow Dash landed on the ground and transitioned to a trot. "So how about you, Twilight? How did you get your cutie mark?
"Well when I was a filly, I would have done anything to master magic and be any closer to Princess Celestia, the greatest pony in Equestria. So I decided to join some big magic school."
"And a master of magic like you made it in easy, right?"
Twilight let out a nervous laugh. "Actually, I almost didn't. See, I was supposed to hatch Spike out of his egg as an entry exam. And boy was I struggling. There I was. Worrying about failing the exam that would change my life. Suddenly, I felt this weird surge of energy go through me. I was completely overloaded from magic."
Rainbow Dash interrupted anxiously, "And THEN you hatched the egg?"
"Oh, I did more than that. I nearly turned my parents into plants and oversized Spike. My parents told me they had never seen that kind of power. But then, all of a sudden, I felt a hoof on my shoulder." Twilight was sounding more excited by the second as if she were reliving the moments. "It was Princess Celestia!" The unicorn let out a squeal. "Then she fixed all of the things I accidentally messed up. Then guess what?"
"Wha-"
"She said she wanted me to be..." she paused for dramatic effect, "her personal student." She let out a squeal that scared away a nearby bird. "And then I had my cutie mark. It was the best day ever."
Rainbow Dash thought about Pinkie Pie for a while. "You can't control those powers? Seems a little dangerous."
"Well of course. That's why when I was mentored by Celestia, I was taught to control those powers. I haven't had a problem since. Now I can just fit in as a normal pony." Twilight kept walking as Rainbow Dash had to put her hoof in her mouth to avoid the topic of Pinkie Pie.
"Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked with one eyebrow up.
The pegasus snapped back into attention. "Oh yeah...S-sorry. I think my brain got scrambled when Applejack launched me halfway across Ponyville." She rubbed her head to emphasize her point. Rainbow was seconds away from blurting Pinkie's secret. She had to change the subject. "Are you gonna talk some sense into her?"
Twilight continued walking, "Yes. She's clearly overworking herself. She needs help. Wanna give me a hand?"
Rainbow Dash couldn't. If she did, then she'd probably tell the unicorn about Pinkie's unexpected secret. "Sorry, I gotta go..." Her eyes rolled up to search for an alibi. "...lay down. Still a little woozy from that crash. Seeya," Rainbow said as she dashed off.
"She what?"
"Pinkie, I think Twilight might have cursed you on accident."
Pinkie Pie looked at her inquisitively. "You don't curse someone on accident. You go all UHNNYEAHNYUNUOOAH and then BOOM! Cursed!" She matched her incomprehensible chanting with a dance she used when singing about Zecora.
The faux incantations from her friend made Rainbow Dash giggle a little, but had to return to a more serious tone. "She told me that when she got her cutie mark, it was when she was being mentored by Princess Celestia because she couldn't control her powers. And apparently she has some pretty special powers. Maybe she accidentally used a power that she didn't know about."
"Whoa! So I'm like a super special gifted pony with superpowers unknown to pony? That's sweet! Super duper alley ooper sweet! Like candy! Maybe her magic can make me make candy! Especially dark chocolate, cuz that's the best flavor of candy! In fact, someone told me it was actually a healt-
"Pinkie."
"Sorry."
Rainbow held a slightly annoyed look on her face. Then she decided she needed to actually get some rest like she told Twilight. The launch from Applejack earlier that day did hurt quite a bit. "Well, good luck with Twilight Sparkle," she said as she started to fly away.
Pinkie suddenly perked up as if she was stung by a bee. "No way! I can't tell Twilight now!"
Rainbow groaned. She continued in a slightly annoyed tone. "Why not? It was an honest mistake. She won't hate you. If anything, she'll be overjoyed in her new ability."
"I know that, but if she finds out her power slipped, she'll think 'Who's to say it won't happen again?' and she'll probably have to go back to Canterlot to train with Celestia again. She might even have to go back forever!" Pinkie's eyes watered at the idea of losing her friend. "So ple-"
The pink earth pony was suddenly gone. Rainbow Dash waited in the dead lonely silence for a couple long seconds. The pegasus broke the silence with a sigh and extended her wings to begin the search for the teleported friend.
Her wings gave their first flutter when there was a loud WHAM! echoed through the room, shaking some of the furniture. Rainbow Dash let out a surprised yelp as her heart rate skyrocketed. Something landed on the roof.
The rainbow-maned pony flew out the window to discover that the "something" was Pinkie Pie. She was facedown in the frosted roof, clearly enjoying herself.
The pink pony was muffled by the frosting, but it was clear enough that she said, "Man, I never knew the roof tasted this good. Delicious!"
Rainbow Dash chuckled. "So did you want me to keep that secret or not?"
"Oh, sure, but seriously, you have GOT to try this." As if on cue a glob of frosting was thrown onto the pegasus' face. Rainbow Dash simply stood on the roof and stared in disbelief. Pinkie Pie continued to eat as if nothing happened.
"Did...did you...?"
Then, there was a faint ding heard from the kitchen, followed by Applejack yelling "The muffins are ready!" and Pinkie disappeared again. Rainbow Dash didn't even react this time, but kept her shocked frosting-covered face. Pinkie Pie could perform telekinesis, too? That was pretty cool, but the only problem was that she couldn't control it. The secret was bound to get out if she were to perform magic at a bad time.
Rainbow Dash flew to the kitchen to see Pinkie Pie taking some muffins out of the oven. She gave the tray to Applejack and gave her a sweet warning. "Careful! They're hot!"
Applejack replied with incomprehensible gibberish muttered by sleep-deprived ponies. If Pinkie Pie were to teleport at that moment, Applejack could have easily mistaken it for a hallucination.
The second the door shut behind Applejack, Rainbow Dash flied into the room and landed next to Pinkie Pie. "Alright, you're seriously gonna need some help with that magic. You can't control it. And now you have telekinesis, too! If you keep on going like that, you might float Fluttershy into a river." Even though that would be a hilarious event, Rainbow Dash couldn't bring herself to imagining Fluttershy being dropped in a river. So she imagined the scene with Applejack and laughed beneath her breath.
"Well yeah, but I can't tell Twilight about my magic powers, cuz if I do, then- Wait! I already told you why! That's why we have Rarity!"
