Rain Booze

Light flooded into Twilight's bedroom, each and every corner of the room sparkled with the sight of books. Birds were chirping, each squeak progressively became louder. The blanket on top of the bed rustled around. The unicorn who was sleeping very soundly started to groan quite a bit. Her eyelids slowly opened. She blinked a few times before realizing that she was now in the world of reality. The eyes closed again, and the birds' chirping started to die down, in the ears of the purple pony.

Twilight's eyes quickly reopen. She sits up and looks around the room. The entire room was visible, which made her worry. So she had to quickly glance at the clock, which read 11:55 AM.

"Spike!!!" she shouted with urgency, "I thought I told you to wake me up before eleven!"
"I'm sorry, Twilight," the dragon jumped up because of the startling shout a that came from his friend's mouth "I had to stay up late with you! My bed time is usually eight o' clock so..."

Twilight gave her assistant a disapproving look. This told him that he should stop talking if he wanted to avoid being yelled at even more. "I have to be at the edge of the Everfree Forest in less than five minutes!" It did not take long for her to realize that wasting time yelling was not really going to help her. So she hurried down the stairs, leaving Spike staring, who was a bit confused. She quickly ran to her kitchen and jumbled through the cabinets. She was frantically looking for what she needed. Finally she found the basket that she was looking for, under the checked picnic blanket. She started to become more angry now knowing that she was not able to find it in plain sight. But there was not time to worry, so she levitated the basket and blanket onto her back and ran out the door.

The wind flew through Twilight's ears, each building zipped by her. Dodging everypony who stood in idle, she could only think to herself. I really hope she isn't mad. I'm going to be late, I've never been late before. Please be there. Please be there. Please be there.

She ran faster and faster, the thought of being late terrified her. But upon arrival to the big tree, nopony was there. Her eyes almost started to shed tears, she kept looking around nervously. Unfortunately, there was nopony in sight. "Rainbow Dash!?!? Where are y-"

"BOO!" Rainbow descended down to the ground with great speed. She landed right in front of Twilight, just a hair from landing on her nose. This caused Twilight to jump and scream. While airborne, she grabbed onto the branch of the tree that shaded the picnic area.

Rainbow starts to snicker, she then could not hold back her laughter. She bursts into a very loud laugh. Her legs become weak because of the humor and collapses. She even starts to snort while squirming to catch her breath on the ground.

She is interrupted with a loud crash. Twilight landed on her back when she fell from the tree. She landed in a crater that her body weight had created. There she lay incapable of getting herself back up. She started to move her legs as if she was attempting to walk upside down. This only made Rainbow start to laugh even more.

"Nice landing, Twilight. I would *cough* give you a ten if humor counted toward a perfect landing." Rainbow slowly stood up while biting her lip to prevent any more laughter from escaping her teeth. Twilight gave her a disapproving look. This made Rainbow become more serious.

Twilight levitated herself to an upright position and stared at the pegasus until she was convinced that the ridiculing had come to an end. She then proceeded to pick up the picnic materials, that have scattered onto the grass, with her magic. She still kept Rainbow in her vision, who avoided eye contact. Twilight signaled Rainbow to sit, and they both did so.

Twilight started to take out all of the food out of their containers, with her hooves, and placed then neatly in front of the two ponies. She noticed that she might have burnt some of the bread, because she smells something similar to burning toast. She lightened up her expression in order to create an appropriate mood for a conversation to spark up.

"So, I haven't really spoken to you much since you told me that you got demoted to a rainbow factory employee. How have you been?" Twilight's eyes glittered in enthusiasm to learn about her friend's status.

"I've been fine. But the new job has been a bit stre-*cough*-ssful. It can be really boring when I have to do jobs where I can't talk to anypony. Plus I think I've started to *cough* gain weight from the lack of exercise." Rainbow lifted her front legs and looked at her stomach in order to show the extra fat that had built up. She quickly put her hooves back down because it was a little embarrassing having Twilight stare at her stomach.

