To be a Cinderainbow

Rainbow Dash looked herself over in the mirror, her eyes tracing over her form slowly. Her mane had been combed and pulled back in a small...pony tail, her tail as well had been smoothed out with the care of an expert. She wore a dress, Green with golden trimming, the holes for her wings marked the beginning of a pattern consisting of small flowers from the base of the wing to her flanks. The pattern was a simple one, the flowers do small waves and weaves around each other until the joined again on the base of the outfit witch ended halfway down her tail.

She turned to Rarity, who was standing there, waiting for her words of approval or disapproval. She wore an expectant grin, her eyes sparkling with apprehension, she was almost leaning on her front hooves as she looked into her eyes.

"Well Rarity, I don't know what to say except... it's better than what we tried last, I guess" Rainbow gave her answer, her voice even and timid. She would normally be tearing her mane out and complaining about Rarity Dressing her up, but she was under special circumstance.

"Are you sure Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked "If you want I can take out the pattern and leave it plain, maybe a different color" Rarity began to speak faster as her anxiousness began to rise.

Rainbow lifted a hoof to her mouth to silence her friend before she got to out of hand. "Its okay Rarity, I love it, the color, the pattern- Everything!" Rainbow smiled as she finished her approval. "Don't freak out because im unsure of it, it is me your dealing with after all"

Rarity calmed down and smiled back at Rainbow Dash, "Thank you, darling, im dreadfully sorry about that, I was just worried about you being upset with my design." Rarity's smile disappeared, "It's already difficult to get you to wear anything anyway's, I didn't want to make you think it was a mistake coming to me with your problem." Rarity sighed, her head lowering a bit and her working glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose.

It had taken roughly three or four hours to go through most of the outfits and designs Rarity wanted to try and another hour or so getting Rainbow Dash to pick one she would be content with. The pony tail was Rarity's idea although she did make sure Rainbow knew her objection to her choice of style, the dress seemed to formal to her, but Rainbow stood firm, wanting to look 'Awesome enough for any pony' as she put it apparently required a dress that should only be seen near Canterlot.

Rarity sighed again as she lifted her head to examine the 'damage' done to her boutique. Many outfits lay around various locations in her workshop, each one suffering the cruel fate of falling into hooves of a certain rainbow manned mare. Rarity did not have time to concern herself with cleanliness when it came to her friends situation.

As she scanned the room, she took notice to herself, her mane had become slightly frazzled, her glasses sat on the end of her muzzle her eyes bore darkened circles ender themselves and her eyes held an exhausted look to them. She put her lips into a pout and began to fuss over herself as she took notice to her coat, letting out a stream of whines as she took to fixing herself.

Rainbow Dash sat across from her, looking at the scene with some amusement and confusion, not understanding what Rarity was fussing over. She had her head tilted to the left, she moved back and forth on her hooves with trepidation and nervousness, not understanding what her friend was doing or knowing what to do in a situation. She understood that Rarity preferred to be clean and look nice, but she didn't think Rarity looked bad at all, whenever she noticed her mane was... different than how she kept it normally a simple brush with her hoof or some water and a shake of her head fixed that. Her grooming habits consisted of little more than bathing, dental hygiene and basic mane care.

Rainbow took to looking herself over in the mirror again as Rarity continued to fuss over herself, moving out of the room to look for things Rainbow dash didn't care to concern herself over such as different cosmetics and styling equipment. She took notice to her mane and coat, how they had been combed back and the hair tie made her long mane collect to the right side of her head. The dress covering her chest, back and flanks flowing with each movement, its silky texture feeling  strange to her against her coat. She looked down at the dress, trying to examine the golden buckle witch held it to her body.

It was in the shape of her Cutie mark, apparently Rarity had these buckled pre made a while back 'Just in case a special occasion would arise or simply as reminders of who my friends with are' Rarity had explained. It made sense to her, she enjoyed keeping small things to remind her of happy memories within her home as well.

Rainbow Dash called out for her friend, then realized that she had taken her leave to fix her mane and coat. With a sigh of irritation, Rainbow Dash made her way to the door of the boutique, pausing to leave a small coin pouch on the table near the entrance.

Rainbow Dash left the boutique the same way she had before, her head down and wanting to avoid any and all confrontations with other ponies. She was exhausted, she desperately wanted to fly up to her home and rest, but standing still for hours and wrestling with clothing one could expect to be tired out.

As she began the trot  in a random direction she was suddenly stopped by wall, this one harder than the last. Again she found herself rubbing her muzzle after being thrown back onto her rump. She looked up, finding herself yet again staring into light blue eyes.

"Dashie, why are you even more cutesie wootsie than before?" Pinkie asked her friend, confusion evident in her voice. "I thought you were fine without the dress, what's the occasion" Pinkie batted her eyelashes as she moved closer to her friends face, her muzzle pressed up against her face, eyes staring into hers expectantly.