Rainbow Dash returned the suggestion with a focused stare that said "Are you serious?". "Rarity?" Her voice was flat and skeptical. "You really think that Rarity can teach you how to use any magic that doesn't have to do with clothes?"
"Well, she IS a unicorn and everyone knows that unicorns can do magic, and either way I've seen her do the floaty thingy a bajillion zillion times!"
"You mean telekinesis?"
"Yeah! So I figure that she'll be able to teach me that. And besides, magic is probably just the same throughout. Sorta like a balloon. It's helium all the way through. And helium really makes your voice sound-" She met the gaze of her flying friend. "Sorry. Anywho, once I learn telecarnation-"
"Telekinesis."
"-telekinesis, then I'm sure that teleporting isn't really that much is different. Again, like a balloon."
Applejack waddled back into the bakery nearly sideways. She dropped a plate with two muffins on them and proceeded to drop on the door and let sleep overtake her.
Pinkie Pie adoringly stared at the remaining two muffins. "Oo! Rainbow Dash! Want one of the last ones? Applejack helped make them. And even though they don't have any apples, I'm sure their great. Which reminds me. Maybe I should invite Applejack over so we can make some apple pies together."
The speeding pegasus looked at a hatless, nearly dead-looking, orange pony that had propelled her into Twilight's library. "No thanks. I'll pass on those muffins."
"Well...that certainly is an unusual predicament." Rarity's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Can…you try to teleport down from there?"
Pinkie Pie looked down from the top of the cupboard and giggled. "I could try, but I mean it's like I can see my house from here. Oh, wait. I'm right across the street from you." This caused the partying pink pony to burst out laughing.
Rarity's horn glowed as a magical blue aura enveloped her laughing friend. Pinkie Pie floated down from the top of the cupboard. The unicorn turned to Rainbow Dash. "And you said she performed telekinesis as well?"
"Yep. She made a glob of frosting fly into my face. It was pretty delicious." Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and imagined the taste she never got to enjoy that week ago.
Rarity frowned as she examined her friend, "Well it must have ruined your mane." She rustled through Pinkie Pie's hair. "Odd. One would expect to see a horn hidden in all of this hair, but there's not one there."
Pinkie Pie cut in with a loud voice that made Rarity jump. "So Rarity, are you gonna keep the secret?"
Rarity nodded. "I know that telling secrets is the quickest way to lose a frie-"
"Forever!" Pinkie Pie cut in before the unicorn could finish the last word of her sentence, making her jump again.
Rainbow Dash was leaning on one of the ponnequins when she noticed a pink light floating around it. The pegasus shouted, "Rarity! Pinkie!"
The two magical ponies turned to face the pegasus, leaving one to gasp and the other to giggle. The ponnequin was flying through the air, being controlled by Pinkie Pie. While flying, it did a couple barrel rolls and corkscrews as if it were mirroring one of Rainbow Dash's performances. When it crashed into a couple cupboards, Pinkie just laughed and said "ZOOM!"
Rarity looked at the carnage with her mouth so wide open that Spike could have fit inside with ease. After about ten seconds of the antics, Rarity nearly tackled Pinkie Pie. "Stop it! You're ruining the boutique!"
With that, the ponnequin fell to the ground hooves up. Rainbow Dash looked around. There were fabrics scattered everywhere to make Rarity's floor look like a whacked out disco party, complete with a pincushion hanging by a thread from the ceiling to imitate a disco ball. Rainbow decided to fly for a while to avoid the hundreds of needles scattered on the floor. "Did you mean to do that Pinkie?"
The pink pony energetically shook her head, retaining her perky smile.
"Do you think she'll be able to control all this magic Rarity?"
Rarity looked around at the wrecked room. "I wish Twilight could help. She'd be better at this. But I know that you can't have her know, so I'll have to take it upon myself." She sighed. "Even if it means more of this destruction."
"Well I hate to ditch you two, but I gotta get going. Im having lunch with Applejack. Good luck with that magic, Pinkie!"
Pinkie Pie waved her hoof goodbye as the pegasus flew out the window. As she left, Rainbow heard a faint sigh from Rarity. She felt bad for leaving the poor unicorn with a handful, but kept her mind at ease by remembering she couldn't help with that. She couldn't perform magic.
She decided that it was worth it. She needed to take some of the worries about Pinkie Pie off her chest. And nothing took away the worry like a good old lunch with Applejack.
She made it to Sweet Apple Acres in less than thirty seconds and landed next to the red barn. The farm was quaint and serene with a sense of odd grace to it. Especially today for some reason. Maybe it was the smell of fresh apples.
"Hey Applejack! I'm here!"
A reply from Applejack immediately echoed from the other side of the barn. "Oh! Uh, hang tight, sugar! Ah'll be there in a jiff! Just wrappin' up tha applebuckin!" she replied nervously.
The pegasus figured her friend was nervous since she forgot about the lunch and got caught up in the applebucking, so Rainbow Dash figured she'd give her a hand. She trotted around the farm. "Well, I'd be happy to lend you a-"
Rainbow stopped mid-sentence and let her jaw fall open. She saw hundreds of apples all floating in midair being loaded into buckets. All of the apples glowed with a bright orange aura. Applejack turned around with a guilty smile. She let out a nervous laugh.
"Howdy, sugarcube."
Chapter 3: The Magic Virus
Chapter 3: The Magic Virus
The two friends ate their apple pie and drank their apple cider outside the Sweet Apple Acres Barn. By force of habit, Applejack gorged on the apple pie face first despite her new ability to perform magic. Rainbow Dash had a couple bites, but didn't have that much of an appetite since she now had another magical earth pony to worry about.
"Why arem'cha eadin amythin?" Applejack asked with a mouthful of apple pie. Some of the crumbs accidentally fell on the table as she said it.
"I can't eat until I get some answers. First Pinkie, now you. Did you know that she can do telekinesis too?"
Applejack let out a chuckle. "I swear, yer startin to sound just like Twilight. And yes. You already told me that." She took another bite out of the pie.
Rainbow Dash sighed to herself. Her friend was right. She was being too uptight. She needed to be calm about this. It was nothing bad, just something new. Definitely not worth freaking out about like Twilight would. "Well when did you get your magic ability?"
