Thunder crackled and lightning surged through the clouds above Ponyville. Wind whipped throughout the buildings and the landscape, rain poured down in torrents onto the town. But high above the clouds, Rainbow Dash wasn't affected by any of it as she soared about the clouds around Cloudsdale. She looked down at the blanket of gray that blocked her view of Equestria below her. Hope everypony's inside today, she thought.
A storm had been scheduled for Ponyville to give the town some much-needed rain. The storm was being handled by large groups of pegasi working in teams giving Rainbow Dash a day off from managing Ponyville's weather. She spent the morning flying around Cloudsdale, doing some acrobatics, a few tricks to keep herself in shape. She problably wouldn't be able to see her friends until the storm was over so after a final loop, she banked inward towards the city and headed home.
At her house in Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash picked the latest "Daring Do" novel off her shelf, lay back in bed and began reading. She loved adventure tales and adventuring herself, Daring Do's books were her favorites. After a couple hours, the storm ended and she put the book on her nightstand. Even though she hadn't been involved in the storm, Ponyville's weather was still her responsibility so she decided she'd go down and see the storm's results herself. She'd gotten a tad sweaty working out that morning so she decided to take a shower first.
There was still plenty of water in Cloudsdale to wash herself off, despite the fact that Ponyville had just been drenched by Cloudsdale's own water supply. She washed herself off in her bathroom and stepped in front of the mirror to quickly dry off and push back her rainbow-colored mane into place. She looked at herself in the mirror as she removed the towel when something caught her eye.
Something had gotten in her mane in between the yellow portion of her hair. It looked like some sort of piece of dust at first. She placed a hoof up and leaned forward to examine it closer. It was a strand of hair, her hair, only silver. At first, she didn't know what to think. Her mane didn't have any silver in it, her mind argued. Quickly though, she realized the implications of a silver strand of hair. It had happened to her parents when they'd gotten older and now it was happening to her. It was a sign of age, the first gray hair in her rainbow mane. Eventually, every strain of hair would match that color from her mane to her tail. She would become old mare, like her mother.
Rainbow Dash was distraught. She was only %#! How could this be happening to her? A gray hair? What would her friends think? Would this jeopardize her chances of becoming a Wonderbolt? Her mind raced with unpleasant thoughts of growing older, getting wrinkly. Depressed, she lay back down in bed. All this because of one gray hair. She'd eventually be "Graynbow Dash", as if she didn't have enough nicknames someponies insulted her with. Now they'd be insulting her age. She rolled over and saw the Daring Do novel on her nightstand.
Seeing the book calmed her a bit, took her mind off things for a split second. She took a few deep breaths and thought about things. Everything had been fine up until she saw that cursed gray strand of hair. She'd flown pretty well today, she was at the top of her game it seemed. She was able to perform the Sonic Rainboom, a feat few pegasi could accomplish. Slowly, her confidence came back. Why had she been bothered by such a silly thing in the first place? One gray hair, psssh. Still, it was there and she had to live with it. But she didn't like the color of gray in her mane, Rainbow thought of something to do about it. Maybe Rarity has something to cover it up or color it in, she was great at things like that. That's who she would go see first she decided. Rainbow Dash put the book back in its place on the shelf, exited her house and took to the skies. There was no indication of age in her flying at all as she flew to Ponyville.
The sky above Ponyville was clear. Rainbow Dash dove down over the town and flew over the tops of the buildings, still damp from the storm. The entire town was drenched in healthy, refreshing rain. The roads were wet, few ponies braved going outside. The weather teams had certainly outdone themselves with that storm.
Rainbow touched down in front of Carousel Boutique, Rarity's home and fashion store. She knocked on the door as she approached and tried to tuck the rogue strand of gray hair under the rest of her mane. She brushed it over quickly as the door opened.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash! How good to see you! That was quite a storm Cloudsdale gave us." Rarity said as she answered the door.
"Yeah, they sure know how to whip up a drizzle." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck with her left hoof. "Hey, uh, listen, do you know of anything that could maybe change the color of my mane?"
Rarity looked puzzled. "Why, whatever do you mean Rainbow Dash? Your mane has always been a rainbow of colors! What would make you want to change it?"
"I'm just looking for something a little more, uh..." Rainbow tried to explain but couldn't really think of a reason why. Much to her dismay, she could not find an excuse.
"Is something wrong?" Rarity asked.
