Magic and Laughter (Prologue)
Twilight yawned, and stretched her legs. She rose from her bed groggily and trotted over to her mirror so she could brush her mane. "Wow!" She exclaimed. "My mane is almost as crazy as Pinkie's today!" A magenta aura surrounded a purple hairbrush, and Twilight stroked her hair with it. Wow, She thought to herself, My mane really is messed up! It's almost like the time when I freaked out over a letter to the Princess! Twilight chuckled.
"Well, I gotta start working on a spell Celestia asked me to learn." The unicorn trotted down the stairs to the library.
"Let's see..." Twilight found and scanned the letter her mentor had given her the previous day. "No, no, not this, where's that spell? Aha!" Twilight exclaimed triumphantly, pointing her hoof at the spell's name.
"Twi... Twilight?! What are you doing?" A baby dragon was perched at the top of the stairs, rubbing it's eyes. "It's the crack of dawn!"
"Spike, you know it is imperative that this spell must be learned by the end of the week!" "Yeah, but could you, you know, get up a little later next time? You were making such a ruckus downstairs I woke up from a wonderful dream where Rari - Uh..." The baby dragon turned red as a beet. "You know, I forgot something at Fluttershy's house... gotta go!"
Twilight heard the door slam and sighed. She walked over to the pile of books Spike had knocked over in his mad escape from the library and magically levitated them.
She was about to turn around when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight barely managed to contain her scream when,
"SURPRISEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The lavender unicorn almost had a heart attack.
"...Pinkie?"
"Yup, that's me, silly filly!"
Twilight turned around and tried to contain a rage.
"Well, Pinkie Pie, what are you up to?"
"Ohwellthecakeskickedmeoutforacoupledaysbecauseiatetoomanycupcakesandtartsandpiesandsuchandiwaswastingtheirmoneysoyeah!!"
The unicorn stared at the pink earth pony bouncing before her.
"So, Twi! What do ya wanna do now?!"
"What do you mean, what do you want to do now?"
"Ya heard me! Oh, I know! Let's have a funny face competition! Or how about a cute face competition? The people reading this can be the judges! Let's make cupcakes, no, s'mores, no, wait... i got it... LET'S MAKE CUPCAKE S'MORES!!!"
"..."
"Oh, and I forgot to tell ya, I'm moving in for the week! NOW WHERE'S THAT CUPCAKE BOOK?!?!"
Twilight continued to stare, mouth agape. "You... are moving in?"
"Yessiree!"
The unicorn sighed, knowing that Pinkie already won this soon-to-be argument.
"Fine, but on one condition. No parties! Got it?"
"Oki doki loki!"
Pinkie Pie ran over to the baking section of the library, and quickly found a book.
"All righty, let's BAKE THESE BABIES!!!"
"Uh,"
"Add the sugar. GOT IT. Twilight? Do ya have any sugar? And eggs? And icing sugar? And milk an-" "Yes, Pinkamena, I have all the ingredients in the kitchen."
Pinkie zoomed off at speeds Rainbow Dash would be proud of. She returned quite quickly, arms full of ingredients.
Pinkie stirred and whipped, tossed and turned, added ingredients, measured liquids and solids alike, and finally put the batter into a muffin pan.
"Well, that was fas-"OH SWEET CELESTIA I FORGOT TO PUT IN THE MAGIC BAKING POWDER!!!"
Twilight was amazed how Pinkie could realize such things...
"Well, I got some in one of those drawers over there..."
"Oki doki loki!"
Pinkie rushed off, and came back with a yellowish bottle that looked something like this.
Twilight unscrewed the cap, and found nothing in there.
"Oh no..." Pinkie's hair deflated instantly.
"Uh, I'm sorry Pinks..."
Pinkie looked up at the unicorn, tears in her eyes. Suddenly, Pinkie lifted her head and looked at the lavender pony's horn. Horn! The pink ball of fuzz that was Pinkie's hair came back to life.
"Twi, you are a unicorn! And unicorns can do MAGIC!" Pinkie waved a hoof at the Magic Baking Powder.
"Uh, I don't know, Pinkie." "Pretty please with a cherry on top?!"
Twilight sighed. "Look, Pie, I'll do it, but first I need to practice my spell the Princess told me to learn."
Twilight trotted over to her desk, reviewing the spell Celestia had told her to learn. All right, she said to herself, It's a simple, growth spell. Nothing to it. Wait, GROWTH spell? Twilight looked at Pinkie, who was whimpering and staring at the batter-y cupcakes.
"Pinkie Pie, I have a spell that could help your problem!", Twilight said triumphantly.