Applejack was quick to respond. "Oh, THAT was a strange experience. I was talkin with Pinkie Pie after tha whole applebuckin incident when suddenly I felt this weird feelin in mah forehead. Then, mah vision was all foggied up with more colors than a flower patch. I tried to not act wily and just avoided talkin to Pinkie for a while."
Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin with her hoof. "That's EXACTLY what Pinkie Pie felt when she first met Twilight. Maybe the curse that Twilight knows was passed on to Pinkie. All she needs to do now is control that and maybe we won't have magic-using earth ponies running everywhere. Speaking of which, how come you're still not having trouble with your powers? Pinkie Pie has to learn from Rarity."
The orange pony gave another light chuckle. "Well, it wasn't easy as pie fer me, neither. Once ya get past the hump, it's pretty easy to get the hang of. Ya just hafta focus."
"Yeah, and we all know that focusing for Pinkie will be like walking on the sun. Impossible." Rainbow Dash sighed and slouched.
After a brief silence, the earth pony wore a look of concern while studying her friend. "Is somethin wrong, Rainbow?"
The pegasus slowly and somberly sipped her cider. "It's just all of this secret keeping stuff."
Applejack hit her face with her hoof to demonstrate a classic facehoof. "Yer STILL goin on about that? I told ya! I already knew about Pinkie's magic. The strange colors sorta gave it away."
"No, it's not that. It's just that it seems like something that Twilight needs to know, but Pinkie Pie had me keep it a secret. It's been pretty hard to not tell."
Applejack smiled sympathetically. "We've all been there, sugarcube."
Rainbow Dash's voice rose a little. "No. Because nopony ever has to deal with their friend suddenly being able to teleport. I feel like Twilight needs to know now more than ever since you have magic, too. But if I tell Twilight, I'll be breaking Pinkie's promise."
The honest pony hopped up from her seat to give an encouraging hoof on the shoulder. She spoke softly, attempting to comfort her. "I agree with you, Rainbow. It's somethin she's gotta to know about. Ya gotta make Pinkie know that. Jus talk some sense inta her little noggin and then everypony will know and we can fix this."
Rainbow stood up straight, returning to her usual proud gait from her depressed slump. "You're right, AJ! I can talk her into telling Twilight. Then this'll all be better. I won't have to keep any pesky secrets, and everypony will be happy, and life will be back to normal."
"Well I wish ya best o' luck with Pinkie Pie. Ah'll send ya off with another pie if ya want one. I got extras," the wingless pony exclaimed as she let out a grin.
Rainbow Dash smiled and realized she was so stressed earlier she forgot to eat AJ's trademark delicious pie. She let out a light chuckle. "Of course I want a pie. Anything from Sweet Apple Acres is always *COUGH*"
Applejack closed her eyes proudly as two boxes surrounded by an orange glow were tied to the pegasus' back using a rope enveloped by the same glow. The rope tightened so hard it made Rainbow Dash cough.
"What did you do that for? That hurt a bit," the pegasus almost yelled. The rope had bound itself tightly to her abdomen, which was hurting because of said rope.
Applejack just smiled and said, "Sorry for any pain, sugarcube. You'll see what ah'm doin. Now so long, Rainbow."
Hearing that, Rainbow extended her wings and quickly took off, leaving behind a fading rainbow blur and a small dust cloud.
It took a whole minute to make it to Rarity's boutique. She could've cut the time in half, but the boxes on her back completely wrecked her aerodynamics, and the pain in her abdomen served as a hassle against the clock. However, this lengthening of the trip wasn't all bad. While she was in the air, the winged pony asked herself a question. "How long until I get cursed by this?" The question seemed to give more questions than answers. Does the curse even work on pegasi? Would she even like having magic? Would she be good with magic? She thought magic would be awesome, but it seems so much different than flying. By the time she had a couple seconds to ponder, she was already at Rarity's home.
The rainbow-maned speed demon dashed into the store through the same window from which she left. As she flew in, she saw Pinkie Pie, once again, on top of the cupboard. Deja vu.
The fashionista wailed, "Pinkie! I can't believe you got yourself in this mess again! Now come down! We have yet to even work on your magic."
Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders, which caused the cupboard to waver. She quickly spread out her hooves to keep balance. Then she rocked the cupboard from side to side and laughed. "Woohoo! Weeee!"
Rarity was visibly sweating as she bit her lip nervously. "Oh my gosh! Be careful Pinkie! That has all my dresses in it!" The fashionable unicorn turned to Rainbow Dash the second the pegasus landed. "Rainbow Dash! Thank goodness you're here! Can you maybe fly up to the cupboard and get her down from there?"
The premier party pony of Ponyville suddenly spoke up, "Oo! What's that on your back Rainbow Dash?" Seeing her friend with a potential present made Pinkie perk up and stop rocking.
Rainbow Dash answered with, "Oh, well Applejack gave me a couple apple pies and-"
Pinkie Pie didn't even waste a second. She teleported straight from the cupboard to directly in front of the pegasus. "Oo! Oo! I LOVE Sweet Apple Acres apple pie! It's so delicious! Cuz when you first have a bite you usually get crust, and usually the crust is all bland and icky, but with Applejack, her crusts are even good. And don't even get me started on how good the center is. I mean it's-"
Rarity covered the pink pony's mouth and let out a light laugh. "Don't worry. We won't get you started." Suddenly, a wide smile appeared on the unicorn's face as she looked at the pies. She had an idea.
"Alright, Pinkie Pie. You can have these pies if you use magic to untie them. Do you understand?"
Rainbow Dash felt the ropes unbind themselves from her stomach before Rarity even finished the question. Pinkie Pie used her telekinesis to put the pie next to her as she nodded vigorously with Rarity's hoof still in her mouth.
Rarity smiled. "Good, now le-" She noticed the box next to Pinkie Pie and stared at it like a mystical artifact of some sort. Then as Pinkie opened the box using her magic, the unicorn gave another smile that showed she had another idea. "I'll be riiiiight back. Enjoy your pies," she said as she ran out the door of the boutique.
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were left alone in the elegant store with their pies and the sound of Pinkie Pie eating her apple pie. Her mouth was still full, but she still wanted to talk with her friend. "So, how'd wunch wif Applejack go?"
"So then that's when you got here with the pies?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. "And here we are." The pies were already eaten, leaving crumbs all over Rarity's magnificent floor. The unicorn had returned from her errand to hear the second half of the story. She had gone to Sugarcube Corner to buy some sweets.