"Well I think that you look healthy as ever" Twilight tried to force a smile, but she could not stop staring at Rainbow's fattened belly. But she resisted the urge after a few seconds. She probably would not have noticed if Rainbow had not pointed it out.

"Thanks Twilight. I still *cough* think that I should be gett-*cough*-ing more exercise. But I guess I'm fine for *cough* now then. *cough*" With each cough that slipped through her lips, her eyes looked more and more tired. The pegasus also progressively become more exhausted as time dragged along.

"Do you have a cold, Rainbow?" Twilight tilted her head in order to get a better look into Rainbow's eyes "You know how much I hate germs, right? If you were feeling sick, then you should have told me and I would've understood." Rainbow avoided eye contact and started to sweat a little; giving a smile that showed that she was hiding something.

"No, I'm fine. It's probably allergies. *cough*" she then proceeded to eat her meal along with Twilight. After a moment of silence, Rainbow reached into her bag to reveal a bottle filled with a brown beverage. She offered some to Twilight, but was rejected because the drink smelled like it was in a toaster. She raised her hoof towards her face in order to start drinking the bottle that she had brought with her. Each gulp she took made a loud noise that made Twilight feel uncomfortable. After Rainbow finished drinking, she exhaled loudly and grinned. Twilight responded with an awkward smile.

"Oh no!" Twilight looked at her front left hoof as if there was a watch "I need to be heading back now, Spike will probably be worried." She gave another smile and walked off. Rainbow was very confused, but she did not think too much about it and just watched Twilight fade off in the distance.

She ran and ran, faster and faster. Her thoughts ran through her mind more frequently than ever before. Oh no. I thought that I've read about that before. Please don't be true. It can't be, not to Rainbow, not to my friend. The more she thought to herself, the more she doubted that her hopes were true.

The door to the library opened very quickly. It made a very loud noise , which made a couple of books fall from their shelves. It also made a certain purple dragon spit a breath of fire from being startled. His claw was still clutching a picture of Rarity. He glanced at it, then glanced at Twilight, and quickly put his beloved picture away. He just smiled at the purple pony, who was panting in place, just standing at the door. She was looking down in idle.

"Um..." Spike looked around nervously "are you okay, Twilight? Were you too late?" Twilight kept staring at the floor as if waiting for a miracle to pop out from under it. She sniffed loudly and looked up at her assistant to reveal the tears dripping down her face. Spike grimaced at the thought of what could possibly have happened to made her shed tears like that. She walked slowly to the books behind him, putting her head back down to let the tears fall to the floor. Spike could do nothing but watch, he knew that asking would probably make the situation even worse. She grabbed a very thin book that was resting on the shelf in front of her. She did not even bother to use her magic. Using three legs, she walked over to the nearest table with a somber expression. The book was put down.

Twilight used her magic to open the book. She flipped through each page carefully and quickly, skimming through each paragraph. Every time a piece of paper turned, it broke the silence with the sound of movement. The flipping of pages stopped. Twilight's fears were finally confirmed.

Symptoms of liquid rainbow addiction include, but are not limited to:
coughing
trouble concentrating
weight gain
exhaustion
isolation
discoloration of mane
odor of burning wheat

Each word she read stabbed a hole through her as she read it. She knew that she has read about this before, but she was not sure before. Now she was more than sure. Her dear friend Rainbow has fallen into an addiction.

Twilight stared at the floor. Her ears went limp. Spike was still standing, staring at her in confusion.

But then her face lit up, and she jumped a few inches off of the floor. "That's it!" She trotted up the stairs as Spike followed.

"What's it?" Spike said nervously. He looked around in confusion, but Twilight still walked along until she used her magic to flip through another book. She squinted to find the right page. She then turned around and started pacing. Each step sounded louder than it should, otherwise it was completely silent.