"I, um... just look." Rainbow Dash held up her hoof under the gray strain of hair. Rarity took a moment to examine it.
"I don't seem to see what you- oh." Rarity realized after a second.
"I found it this morning. I... I don't know what to do about it. Is there anything you can do? For my mane?" Rainbow asked with a defeated yet hopeful tone in her voice.
Rarity thought for a moment. "Yes, I do believe I have something. Please, come in." she lead Rainbow inside. Sweetiebelle, Applebloom and Scootaloo came out of Sweetiebelle's room as they both entered.
"Hey Rainbow Dash! The pegasi did a great job on the rain storm!" Applebloom said as they passed Rainbow and Rarity in a hurry.
Rarity turned her head to them as they went out the door. "Where are the three of you off to?"
"We're going to try to get our storm chasing cutie marks! I'll be back as soon as we've caught it!" Sweetiebelle said to her sister.
"That's storm's probably long gone by now though." Rarity remarked.
"Yeah, that's why we have to chase it! How else can you expect to get a storm chasing cutie mark if you don't chase a storm?" Scootaloo asked as she closed the door behind her.
"Now, what is it you would like me to do? I can recommend some good shampoo or-"
"Is there anyway you can use some magic to change its color?" Rainbow asked bluntly.
"Magic? It's just one hair Rainbow Dash. You might want to use a different mane product or something but manes just get grayer over time. It's a fact of life."
Rainbow Dash frowned. "I know... I just, I thought it would be far off before I started showing signs of... getting older."
"I assure you. It happens to everypony." Rarity comforted her.
"Even you?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking up.
Rarity recoiled at the statement. "No! I mean, um, not yet, as to say that I haven't noticed anything but I mean, really I just-" she answered nervously. Rainbow's mood became depressed again.
"So I'm just unlucky?" she asked.
"Some ponies show signs of aging... sooner than others but it happens to everypony. Even me... even me..." Rarity trailed off. Rainbow Dash thought about her words for a while.
"You're sure there's not some sort of spell you could use to just change the color so I wouldn't have to start using colouring?"
"Why don't you go ask Twilight? She might have something for you. Yes, I'm sure of it." Rarity said and began motioning her friend out of her home.
"Well, okay. I guess I could come back if she doesn't and-" Rainbow Dash said as Rarity began pushing her out the door.
"Maybe some other time darling, I'm frightfully busy at the moment! Give my regards to Twilight!" Rarity said as she closed the door behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow should've known Rarity would get flustered by something like this. She didn't need to look through the window to know that Rarity was levitating items throughout her house to examine her mane and tail for any gray hairs of her own. Rainbow's head sunk low as she headed towards Twilight's house.
"You want me to what?" Twilight asked.
"I just need you to change the color of one teensy-little bit of hair," Rainbow explained in the middle of Twilight Sparkle's foyer.
"What's wrong with your hair?"
"There's just one of them that... isn't the right color," Rainbow Dash said, looking down at the floor and hoofing the rug.
Twilight raised an eyebrow and grinned as she looked at the pegasus' mane. "Your mane's a rainbow, Rainbow Dash. It's supposed to contain every color of... well, the rainbow. And gray is a color," she giggled.
Rainbow Dash pouted. "Well, I've never seen a rainbow with gray in it. And I've made quite a few of them. In case you forgot."
Twilight smiled. "Gray hair is just a natural part of life Rainbow Dash. There's nothing wrong with it," she said, trying to comfort her friend. "It's part of growing up."
"Auuuugghhh!" Rainbow moaned. "But I'm young! I'm not supposed to be an old mare yet!"
"Sometimes it happens to some ponies earlier than others," Twilight said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "It's perfectly natural."
"I know..." Rainbow replied, looking into her friend's eyes, appreciating the gesture. "Won't be long before everypony starts calling me 'Graybow Dash'. You... you think you could still change it?" Rainbow pleaded.
"Hmm. Well, let me see," Twilight said. She walked over to one of the many bookshelves in her home. Using her magic, she levitated a tome from the rack and brought it down to eye level. Rainbow Dash, airborne, began flying back and fourth near the cieling, the pegasi equivalent to nervous pacing.
"Aging magic is performable by only the highest-level unicorns," Twilight said as flipped through the pages. "But a chameleon spell should be easy enough to do."