The fashionista said, "Well, I agree with Applejack. Somepony really should tell Twilight all about this. It would be simply dreadful for us to keep her in the dark for any longer." She used her magic to guide a broom and dustpan to the pie crumbs.
Rainbow Dash nodded. "But it's still up to Pinkie Pie. I made her a promise to tell nopony without her permission. By the way, I'm really sorry about telling Applejack. It's just-"
"She already knew! It isn't a secret if you know about it, so it's A-OK with me Rainbow Dash."
The pegasus let out a sigh of relief. "So are we gonna tell Twilight?"
Pinkie Pie thought to herself for a second about her answer. She looked to the floor as she said, "You know, I really shouldn't have kept the secret in the first place. Friends don't keep secrets from each other like that. Especially when it has to do with them. And if Twilight has to go away for a bit to master one little spell, then I'm sure it won't take long." Pinkie looked up, and looked more proud than a couple seconds before. "Rainbow Dash, can you go tell Twilight? You're faster and I need to learn my magic."
Rainbow Dash gave a hearty giggle. She didn't know why. Maybe she was happy the secrets were over. "Alright. I'll get that done right away."
The pegasus once again dashed out of the boutique window, leaving Rarity to teach Pinkie Pie to control her magic using a plan she had mentioned while the apple pies were being feasted upon. She had gone to Sugarcube Corner to buy some sweets and would use them as a reward for completing magic correctly. It seemed slightly unlikely at first, but seeing how she teleported to the pies and used telekinesis to open the box, it now seemed foolproof.
As if on cue, the purple unicorn was seen dashing by as soon as Rainbow Dash left Carousel Boutique. The blue pegasus picked up some speed to catch up. "Hey Twilight? I got something to-"
"Go ahead of me to the Everfree Forest and try to find this plant," the unicorn said with a sense of urgency. As Twilight was galloping, she was using her magic to bring along a green book that was already opened to a page. This page was shoved into Rainbow Dash's face to accompany her worried order. The page presented a yellow flower shaped almost like a T. In the center of the flower was a blue spot. Rainbow Dash studied the image for a couple seconds before asking, "Why do-"
"Just do it! I'll catch up." the unicorn interrupted again. With that, Rainbow got the idea that it was pretty urgent and questions could wait, so she dashed ahead at a super speed. She assumed it was just something for one of Twilight's science project, and always enjoyed helping a friend in need.
She made it to the dark Everfree Forest in record time. The pegasus felt like she had a need for speed today for some reason, because she was moving fast wherever she went. Maybe it went hand in hand with the crazy day she had been having.
Fortunately for Rainbow Dash, the pattern of the flower shown in the book was easy to remember. It was a yellow T with a blue center. It was good because the few flowers in the Everfree Forest were pretty crazy. At least the yellow ones were. Rainbow Dash's strategy was speeding through the forest and slowing down to look at the yellow ones. There was one yellow flower that was spiraled and another with purple polka dots. The only flower that she noticed that wasn't yellow was the blue poison joke, which she was sure to avoid.
Finally, after a couple quick minutes, she had found the flower. The yellow T wasn't as well defined as it was in the book, but seeing the blue center gave it away. Rainbow Dash picked the flower and came to the landing.
The blue pony recalled Twilight saying that she would catch up, so Rainbow stayed where she was and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited with impatient agony.
It had probably been only a minute, but for Rainbow Dash it felt like twenty, so she decided to meet her friend halfway, so she went back the way she came.
The speeding pegasus relied on memory to get her out of the forest. Over the poison joke. Past the cave. Under the fallen tree. Next to the yellow and purple polka dotted flower. Over more poison joke. Past the rock shaped like a tree Wait. More poison joke? What rock shaped like a tree? She didn't remember seeing these. Was she lost?
She landed and had a look around. Nothing looked familiar. There was a weird giant mushroom that she definitely had never seen before. Then Rainbow Dash saw a tree behind her that had blue moss hanging from it. Again, not familiar in the slightest.
Rainbow Dash thought she was lost, but then chuckled at the idea. She said, "No problem," to herself through the gritted teeth holding Twilight's flower as the pegasus started to flap her wings. It was a breeze. She would fly as high as she could and then go to the outskirts of the forest where she would meet the purple unicorn.
The pegasus followed her plan with great ease, first flying upward through the canopy as high as she needed to fly and then some. While she was that high up she had a glance at Ponyville at an angle from which she usually didn't get to see it. She first noticed how large the Everfree Forest was. Rainbow Dash guessed that it was twice as big as Ponyville. Then, the pegasus glanced over to Ponyville to see all of the town and what she had done that day. First she glanced over to Sugarcube Corner, where she recalled getting Pinkie Pie to go meet with Rarity. Then the pegasus glanced over to the luxurious and royal Carousel Boutique. There, Rarity agreed to help Pinkie Pie with her magic, which is what was probably what was going on at that very moment. Finally, she glanced farthest away from the forest to the quaint barn next to Sweet Apple Acres, which is where she found Applejack with magic. Needless to say, she hastily concluded that it had been a long and wild day. And it was only 3:00.
After the brief glance of the view, the pegasus dove down to the outskirts of the forest, which surprisingly wasn't far away from where she was earlier. Rainbow Dash gave an impressive landing with all fours hitting the ground simultaneously. Just to add to the coolness, she spit out the flower and kicked it so that it landed on her back. This was hitting two pegasi with one stone for Rainbow Dash since the flower tasted terrible.
It was time for her to wait once again. Rainbow Dash found herself to be more patient when she was on the outskirts of the forest than in the center of the forest. In the outskirts, it took the pegasus a full three minutes to lose interest in simply standing there and to leave her station.
The pegasus was about to dash down the path to catch up to the slowpoke unicorn when she heard a faint yell somewhat silenced by the surrounding trees. "Rainbow Dash! Help me!"
Rainbow Dash immediately went exactly where the cry for help had come from. It was hard to tell where it had come from since it was silenced by and echoed against the surrounding trees to create an odd sensation where it seemed it was being whispered to Rainbow Dash from everywhere but the ground. The pegasus went with her gut.