"When I was on my picnic with Rainbow Dash, her behavior seemed a little bit odd. I came to the conclusion that she was addicted to liquid rainbow, which is highly addictive. I was pretty depressed at the thought at first, now I know what I have to do."

"Abandon her?" Spike quickly regretted his decision to say this when Twilight looked at him like she always does when he says something stupid.

"No ... I need to help her with her addiction. In this book, it outline's another pony's story on his liquid rainbow problem. He said that he created the RAA, which stands for Rainbow Addict Anonymous. Which is ... only in Canterlot." Twilight made a frustrated look "Well I'm not going to give up! I'm sure this book has some details of how the RAA works, and I'm going to try to help her by copying what the RAA does!" Twilight flipped through the book to find any useful information. She quickly switched into concentration mode, this made Spike know that he should probably leave her alone. Everything was tuned out, nothing could break this focus.

In the book, it said that the RAA was just a large community of ponies, who had rainbow drinking problems, that communicate with each other and give advice. How am I supposed to get a large amount of ponies in the same situation as Rainbow? After she flipped the last page, she placed the book down to think. In order to get her mind flowing, she started to pace back and forth across the room again.

I could group together a whole bunch of ponies to pretend that they have problems ... no, that wouldn't allow Rainbow to relate to them as easily. Plus I don't know any pony who would be willing to do it. Maybe I could lecture her like I always do ... no, she would just get bored and leave. After a long amount of thinking and pacing, she made the conclusion that she should probably just start by talking to her about the problem. She now just had to find an excuse to get Rainbow to start talking with her again.

She was sure that she could probably think of something. Right then, she noticed that there was a loud noise coming from behind her. It sounded like somepony making very odd sounds with her teeth. She turned around to see Spike sound asleep. The lack of light coming into the window also suggested that it was late. With a sigh, Twilight slowly walked over to her bathroom to take her shower.

As she lathered herself with the moist soap, she kept thinking of situations that she could use to get Rainbow to start talking to her. I could tell her that I need a test subject for a magic trick. Or I could say that ... her stream of consciousness was interrupted with a pain from her eyes. The soap just washed her eyeball. Her thoughts stopped being concentrated on Rainbow Dash and started on the pain of the soap. She blindly groped around, looking for her towel. It took a few seconds before she finally grabbed it, and started rubbing it vigorously on her face. She was relieved as the pain left her body.

She got out of the shower to introduce a wave of cold onto her body. She shook herself like a dog to get all of the moisture out of her mane and body. She then took her final steps for preparations to go to bed and started brushing her teeth. She noticed that her eyes looked tired.

After rinsing she walked through the door. But before taking a step into her bedroom, she slipped on a puddle of water that was probably from Spike. She landed on her rump with a loud thud. She winced at the pain that flowed through her body. But then she realized, she had left her picnic basket under the big tree. Rainbow probably took it, so she can use that as an excuse to talk to her.

Twilight collapsed into her bed and moved into a comfortable position. The world around her drifted away, and she fell asleep.

Rainbow appeared in front of Twilight. She was very still, and in front of a very large audience, which Twilight was a part of. Twilight also noticed that everypony was wearing black, including herself. Twilight's eyes opened widely. Rarity was next to the idle Rainbow, publicly speaking to everypony. The Rainbow Dash that was there, was also just a picture. There, Twilight looked around to see that she was surrounded by grass, with thin rock slabs sticking out of the ground. A few of the slabs had bouquets in front of them. The picture of Rainbow Dash also depicted her holding a bottle. But as a casket with a blue pegasus was carried toward Rarity, the world started to fade into white.

*knock, knock, knock* "Twilight, are you there?" Twilight woke up, very abruptly. It took a moment for her to be taken back to reality. She blinked a couple times, then slowly got up, still half asleep. When she was walking down the stairs, the knocking became louder and more frequent. She still did not feel much urgency and walked at her own pace to the door. She opened the door to reveal Rainbow Dash.