Pinkie suddenly pulled back as she gasped, pulling her hoof up to her mouth in exaggerated surprise. "Your not going to a fancy part and not inviting me are you?!" Pinkie asked loudly, again attracting attention to her and her rainbow manned companion. "Rainbow Dash, if your going to a party you better invite me as well!" Pinkie put on a pout mixed with a scowl as she lectured Rainbow Dash in the middle of the town marketplace.

"No, I.. Pinkie please, I was just... wanting to go home is all." Rainbow Dash said through her teeth, her irritation for her Pinkie friends lack of subtlety and respect. She began to grind her teeth a bit as she looked at the cotton candy menace hopping in front of her. "Please Pinkie... can I just go home?" Her teeth were starting to ache as Pinkie continued to hop around.

Pinkie stopped hopping for a second, stopping mid air for half of said second before dropping to the ground with a soft thud. Pinkie took notice to her friends expression and the ponies that were staring. She knew what to do, she decided to smile again and resumed hopping  as she got an idea. "Okey dokey Dashie, you can go home and be a mopey wopey pony and miss out on my awesome party if you want"

Dash stopped her jaw grinding as she realized what Pinkie had just said. A party? Now? She just couldn't decide between going home and avoiding embarrassment or having a good time. Rainbow Dash couldn't resist a party unless it was absolutely necessary, each side gave excellent reasons to take them over the other, her mixed feelings must have been notice because her pink friend spoke up.

"Well?" She asked "Are you going to be all mopey or are you going to party with me?" Pinkie's eyes lit up as she began to explain her plans to Rainbow Dash "Oh, I've got all kinds of things planned for this party, I was selected to throw this party in Ponyville by Celestia, you know" Pinkie grinned as Rainbow Dash's  eyes widened with disbelief.

"No way..." Rainbow muttered slowly. "Celestia is letting you design a party for HER?!" Rainbow Dash almost shouted the last part of her statement. Her face flushed with embarrassment, many ponies again gazing their way at the sudden outburst. "What's the party for anyway?" Dash asked.

"Silly, its not for the princess" Pinkie giggled at Rainbow's assumption "I may be good at throwing parties, but im not good enough to design celebrations for the princess" she scoffed.

"You're not?"Rainbow Dash was now even more confused "Then why are you throwing this massive party?" Pinkie giggled again, mischief finding its way onto her face as she smiled evilly at Rainbow Dash.

"Oh...nopony in particular... just the Wonderbolts." Pinkie said casually while rubbing her hoof against her chest, pretending to shine it as if it could be at all.

The look on Rainbow Dash's face was priceless, her jaw had gone slack, her eyes dilated and her voice had gone to little more than a small pathetic squeak which could have be identified as either a squeak terror or amazement.

Several moments passed and Pinkie wasn't sure wether or not she had accidentally broken her friend and should check to see if she was still breathing or to be laughing her flank off at her friends expression. "You okay Dashie?" Pinkie asked with a bit of concern in her voice, but mostly just giddy enjoyment.

After another moment Rainbow dash finally came to her senses, shaking her head as she began to hyperventilate. Her idols, The Wonderbolts, in Ponyville? What if they see her? What if they don't approve of her new look, temporary as it may be?!

Rainbow dash began to sweat as her thoughts became erratic and fearful. If her idols were to see her dressed and all pretty, they would surely get the wrong idea, maybe even think of her to be a Canterlot official or something, maybe a mare who was trying to hard? She couldn't be thought of like that, nopony would take her seriously if the Wonderbolts themselves thought of her a fraud or desperate for attention or something.

"Dashie?" Pinkie stopped bouncing , shaking her hoof in front of Rainbows face. "Dashie, Snap out of it!" Pinkie shouted.

Rainbow Dash blinked, brought out of her thoughts by a sudden loud noise. Looking around she slowly remembered what she was so worked up about beforehand. "Pinkie, how did you mange to get the Wonderbolts to come to Ponyville?" Rainbow was still sweating as she asked that question.

Pinkie giggled before answering: "I spoke with their trainer multiple times and was able to catch him when they had a few spare days in their schedule" Pinkie giggled again as she began to hop away "The party is already set up, they should be arriving any moment!" Pinkie gave one last giggle before disappearing into the crowd that was beginning to form around the marketplace.

Rainbow Dash  took in her surroundings, cords connected around the marketplace were tied to nearby housing and stalls, small lamps hung from the cords in a pattern, each lamp separated by a balloon witch she realized were set in a way that kept the cords floating. Streamers of many different colors hung from the buildings and stalls as well. Dozens of tables were setup filled with mountains of different confectionaries and sweets. Cakes of all shapes and sizes lined the buffet tables, a chocolate fountain sat in the center, surrounded by bowls of fruit. Beverages were served opposite of the buffet, the usual punch found at on of her cotton candy friends parties were replaced with bottles of rum, whiskey, regular beers, wine both red and white and even expensive imports from the Griffon kingdom. A Speaker system was setup behind the scenes , the cords hidden from view as the snaked around different poles and other obstacles in the road linking to speakers pointed directly in the open area witch she guess was the Dance floor.