To her surprise, Rainbow Dash's gut caused her to barge through a group of trees that led to a clearing that held the unicorn. Around Twilight Sparkle was a spread out blanket of purple sand. Twilight Sparkle herself appeared to be cut in half, still having her head and front hooves. Her tail and her back legs were gone. The area that divided her front and back side appeared to be made of the purple sand surrounding her. "Rainbow Dash! The flower!" Twilight yelled.
The sky blue pegasus at first only stared in shock at her friend's condition. Was she turning into sand? Why was this happening? Twilight's yell fortunately snapped her out of shock. She bucked the flower off of her back and it landed majestically next to Twilight. The second it touched the ground, the unicorn used her magic to take off the T-shaped petal and ate it. Almost directly after eating the petal, Twilight's body stopped turning into sand and left a bloodless stump. Twilight gave a sigh and said, "Thank you so very much, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash appreciated her gratitude but not her lack of explanation. "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! Time out! What just happened? Why is there only half of you? Did you almost just die?"
Twilight Sparkle laughed nervously as she used her magic to flip through the pages of the green book she had brought with her. Rainbow Dash read the front: "Guide to Treating and Identifying Magical Illnesses" After only a couple of seconds, her magic failed and the book dropped.
Twilight looked up to Rainbow Dash with an apologetic look. "Sorry, I'd love to explain, but I think we should put me back together again. Fortunately, I got a long enough look at a spell to reverse effects of Magic Spurt."
"Magic Spurt?"
"Basically, it's an illness when you suddenly have a lot of magic and then you turn to sand. At first, I thought it was just progress, but then my tail started to turn into sand. Then, I guessed it was Magic Spurt."
Rainbow Dash thought about this really quick. Then she realized she shouldn't think about it too hard. Twilight Sparkle was still alive and that's all that mattered. "So how do you become not all sand? You said you saw a spell."
It took a whole three hours to collect enough sand to make up Twilight's back legs. In order to put her back together, Rainbow Dash had to sweep all of the sand over toward Twilight Sparkle so that the sand was touching the unicorn. They figured that all of the sand to make up the rest of her cutie mark and her tail would be received on their way back to the library. It was as they left the Everfree Forest when Twilight was talking about their experience earlier when Rainbow finally got around to telling her.
Twilight started the conversation with a grateful comment. "I'm so lucky you showed up when you did. Otherwise, I would be dust in the wind right now. Say, why DID you wanna talk to me at first?"
Rainbow Dash smiled. It was finally time to let out the secret she had kept bottled up for so long. The pegasus opened her mouth to inhale, only to have an apple get slammed into her mouth, muffling the first few words she planned to say. Twilight and a blue and pink haired earth pony tried to suppress their laughter.
Rainbow Dash groaned and spit out the apple. "Hey! What was that for Bon Bo-" The blue pony's train of thought was completely derailed when she saw her clothing. "Okay, two questions. One: Why did you throw that apple at me? Two: What's with wearing Rarity's clothes? I didn't know about any big thing?"
The purple unicorn gave a statement to support the reasoning behind her friend's reasoning. "Yeah, Bon Bon. I don't remember hearing of any FORMAL parties." Pinkie Pie always has a party planned.
"Oh well about the apple, sorry Rainbow Dash. I was practicing my magic whe-"
"WHAT?" Twilight almost screamed, causing everypony to step back a step. It looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She had a nearly deranged look in her eyes that looked insane, but incredibly fearful. "WHERE DID YOU GET MAGIC?"
Bon Bon nervously and quickly replied. "Um, uh, Rarity's! It was at Carousel Boutique!"
It was clear that Twilight had nearly busted a blood vessel out of pure stress. She didn't scream, but spoke in a puny afraid whisper. "Are...you telling me that Rarity is spreading Magic Spurt to everypony in Ponyville?" Her eye twitched. Rainbow Dash knew what was happening and cringed imagining a vast majority experiencing the same fate as Twilight had experienced hours ago. But it was definitely time to tell Twilight about Pinkie rather than think about it.
"No, Twilight. Pinkie Pie is."
Chapter 4: A Party Solves All Problems
Chapter 4: A Party Solves All Problems
Rarity smiled at her new customer. "So, I assume you're here for the special deal?"
"You bet, Rarity. Magic's gonna be awesome," Carrot Top said with a smile.
"Okay, just pick out a dress. Remember that once you get the dress and spread the word about Carousel Boutique, you get magic."
The earth pony looked around at all of the dresses inside the boutique. The ponies in the short line behind her were anxious to get their end of the special offer, but Carrot Top still took her time. There were dresses of all colors. There were orange dresses and green dresses and purple dresses and blue dresses and red dresses, she just couldn't decide.
"I thiiiiiiiiink I want this one." She approached a blue dress on a ponnequin. The dress featured emeralds strewn along the hem and white patterns all throughout the dress.
Rarity had to hold herself back from gagging. The clash of colors was simply too much for her to bear. "Well, I...um...think that dress does look good, buuuuut I think this one would suit you better." The unicorn retrieved an orange one that was similar to the dress Carrot Top had chosen, but with a different color scheme. It still had the emeralds and the patterns. The only difference was that the dress itself was orange instead of blue. "It will look much better on you, believe me."
The orange pony nodded. "Alright, I'll take that one then. It's 80 bits, right?"
"That's correct."
Carrot Top gave her a small bag jingling with the sound of bits. Rarity would use some of this money to buy sweets. The rest of it would most likely go toward making more dresses. Rarity smile at her customer and said, "Well, I'm sure you're ready for the special offer, are you not?"
"You bet I am!"
On cue, Pinkie Pie hopped out from out of nowhere. "One super duper magical power treatment coming right up!"
The pink pony didn't even change facial expressions as Carrot Top let out a loud "WHOA!" After shaking her head, the orange pony said, "Heh, that felt funny."
Rarity turned to her friend and said, "Splendid job, Pinkie Pie. Here you are." Her eyes were shut proudly as she lifted three gumdrops onto the table. Pinkie Pie gobbled them up as soon as they touched the table.
"Rarity!"
The white unicorn looked into the doorway where the familiar call came from. Twilight Sparkle galloped into the boutique as Carrot Top left. She was followed by Rainbow Dash, who nearly plowed into the customer. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked.
Rarity gave her friend a welcoming smile and spoke with a simple conversational tone. "Twilight. I'm so glad you could make it. I assume Rainbow Dash told you about Pinkie."
