Hitmare

Rainbow Dash didn't bother slowing down to burst through the door of Carousel Boutique. The door was removed from its hinges and launched into the back of the room, leaving her standing in the centre of the shop, snorting and panting, her face a mask of rage.

Rarity turned away from her fidgeting model, giving Rainbow a look of deepest annoyance.

"Can I help you?" She said coolly.

"Yeah, yeah you can." Rainbow replied. "Where's Pinkie Pie?"

"You're paying for that door, you know..."

"Quit stalling! Where is she?"

"Where's who, Dashie?" came a voice from the next room, a voice that Rainbow knew all too well. Zooming past a protesting Rarity, she kicked down the door and tackled her evil nemesis.

Well, she tackled a dress mannequin, but in all fairness, it was quickly subdued.

"What, where...?"

"SURPRISE!" squealed Pinkie, dropping down from the ceiling and nearly giving her friend a heart attack. Before Rainbow could react, the hyperactive pony had her in a bone-breaking big hug.

"Did you miss me? Huh? Did ya?"

"PINKIE...CAN'T...BREATHE..." choked Dash, flapping her wings to try and escape Pinkie's death grip.

"Oops, sorry!" Pinkie giggled, letting go and sending Dash straight into the ceiling..

Pinkie frowned as Rainbow hit the floor again, groaning and getting to her hooves groggily. "What's the matter, Dashie? You seem kind of distracted, and you're looking at me the same way that those nice ponies did when I wouldn't stop following them around and telling jokes!"

Rainbow launched herself forward, tackling Pinkie to the ground. To her surprise, the pinned pony was smiling again.

"See? That's more like it! Now, what's on your mind?"

"What's on my mind?" Rainbow fumed. "WHAT'S ON MY MIND? How about the pranks that you've been playing on me this morning? Does THAT ring any bells?"

"Nope!" Pinkie smiled.

"Don't play innocent with me, Pinkie Pie! I know it was you who loaded that water balloon into that fake present, and it was you who turned my flank bright pink on my way here!"

"What?" asked the little pink pony, confused.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, and turned to the side, revealing a large splatter of pink dye where her cutie mark used to be. Rarity clapped a hoof over her mouth, stifling her laughter. Pinkie paid her friend no such courtesy.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Rainbow yelled.

"Listen, Rainbow my darling." Rarity said, still giggling slightly. "Well, when you find the pony that did that, tell them that I really like their choice of colour, but Pinkie's been with me all morning, haven't you Pinkie?"

"Sure have! We've been trying on hats!" Pinkie smiled.

"What? YOU've been trying on hats?"

"Oh, certainly!" Rarity leaned closer "I told her that I'd compensate her with candy if she modelled for me."

Rainbow Dash stepped back, allowing Pinkie to get to her hooves.

"So if you weren't pranking me, then who was?"

* *   *

Rainbow Dash trotted out of Carousel Boutique, deep in thought. Pinkie Pie was the only other prankster in all of Ponyville, if it wasn't her doing it, then who was?

"Let's see, Pinkie and Rarity were both trying on hats all morning." she thought aloud. "I can rule them out. It's got to be somepony who was angry with me recently, but who?"

She carefully considered the last couple of days, taking off and nestling down on a cloud to avoid the laughs of the townsponies as they spied her bright pink flank.

"Well, I did kind of sneak up behind Applejack and set off a thundercloud." Rainbow thought, chuckling to herself. Applejack's face had been priceless.

"...and I may have freaked Fluttershy out when I jumped out at her yesterday."

...but Fluttershy wasn't known for being vengeful. Most of the time, anyway.

"Well, I guess I did crash into Twilight's library and ruin some of her books...again."

Rainbow suddenly froze stiff.

"You know, Twilight did show up at a pretty convenient time, and stopped me just long enough for whoever got me with the dye to make their move. I bet that she's the one behind all of this!" Rainbow clapped her hooves together in triumph.

As the bright blue pegasus dashed off towards the treehouse, a mysterious mare stood atop a nearby shop, light glinting off her sunglasses. She smiled to herself.

This would be of great interest to The Employer.

And with that, she was gone, vanished from the rooftops.