A teal coated unicorn stallion with a purple mane adorned with a streak of white down the middle was lighting the lamps that hung above him and the many gathering ponies as he walked past them, His Cutie mark was a party hat and candles. At he buffet table was another pony, this one an earth pony mare, her coat was a mix between yellow and orange, her mane was light green, her Cutie mark was a party popper surrounded by confetti. This mare was arranging the many bottles into simple patterns and small stacks while filling a small cooler with crushed ice and some water.

The buffet table had two ponies looking over it, both were stallions. One was gray Pegasus with a charcoal black mane, his Cutie mark was a serving tray and a small butler bell, the other was another Pegasus who was white with a cream colored mane, his Cutie mark was a slice of cake witch oddly enough was wearing a chefs hat. Each stallion was checking over the assorted foods and sweets, making sure each was accounted for and arranged in a convenient manner.

Rainbow dash then took notice to the sky, the moon was now making its ascent above Whitetail woods with the Everfree Forest slowly swallowing the last remaining beams of the sun as it slowly receded behind the treetops.

All this time she was in the boutique, she was coincidentally getting dressed up the same night a large scale celebration was setup for the Wonderbolts for a reason that had yet to be specified. It angered her as well as confused her. With an angry huff, she stood up  and made her way into the still growing crowd of ponies in search if the cotton candy menace, expecting an explanation.

Pushing past ponies while ignoring the protests and shouts of surprise, she shot her head left and right, trying to pick out the pink mane of her friend amongst the crowd of multicolored ponies. As she neared the dance area she spotted her, doing a sequence of what Rainbow Dash assumed to be metaphorical dance moves and not regular dance moves. She was doing something strange witch Rainbow Dash assumed she was already fairly intoxicated judging from the few bottles witch lay scattered around her feet. She was also sure her friend had caused a few ponies harm due to a few rubbing various extremities such as a foreleg or their jaw.

With some hesitant movements and lucky timing, Rainbow Dash grabbed the pink blue by the mane with her teeth and began to drag her towards the edge of the party. She began grinding her teeth again as she made he way through the crowd, many ponies giving her strange looks and some even had a suggestive look to them, she now was angry and embarrassed.

She reached the edge of the party and pulled Pinkie behind a small bush. Pinkie was still a bit confused as she was rolled onto her back after being dragged an undetermined distance, at least to her. Her eyes were still rolling as she received an evil and accusatory glare from a multi colored blob standing over her.

"Pinkie Pie!" The blob yelled "Why did you throw this party?!" she could tell the blob was angry not by its tone , volume or what it was asking, but because she knew the grinding sound all to well.

"Because it'sh your birfday, shilly" Pinkie slurred to her Rainbow colored friend who still held the figure of a blob. "Gee, Dashie... you really let yershelf go" the drunk mare added.

"What?" was all Rainbow Dash could say to both statements. It was her birthday? How could she have forgotten? Why didn't anypony remind her? Why-wait... did Pinkie just call her fat?

The party suddenly stopped as a loud and frightening sound reverberated through the air. A cry of anger, and then a loud slapping noise followed by a small "Ow..." was all that was heard for a few moments before the party hesitantly began again.

Rainbow Dash sat rubbing her hoof and looking at Pinkie with a face still showing anger and some regret. She looked at the large hoof shaped mark on her pink friends face, intoxicated mare seeming to notice only the fact that she was hit by something but became distracted by the cyan Pegasus sitting on top of her. "Did you shee that donkey cart that jusht hit me, Dashie?" Pinkie asked drunkenly "I need to get it'sh ownersh name so I can give them a peicsh of my mind!" She continued with goofy look of anger and confusion on her face.

"NO!" Rainbow dash yelled suddenly" Uh, I mean...ehm, no I didn't" She corrected herself softly as she put her hoof behind her head, her cheeks again became flushed with embarrassment.

Laughing nervously she got off her friend and help her to her hooves. "So, uhm... you said that this was my birthday party?" Rainbow Dash asked timidly, brushing her hoof along the ground, finding it difficult to maintain eye contact with Pinkie.

"Oh yea, Thish was a surprish for you" Pinkie hiccupped before continuing "I got the Wonderblotsh to come shee you!" She added happily while rocking back and forth slightly. "Happy Birfday Rainbow Dash" Pinkie giggled and hiccupped as she said that. "Happy birfday Rainbow Dash" Pinkie hiccupped in the middle of her sentence.