"Yes ... ?" Twilight struggled to keep her head up to look at Rainbow in the eyes. Rainbow tried to hide the fact that she noticed, but she had to bite her lower lip in order to prevent herself from laughing at Twilight's major bed head. But she then stopped to speak.

"I came to return the basket and blanket that you *cough* left with me. I also came to exchange this for a newer one." Rainbow reached into her bag, with her mouth, and pulled out a "Daring Do" book. She then leaned forward to give it to Twilight, who was slouching and yawning. Rainbow dropped it before Twilight could catch it with her magic and started coughing a few times. Twilight then used her magic to grab the basket, which was in Rainbow's back, and the book. She levitated them to her kitchen. She put her basket, with the blanket inside, on her counter. When she walked back into the main room, Rainbow was already standing inside, and Spike was walking down the stairs. The old "Daring Do" book was put onto a book shelf, where another "Daring Do" book was levitated out. It was then put into Rainbow's bag, who smiled when she saw the cover of the book.

"Thanks, Twilight" Rainbow then walked outside, she seemed like she had something to attend to. Twilight did not respond, but she just stood there with her head looking down with her eyes closed, almost asleep. Spike looked at her and put his hands on his hips. He shook his head in disappointment. He then looked out the window, watching at Rainbow walking away and said "Is there any reason why she wreaked of burning toast?"

"Toast!" Twilight exclaimed as she suddenly was released from her half sleeping state. She jumped a few inches off the ground and quickly looked out the window to make sure that Rainbow did not get far. She sprinted past Spike and through the door. She approached the pegasus with great speed.

"Stop!" Twilight yelled, Rainbow turned her head to see a purple figure getting rapidly larger. Twilight tried to slow down, but her hooves ended up creating a ditch in the ground, and she tumbled forward, passing Rainbow and crashing into a post. Her head was on the ground, and the entire world looked upside down. Rainbow walked casually towards her, not showing the smallest sign that she was going to ridicule her.

"Are you alright?" Rainbow looked worried, she helped Twilight up with her hoof.

"I'm doing just fine," Twilight dusted herself off and looked Rainbow in the eyes "but I'm more worried about you." She pointed her hoof at the pegasus in front of her.

Rainbow pushed Twilight's hoof back down "I don't know what *cough* you're talking about." She looked at Twilight with a hint of confusion in her expression.

"I mean ..." Twilight could not finish her sentence. It was as if something was stopping her from saying what she wanted to say.

"You mean what?" Rainbow tilted her head to show that she was getting more confused about what Twilight really wanted to say here.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something again, but nothing came out. She just could not get herself to say what she was thinking. But she would not give up, with a stomp on the ground and a determined face, she came to say what is on her mind "I'm talking about you're problem. You're problem with liquid rainbows." Rainbow just blinked in response to Twilight's statement.

"I don't have a problem with rain booze, I just-*cough*-'ve been sick, that's all." Twilight had to take a couple of seconds to make the connection between rain booze and liquid rainbow.

Twilight then gave a look of disbelief. "No, there's no worth in trying to hide the fact that you have started to obsessively drink liquid rainbow. I mean, look, your mane is totally unsaturated, and smell like you sun bathed in a toaster." she took a deep breath in order to calm down "It's okay Rainbow Dash, I just want to help you. What you're doing to yourself is unhealthy, and should not be left alone. Don't worry, I'm here for you." Twilight put her hoof on Rainbow's shoulders, but it was almost immediately brushed off. Rainbow's expression started to look a little bit angry.

"Look Twilight, I don't have any *cough* problems." Rainbow jumped in the air and started to flap her wings, she started hovering in midair "I am perfectly fine the *cough* way I am. Even if I did have a problem, I could take care of it myself. In also don't like the fact that I have-*cough*-n't seen you much in weeks, and now your accusing me of being a rain boozer."

"But-" Rainbow shook her head before Twilight could make her argument. She then stormed off, flying back home. She left Twilight, who started to make a sad face at the sight of her friend leaving.