"Really?! Let's try it super-duper fast, then! These cupcakes are getting cold! And EVERYPONY knows that the readers don't like cold cupcakes!" Pinkie said excitedly.
"Huh? Uh, OK, then? Whatever." Twilight shook her head in confusion.
"LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!"
"Pinkie Pie, you are so random. Well, anyways, here we go!" Twilight's horn glowed a magenta colour, and sweat was pouring down her face. "You OK Twi?" "Yea...Yeah. I'm fine." A few white sparkles erupted from her horn, and each placed itself onto a cupcake.
The magic stopped, and Twilight collapsed onto the ground. "Well, I never thought it was going to be THAT hard!", she chuckled half-heartedly.
Pinkie grinned, then added, "LETS PUT THESE BABIES IN THE OVEN!!!"
The pink earth pony slid the tray into the pre-heated oven, and pushed the "bake" button.
Pinkie sat on her haunches, staring at the oven.
"Uh, Pinkie?" "Yesseriee?" "Let's do something while we wait." "Oki doki loki!"
Pinkie Pie trotted up to Twi, and put on a silly face. "Now show me your best face!" She giggled.
"Well..." Twilight pulled back her eyelids and lolled out her tongue. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Pinkie fell over, laughing.
"Wait, Pinkie, what's that smell?"
"Silly Twilight, you know it wasn't me!" The pink one giggled.
The lavender unicorn rolled her eyes. "No, not that kind of smell."
"I'll go check on it then, Twi!"
Pinkie bounced over to the kitchen, and immediately stopped in her tracks. A dozen, monster cupcakes were rolling around on the floor. And if that wasn't the worst of it, then the flames were. Fire, engulfing the oven, walls and cupcakes alike, was spreading very quickly. Pinkie took a deep breath, but only to breathe in smoke. "HELP!!!!" She screamed.
A moment later, Twilight teleported right into the flames, and screamed. She ran out, her mane and tail on fire. Her horn was sizzling, but that didn't stop her from using a water spell that estinguished most of the flames on her body.
Pinkie ran over to help her, but met a cloud of smoke.
"Ack!"
Twilight collapsed, unable to take the intense heat. But before she was ready to give in, she spied the fire dancing, making it's way into the streets of Ponyville.
"NO!" Twilight screamed, and her eyes became pure white light. A powerful jet of water from her horn destroyed the fire, but the smoke still lingered.
Twilight fell once again, and this time did not get up.
"Twilight? -cough- You awake? -cough- Don't go away, Twi, -cough-!"
Pinkie sat on her haunches and embraced her deceased friend. "You know, -cough- did I -cough- ever tell you the -cough- story of how I got my -cough- cutie mark? Well, when I was a little filly, -cough- I had two sisters. -cough- We worked on a rock farm with our parents. -cough- Can you imagine that, Twi? Me, -cough- working on a rock farm!" The pink pony chuckled. "And you know what? One -cough- day, I was harvesting the rocks on the -cough- south -cough- field, when I saw a -cough- beautiful rainbow! -cough-"
Pinkie pie continued to tell this story until the smoke overcame her lungs. As the deadly gas consumed her she smiled and sang a bit of a song her Granny Pie used to sing. "Giggle -cough- at -cough- the gho-cough-sties..."
And then Pinkie closed her eyes for what she thought was the last time.
******************
Pinkie Pie woke up with a start.
She had a terrible nightmare - a nightmare involving monster cupcakes and fire. Lots and lots of fire.
The pink pony stood up and took a look at her surroundings.
She was in a blindingly white room, and she looked up to see a pure white alicorn, with a reddish mane and a golden laurel wreath resting apon her graceful head.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie?"
Pinkie gasped ever so slightly and nodded. The alicorn smiled and looked behind Pinkie.
"My name is Queen Faust, mother of Celestia and Luna. I am the Guardian of Equestria. And you," She said, "Are Pinkamena Diane 'Pinkie' Pie. The Element of Laughter, am I right?"
"Uh huh, Queen Faust!"
The alicorn grinned, then looked behind Pinkie.
"Oh look, your friend is waking up!"
Pinkie turned around and saw Twilight sprawled on the ground. Her head was stirring!
"Uhhuuh..." Was all the unicorn managed to say before she was attacked by a pouncing Pie.
"TWILIGHTYOURALIVEYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYWESHOULDHAVEAPARTYWITHCAKEANDBALLONSANDCUPCAKES!!!!"
Twilight looked up at the pink pony and, of course, the alicorn.
"Who... Where... Who are you and what am I doing here?" the unicorn cried.