"I can't let them see me like this Pinkie!" Dash yelled at her again. "These are some of the most famous ponies in the world, they would laugh if they saw me like this" Her eyes once again display her fear. Her face was the pure epiphany of fear, she looked absolutely terrified and yet still this was lost on Pinkie's alcoholic happiness.

"Don't worry Dashie, you'll be fine, they should be here any minute!" She trotted off as she mentioned that, her steps uncoordinated and wobbly. On her way through the crowd she once again left many ponies displeased at being shoved around and having their hooves stepped on. Half flanked apologies were thrown around as she continued on, beginning to hop once again as she disappeared into the fray of multicolored bodies, her shouts mixed in with the many others that followed her.

Rainbow Dash was panicking, trying to find a good place to hide, ducking under tables and into bushes only to realize that they were either to small or she was noticed by a passing pony easily. She became even more frantic as her options became less and less appealing, without table cloths to hide her under the tables or shrubs big enough to hide a full grown mare her only hope would be to abandon the party, if she did that she would likely be hunted down by Pinkie and be questioned. She couldn't tell her friend she was scared of her idols, that just didn't fit her image!

She was broken out of her thoughts as many of the ponies in the party began to cheer and clop their hooves in applause. Rainbow dash instantly knew that she was doomed. With a large gulp and a feeble attempt at a brave face, she turned slowly to the source of the noise.

There in Casual party outfits, smiles on their faces and in all their famous glory, were the very ponies she feared. The Wonderbolts had arrived, Landing in a V formation in the middle of the buffet area. The center of the party area happened to be right where she was. She was frozen to the spot, her heart beating faster and faster the longer she stared at the four ponies. They scanned they party area as more cheers rose from the surrounding ponies, a few whistles and cries from several fans broke through the large chorus of shouts and cheers, her ears flattening to keep the sound from hurting her ears.

They noticed her staring at them, the leader raised an eyebrow at her, obviously a bit confused at the rainbow manned mare wearing an outfit worthy of Canterlot in front of her. She thought she didn't look to out of place, but considering the outfits the Wonderbolts wore, she now realized that she was probably more out of place than Rarity on Applejacks orchard.

The leader let her gaze fall upon the crowd of ponies, still cheering and calling their names. She cleared her throat and stepped forward. "Hey everypony, Spitfire here!" Spitfire called out. The cheers increased for a few moments before dying out to allow her to speak again. "We were informed that a certain pony, who happens to be the birthday girl here today, was the one who saved our lives during the Best Young Fliers Competition!" Spitfire let the cheers die down again before speaking again "Is Rainbow Dash in the crowd here today?" Spitfire waited for an answer, only a few whispers and some befuddled expressions were received.

Spitfire looked down to where she had last seen the mare in front of her, the space being empty. She remembered the rainbow mane and the outfit as well, where had Rainbow Dash gone? She didn't think the one who saved her life was one to ditch her own party and her moment of glory with one of the best known celebrities in Equestria. What motivate her to leave so quickly?

These questions ran about in Spitfires mind as she held her gaze to the floor where Rainbow Dash had been. Many ponies still searching for her whereabouts. Some said they saw her fly away, but to where?

Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie as well as the rest of Rainbow dash's friends had gathered around the buffet table, each one wearing concerned expressions. Rainbow Dash had abandoned them at her own birthday party. Something was definitely wrong with their friend.

"Was it the dress I made her?" Rarity spoke up, "She isn't off somewhere trying to find something else to wear because she was frightened of being seen in my designs was she?" Rarity looked hurt. Having already expressed her anxiousness at her boutique when Rainbow Dash was with her,wanting the only outfit Rainbow Dash willingly wore to leave an excellent impression.

Pinkie was having some difficulty keeping her balance even while sitting. Hiccupping and giggling randomly at the smallest things, witch wasn't to abnormal when she was sober minus the hiccups anyway. "Maybe she thought the Wonderboltsh would think she looked fat?" Pinkie suggested, earning her death glare from Rarity.

"This doesn't look good at all, Rainbow Dash isn't the type of pony to let a challenge fly over her, why would she let a dress  get in her way of meeting the ponies she has looked up to her whole life?" Twilight asked aloud. "What if she's hurt?" She added.

"Ah don't care wether 'r not she's in a frilly, frou-frou outfit Rarity made her 'r not, ah want some answers as 't why she would up and abandon us!" Applejack stated sternly. " She better have a good reason fer leavin'" She added as she finished a cup of whiskey, making an audible thud as she brought her hoof down to the table.

"Well girls, wether or not she had a good reason, we have to find her" Twilight stated while standing "If Rainbow Dash is in trouble, we should leave now" Twilight began to trot away from the table, The rest of her friends following her, each one wore an expression of determination aside from applejack, who wore one of bemusement and irritation.

Whatever problem Rainbow Dash had, surely they could fix it.. Right?