"Yes she did, and what are you doing?" the unicorn repeated.
The fashionista ignored her friend's worried tone. "Oh, it's a new deal I'm making my customers. It's simple. First, they buy one of my magnificent dresses. Then, I give them magical abilities thanks to Pinkie Pie. I taught her to control her ability to share magic. Once they can use magic, everypony they know will ask, 'How are you using magic?' Then the pony will respond with, 'Oh, I got it at Carousel Boutique. The same place I got this fantastic dress.' I become a top-class fashionista. Ponies get special abilities. Everypony wins." She finished her speech with an excited giggle. "And so fat so good. I've had at least fifty customers so far."
Twilight Sparkle let out a small whimper when she heard the number. "Rarity," she said with a puny voice. "You need to stop spreading it."
"But why, darling? Everypony's happy."
Twilight's magic lifted a book and opened it to a page featuring a picture of an earth pony performing magic. "The reason Pinkie Pie has magic is because I had a sickness called Magic Spurt. It's a disability that boosts magical ability."
Pinkie Pie leaned in to read the book. "It doesn't seem like a disability. It sounds like fun!"
Twilight ignored Pinkie's comment and continued. "It has the ability to spread to earth ponies, giving them the ability to use magic as well."
Rarity, who started to look worried, interrupted, "And what are the symptoms of this Magic Spurt other than magic?"
Twilight hesitated in delivering the bad news. "Well... I haven't quite pinpointed the incubation time of the virus, but-"
"You turn into sand!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. Twilight couldn't waste time telling Rarity about incubation periods. The clock was ticking.
Rarity let out an audible gulp that seemed to speak for her. It said, "Oh, horse apples. What have I done?" Then the unicorn spoke for herself. "Is it curable?"
Rainbow Dash interrupted Twilight Sparkle's answer when her eyes darted to a flowerpot in the corner of the room. It contained a flower shaped like a T. It was yellow with a blue center. "Yeah. It's curable." She sped to the pot and plucked the flower. "I used this thing to cure Twilight Sparkle right on time."
Rarity looked at the flower like it was from some foreign planet. "THAT'S the cure? Lily Root?"
The purple unicorn turned to the pale one. "Where did you get it anyway?"
"Oh! Zecora gave it to me as a gift a couple days ago. I found it matched the walls oddly well, so I figured why not. But Zecora told me they're incredibly rare. You're lucky Rainbow Dash found one in time."
This was another problem. They were rare and one flower cured only one pony. Then the pegasus got an idea. "Twilight! Don't you know a spell that can copy things? You can just make copies of this Lily Root stuff."
Twilight smiled at the idea. "That would be perfect. Let me see the Lily Root."
Rainbow Dash retrieved the flower in her mouth and spat it out at the unicorn's feet. Twilight closed her eyes as her horn grew a purple glow around it. The Lily Root now shared the same aura and began to shine brightly. Twilight let out a small grunt, her eyes now squeezed shut. She was even sweating a little. Suddenly, the glow subsided and the single plant fell to the ground.
Rainbow Dash inspected the single plant. "That didn't work. I thought you were a magic whiz." The pegasus was confused. Twilight could do a spell like that in her sleep. At least, the pegasus thought so. Maybe it was a complex spell.
Twilight was out of breath. "I...I don't know. I never had trouble with a duplication spell before."
Rarity was equally confused. "Not to mention you looked like a work pony pulling a plow you were working so hard. What happened?"
"Oo! Oo! I know the answer!" Pinkie Pie interjected. She zoomed next to Twilight's side.
Suddenly, the purple unicorn let out an uncomfortable yelp. "Pinkie! What was that?"
Pinkie Pie laughed. "It's me giving back Magic Spurt! Duh!"
Twilight Sparkle wore a face of complete bewilderment. Rainbow Dash's jaw was dropped even lower than the unicorn's. Rarity's eyes were wider than both of the two's eyes. The pegasus spoke, "You WHAT?"
Twilight shook off her frozen face of surprise and exclaimed, "Pinkie! We don't have time for you to be-"
"Try it now," the pink pony interrupted.
Twilight was so surprised and confused she almost stepped back. "What?"'
"Try duplicating the thingy now. Cuz you said the virus makes magic stronger."
That made sense. If she needed to get this done to save Ponyville and possibly Equestria. This sacrifice seemed infinitesimal. Twilight turned to the Lily Root and once again lifted it with magic. Sure enough, the unicorn effortlessly made nine more of the flower effortlessly.
Rarity looked at Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie with amazement. "She's right. The reason you're so good at magic is because you're infected with Magic Spurt."
The purple unicorn stood there with a look of shock on her face. Her eyes were wide open as she said quietly to herself, "Without Magic Spurt, I'm useless?"
Rainbow Dash had to interrupt. The only ego-wrecker around here was her. "Twilight. So what, you couldn't get a duplication spell. It's sorta advanced. It is, isn't it?" she asked as she gave a comforting hoof over her shoulder.
Twilight still looked miserably at the royal boutique's floor. "Yeah, it is." She shook her head. It wasn't time for moping. It was time for action. "So how do we get at least fifty people together in one place at once?"
The four ponies thought to themselves for only a couple seconds before the pink pony perked up. "Oo! Oo! I know the answer to this one, too!"
The party happened the next day. Everypony who took part in Rarity's special offer was invited to a special party to celebrate and perfect their magical skills.
Or so they thought.
The plan was that once every guest is present, Rainbow Dash would shut the doors as quickly as possible. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity would urge the crowd to apply the Lily Root, and if nopony agreed, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash would do it forcefully.
Normally, they wouldn't have done it forcefully, but complications arose. After trying to talk one colt into getting his powers taken, they discovered that nopony wanted to give up their magic. When Rarity told the colt about Magic Spurt, he didn't believe the fashionista. Taking magic away from fifty ponies was going to be difficult. They needed to be healed.
It took place inside Carousel Boutique, which was fitting since that's where the sale took place. Everypony who attended wore his outfit that they had purchased from Rarity, causing the pale unicorn to gush at how her fashion had won over a crowd. Aside from formal attire, it wasn't any different from any of Pinkie Pie's other parties. There were a couple games like Pin the Tail on the Pony and Musical Stables. There was punch and a cookie cake made by Pinkie herself that read "Yay! Magic!" in icing.