Rainbow flew down to examine the book as Twilight turned through it. She could barely understand the symbols imprinted in the book, how Twilight did so was a complete mystery.
"Ah-ha, here. The chameleon spell, good for changing any color on any pony," Twilight announced as she arrived at the correct page. "I've never performed this magic before," she said, cautioning her friend.
"What're ya talkin about? You're a pro, Twilight!" she said, hoping a little encouragement would get results. "If anypony can pull off this spell, you can."
"All right, we'll give it a whirl," Twilight said. She closed the book and turned to face Rainbow Dash. "Are you ready?" she asked.
Rainbow Dash landed on the floor and stood with her head held high. "Ready," she replied, not an ounce of doubt in her voice.
"Okay, here goes," Twilight said. She squinted her eyes and focused on the tiny strand of hair silvery hair in Rainbow's mane. Twilight's horn glowed a bright magenta. Rainbow herself squinted from the brightness of the light but she kept an eye on Twilight, as did Twilight on her target. An aura expanded outward in a circle until it finally reached its peak. At maximum magical capacity, a ray shot out from Twilight's horn and struck the strand. The room was engulfed in a flash and just like that, it was all over. When Twilight opened her eyes, her jaw hit the floor.
"Well? Did it work?" Rainbow asked, trying to see her hair in front of her. What she didn't notice was her coat.
"Uh, Rainbow-" Twilight said, her voice almost trembling.
"Do you have a mirror or something? I can't see my mane." Rainbow looked around for a mirror or reflective surface to examine the spell's effect. Twilight flipped through the pages of the book again frantically, trying to find out what had gone wrong.
"Here we go," she said, grabbing a small mirror off Twilight's nightstand. She brought it to her face and thought there had to be something wrong with the mirror. Rainbow examined it carefully for a quick moment and then examined her reflection again. Not only was her mane a rainbow... but her entire body was too. Her coat from head to tail was a myriad of colors in various swirl, dot and stripe patters.
"Wha-what happened?! I... I look like a..." Rainbow Dash could barely form the words.
"I... I think I might've used the wrong chameleon spell," Twilight said. "I must've misread something somewhere." She flipped through the pages again with a worried expression on her face.
"You made me a chameleon?!!" Rainbow Dash yelled in exasperation. She examined her hooves, her tail, her entire body looked like an abstract art project. "You can fix this, right?!" Rainbow asked, hoping.
"Of course!" Twilight assured her. "Just let me... here we go," she said. She cast another spell on her friend and her body was engulfed in a magic aura again. Another flash burst fourth from Rainbow's body.
"Phew," Twilight wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Thank goodness that worked."
"What's that supposed to mean? I thought you said, 'Of course'!" Rainbow Dash grabbed the mirror and quickly looked over her coat again. Sky blue, rainbow mane... same glint of gray punctuating the bright yellow.
"Well I... I meant, of course I could fix it. But if that spell hadn't worked, it might've taken me a few days... and I might've had to consider paint and brushes as an alternative-"
"Paint and brushes?!!" Rainbow shrieked, realizing how serious her friend was. Rainbow Dash was a Pegasus, magic was not her area of expertise, flying was.
"I'm sorry Rainbow," Twilight said, trying to console her friend again. "I'm not really familiar with these kinds of appearance spells. Unless you want a moustache, that is."
"I think I'll pass..." Rainbow Dash said. "Thanks for trying, Twilight. I think I'll go now..." She slowly walked to the door and opened it.
"Rainbow Dash," Twilight stopped her friend in the doorway. "Maybe Zecora knows something about hair color. She's got potions for a lot of things, she might have one for changing your mane color," she recommended.
Rainbow Dash thought about that. "Thanks, Twilight. That's a good idea," she said. Zecora lived in the Everfree Forest on the edge of town, she could drop by her place and ask her. The zebra was known to have remedies for a variety of things so she just might have one for reversing the appearance of aging.
"Good luck, Rainbow Dash," Twilight bid farewell to her friend. "And let me know if you have any side-effects from that spell."
"Side-effects? What?" Rainbow asked as she departed Twilight's tree home.
"Oh nothing, what are the odds you'll start eating bugs? I'm sure you'll be fine," Twilight said.
"Wait, what was that?" Rainbow stopped and turned back.
"Nothing! Good luck!" Twilight shouted, closing the door. Rainbow Dash swallowed hard, kicked off from the ground and flew in the direction of the Everfree Forest.