Another difference between her normal parties and this one is that Pinkie Pie had taken a peek inside some of Twilight Sparkle's magic books and learned some spells. One spell made the streamers sparkle with a bright gleam. Another spell made the punch automatically refill.
Rainbow Dash was still invited to the party as "a guest of honor." The title made her proud, but the pegasus knew why she was here. Her duty or lack of magic didn't keep her from mingling around, though.
The speedy pegasus trotted up to Pinkie Pie talking to a handful of guests. The pink party pony was more eligible to be a guest of honor since she gave all of the ponies magic.
"...and that's how Equestria was made!" Needless to say, this confused everypony since she was talking about how she got her cutie mark only seconds earlier. Most ponies looked at each other and shrugged while Pinkie Pie left the smile on her face.
A voice rose from the confusion. "What an...interesting story, Pinkie Pie. You're always full of surprises," Lily said from the small crowd.
Pinkie Pie laughed. "Oh, just you wait. I've got a whole bagful of 'em. Be right back."
Suddenly, the voice of Rarity boomed across the hollow boutique. She was using a microphone "Hello, everypony. I see you all are enjoying your newly equipped magical powers."
Rarity's response was a loud unanimous shout of joy. They didn't like magic. They loved it. That was the pegasus' cue. She bolted to each of the doors and shut them in less than three seconds. It was perfectly timed so that no one noticed since they were yelling.
"Well, I'm very glad that you appreciate your new magic deal. But I'm afraid that we have received bad news. The reason you all have magic is because of a virus called Magic Spurt." the white unicorn lifted the book using magic and opened it to the page showcasing Magic Spurt. No one could see it, but they knew it was there. "It's a disease that gives the host the ability to use magic, or enhances magical abilities in unicorns." This comment was followed by excited murmurs. "However, having this disability too long causes the host to turn into sand." The murmurs quickly changed to a more concerned tone. "But not to worry, everypony. We have found the cure and we will cure all of you."
Rainbow Dash looked into the audience and hoped they'd cooperate. Overall, the reactions of the group showed belief. But of course, healing them just like that would be just too easy.
"You're just trying to rip us off!" yelled a blue stallion from the back of the crowd. He was the first loud voice from the audience. The crowd once again spread murmurs. Now they didn't believe Rarity's warning.
Fortunately, a voice of reason spoke up. Twilight Sparkle approached the podium and frantically tried to warn the crowd. "Rarity is telling the truth! I almost turned into sand today trying to find the cure."
The annoying blue colt didn't even hesitate. "You're one of Rarity's closest friends. She probably paid you to say that!" The crowd quickly sided with the conspiracy theorist.
Rainbow Dash decided this was the worst case scenario. It was time to use some force. She picked up a Lily Root she kept in the corner and sped to her first target. That annoying blue stallion.
"Hey, bucko! You can win a crowd, but you can't outrun me!" the pegasus cried as she sped toward the colt. Right before shoving the plant down his throat, he disappeared. Rainbow Dash stopped in surprise.
A voice from behind her said, "Oh yes I can." The speedster turned around to see the colt staring at her proudly. He had teleported. The other ponies at the party crowded around as Rainbow Dash began to charge at her nemesis. Before she got halfway to him, the pegasus felt herself hurdle to the wall.
As she collided with the fancy wallpaper (which gave Rarity a heart attack), she grunted and said, "Cheater." Twilight Sparkle looked at the spectacle and tried to urge the two to stop fighting. This clearly had no effect. Rainbow Dash was about to take a more tactical approach to the magic wielding colt.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The entire room turned to the source of the blood-curdling scream. They all saw Pinkie Pie, whose body was half gone. Underneath her was a pile of pink sand. The rest of her body was changing to sand rather quickly. Much quicker than Twilight's body. "Help me!" It was already at her neck.
Rainbow Dash took a second to snap out of shock and dashed to her friend as quickly as possible. When she got to her friend, she quickly realized she forgot the root. "Pinkie Pie! Hold on! Don't turn to sand!"
Pinkie Pie continued screaming as the pegasus scoured the crowd for the Lily Root. Rainbow Dash searched so quickly that she knocked over multiple guests. The adrenalin was pumped through every cubic inch of her body. She finally found it on the floor next to the blue jerk, but when she returned, it was too late. There was no more screaming. There was only the pink sand. The entire room was silent.
Rainbow Dash put the Lily Root on the pile of sand. "Change back," she said to the sand as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Don't die!" she commanded the pile of sand. The pink sand didn't move. Rainbow Dash started to cry. "You can't die!" she cried between sniffs and tears. Rainbow Dash knew that it was too late.
The entire room was silent given the exception of the proud pegasus's sobs. The silence in the room was penetrated by the blue stallion swallowing his pride. "I believe we all need to be treated."
All 53 ponies were treated, excluding Twilight Sparkle. The two unicorns distributed the Lily Root to every last one of them. None of them wanted their money back and every last one kept their clothes, but it didn't matter. Magic Spurt had been taken down, but not without taking one pony with it.
Everypony but the two unicorns and Rainbow Dash had left the boutique to continue with their average lives. Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the party stand next to the sand pile, weeping softly. After the treatment, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle stood next to their friend to mourn the loss of Pinkie Pie.
For the first couple minutes, there wasn't much talking. They mostly stared at the pile of pink sand. There were small yellow and blue patches where her cutie mark used to be. Rarity broke the silence. "Well, I suppose we should say what was great about her."
Rainbow Dash gave a huge sniff. Tears continued to roll down her face when she nodded. "She was always optimistic. Pinkie Pie was always great at throwing parties." The pegasus stopped for a couple seconds to cry. She was proud and would never live down crying, but the pegasus couldn't stand remembering the fun times they had. All of those moments were gone. Rarity gave the pegasus a pat on the back as a couple tears ran down the unicorn's face as well. Rainbow Dash continued her eulogy. "She was...an amazing prankster."
Twilight Sparkle cut in with little to no emotion. "Tell me about it." Then she giggled to herself.
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her. Giggling when Pinkie Pie had just died. The pegasus gave her a sour look.
Twilight Sparkle spoke in a superior, informative tone. "This morning, I noticed that there were two books missing from my library. Both of which were rented by Pinkie Pie. The first one was "Party Magic" which she used to do all of this stuff. The other was-"
The unicorn was interrupted by a book pelting her in the face. As it landed, the title was revealed. "Self-Transformation Spells," A familiar bubbly voice from behind them said. "Thanks for letting me borrow it Twilight."
Rainbow Dash could hardly believe her eyes. The sand that they were mourning moments earlier was gone, now replaced by their pink pony friend, who stood smiling at her friends. "I got you guys good."
Rainbow Dash's eyes were wide open along with her mouth. It was all a prank. Pinkie Pie had just single-handedly pranked the entire party and stopped Magic Spurt at the same time. It was brilliant. Rainbow Dash had to give her friend a tackle hug. "Oh, thank Celestia you're alive!"
Rarity was equally surprised. "You turned into sand to scare the crowd into getting healed. Brilliant if I do say so myself."
Pinkie Pie laughed. "My best prank yet, without a doubt." She didn't look like she was ever turned into sand and certainly didn't act like it.
The pegasus had to join in laughing, too. She was so overjoyed that her friend was alive. "Yep. You definitely had me fooled." She stopped laughing, but still smiled. "So does this mean you get to keep your powers or do you have to lose them?"
Pinkie Pie almost answered, but was preemptively interrupted by Twilight Sparkle. "Heavens, no! You saw how scared we were tonight. I don't have any intention of letting her get turned into sand again."
Rarity nodded. "I couldn't bear seeing you putting your life in danger for some silly magic. Besides, it's time for this to end."
Twilight Sparkle turned to Pinkie Pie. "You understand, don't you?"
Pinkie Pie frowned. "Well, magic is cool and all, but if I were to die, then that would be no fun for any of my friends. Let's heal that big meanie pants virus once and for all."
Twilight's head bobbed happily. "Alright, but there aren't any more Lily Root here. The last two are at my treehouse, so-"
Pinkie Pie was already gone. Teleporting away for the last time. "Well, here goes," the purple unicorn said as she teleported away.
The boutique was abandoned, leaving behind the party decorations, the white unicorn, and the rainbow-maned pegasus. The unicorn turned to Rainbow Dash, and sighed. "Thank goodness all of this drama is almost over."
Rainbow Dash gave a giggle. "Yep. It's all over," she said as she trotted out of the boutique. The secrets and the viruses were finally over. She was going back to her normal life, and out of the boutique and the stress of her friends' potential death. She spread her wings and dashed away.
It was another afternoon months later. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were out in Sweet Apple Acres picking some of the orchard's apples. Applejack didn't mind so long as they didn't take much.
Rainbow Dash put a whole apple in her mouth as Pinkie Pie watched anxiously. "Alriiiight, that's ooooone," she said playfully. The pink pony handed her friend a second apple. Without any hesitation or chewing, the pegasus shoved the second apple into her mouth. Almost choking, she closed her mouth all of the way. "And two!" The pegasus immediately spit out the apples.
"Whoo! That was pretty tough. Alright, it's time to see you do it," the competitive pegasus said with a cocky grin as she kicked the apple tree. Three ripe apples fell out, one by one. Pinkie Pie quickly and easily opened her mouth and scooped up the three apples into her mouth. Her mouth shut to earn the title of "Apple in Mouth Master." Rainbow Dash was speechless.
Pinkie Pie swallowed all three apples and said, "That makes me master of 61 different skills, and makes you master of only 17 skills. Whattya wanna do next?"
Rainbow Dash turned to the hills and looked at all of the trees. "Alright, how aboooooout we try to count how many trees there are in Sweet Apple Acres. Perfect time killer. You in?"
No response from Pinkie Pie.
"Are you in?" she repeated as she turned to her friend. She was gone. Rainbow Dash was confused. Did she decide to randomly start a race of some sort? She walked up the hill to try to see over it. The pegasus looked over the hill to see a huge part of the orchard, but couldn't see any pink. It was just her alone in the orchard. "Huh, how strange," she said to herself. "She probably just remembered she had an order at the Corner or something."
Twilight Sparkle was reading a book about advanced spells in her library. It was another free day for her, which was unsurprising since almost every day was a free day for the princess' assistant. So long as she had a friendship report, she was off the hook.
Suddenly, a voice from behind her screamed, "Lily Root! Lily Root!" Twilight Sparkle opened a drawer and pulled out the flower without hesitation. As soon as the flower was within distance, Pinkie Pie gobbled it up. Twilight quickly used her magic to lift up the pink sand and put back together the small amount of sand that had fallen off of her friend.
Twilight looked at her calendar and flipped back a couple of pages. "So, the incubation period of Magic Spurt is approximately…three months. Thank you Pinkie Pie, this is very informative. Here you go back." Pinkie Pie felt the odd tingling sensation once again in her forehead.
The deal that the two of them made after the party was simple. First, they both figured out how to control Magic Spurt. Then, whenever one of them started to turn into sand, the other would heal them with the excess Lily Root they had. Finally, when the pony was healed, the other would give them Magic Spurt again. The process would repeat continuously. There was no doubt that Twilight felt bad about making this deal between them, but she didn't know when Celestia would need her, and she would need to be ready in case anything were to happen, being her number one student and all. Not to mention, Pinkie had her magic under control and kept a total secret, so everything should be fine.
"Weee! This is a super duper fun idea! Cuz I know that I love magic, and you can hardly do magic at all without Magic Spurt, so it's-"
Twilight stuck her hoof in her friend's mouth. Twilight hated hearing Pinkie Pie talk about her weakness. "Yes. It is fun. But remember that nopony will ever know. Nopony can know I'm being boosted. Nopony can know that you're doing magic. You promised."
The playful pink party pony giggled. "Of course, Twilight. I always keep a promise. Cuz breaking a promise is the easiest way to lose a friend FORE-"
Pinkie Pie was once again interrupted by another hoof in the mouth. "Yes, Pinkie. I know," Twilight Sparkle said slightly annoyed.
"So, let's keep our secret, keep our magic, and most importantly, keep having fun. Sounds good, Twilight," Pinkie said at a supersonic speed. Afterwards, she immediately teleported away. Twilight continued to read with her boosted magical ability as Pinkie Pie reunited with Rainbow Dash to have more fun.
THE END