"Yeah, Queenie! Where are we? And where are our friends?" Pinkie exclaimed.
"You will find out soon enough, my little ponies. And now, we wait for your friends."
Honesty and Loyalty (Prologue)
"...And then I'm going to do a triple loop-de-loop and whisk those clouds out of the air, just like what Daring Do did in The Griffon's Goblet!" Rainbow Dash said proudly.
"Y'all think this here's a good idea, Dash?", an orange earth pony remarked.
"Well, duh, AJ! You think the awesomest pony in Ponyville can't pull off a minor trick like that?! Remember the time I did the Sonic Rainboom last year?!"
"Well, ah believe in ya, Rainbow, but doesn't this seem, ah dunno, a little risky? Ah swear ah saw a lightnin' spark in one of of 'em."
"Really, Applejack? Really?! I'm the chief weather pony of Ponyville! I've done this kind of thing my entire life!" The Pegasus exclaimed.
"Fine, then. Suit yarself. But if anythin' goes wrong, ah swear you can count on me to catch ya." Applejack rolled her eyes as Dash glared at her.
"But it's obviously not gonna happen."
"OF COURSE it's not gonna happen! I am Rainbow Dash, after all." The proud pony puffed out her chest.
"Now let's do this!" Rainbow Dash shot up into the sky and stretched her wings. It was a pretty cloudy day, but that didn't matter. She started off with her usual warm-ups - some dives and flips - and eventually moved to her more advanced tricks.
********************
With the wind blowing in her mane, Rainbow Dash felt like she was in heaven. She loved that feeling, it made her feel oh-so-free!
All right, she thought, Let's show those clouds who's boss!
She was attempting a dive, and was getting pretty close to the ground, when she shot straight up like a bullet, narrowly missing a couple tall trees. The light-blue pegasus then spun into the sky at breakneck speeds, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Rainbow Dash catapulted into the air and did a couple flips, followed by a triple loop-de-loop.
Showtime...
Rainbow Dash dashed (save the pun) into the sky and directed herself at the group of clouds. She extended both hooves and charged towards the stubborn columbuses at full speed.
The clouds were coming closer and closer by the millisecond. Just before Rainbow collided with them, she saw a very distinctive spark...er... spark from the biggest one!
Oh manure...
Rainbow crashed into the electric clouds, and immediately regretted it.
She was flying through a mound of black fluff, with the occasional flash of electricity.
"Gotta get outta here..."
Rainbow Dash!
The sky-blue pegasus turned around, puzzled.
"That's funny, I thought I heard my name! The only pony watching me is Applejack...
"Oh manure."
A bolt of lightning narrowly missed RD, but managed to graze her tail.
"What the..."
Where the bolt struck suddenly started smoking, then burst into flames! (DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNN)
"HOLY CELESTIA!!!"
Rainbow Dash's tail suddenly became a unquenchable flame, consuming steadily. The pony dived into the cloud, but had no effect. This cloud was like no other, purely consisting of electricity.
That's it... I'm gonna die...
Tears were streaming down her face as the fire grew.
"Wait, what am I saying?! I'M RAINBOW DASH, FOR LUNA'S SAKE! I'M GONNA LIVE!!"
With that, Dash shot through the cloud, and within a matter of seconds she managed to escape from it. But the fire still lingered, and it's tongues were licking her legs, thighs and finally up to her flank, burning them.
The last thing she saw before blacking out was an orange earth pony shouting at her in front of a lake.
*******************************************
"What th' hay is she doin?" Applejack squinted at a unmistakable rainbow blur.
"What's th't on her tail? It looks like..." The orange pony's face turned white.
"Oh horseapples. Is that fire?!" The earth pony frantically looked around and shouted at Rainbow Dash's direction.
She's comin' awfully fast...
"RAINBOW!! RAINBOW DASH!!! CAN YA HEAR ME?! DON'T WORRY! I'MMA CATCH YOU, JUST LIKE AH SAID!!"
Applejack stood up on her hind legs and positioned herself for Rainbow's 'landing'. A promise is a promise, after all.
She braced herself and waited for the worst.
*******************************************
"OW! DAMMIT! That friggin' HURTS!!!"
Rainbow Dash tried to get up, but collapsed on her back legs.
"Aaaahhhh!"
Her legs had snapped, and one of her wings was surely broken. The rainbow maned pegasus tried to open her bad wing, but with no success. She was dripping wet, and a nasty cut bloomed on her forehead.
Thank the Princesses I'm not a unicorn...
Rainbow sighed in agony, and prepared to limp her way to the Ponyville hospital, when she remembered Applejack.
Dash turned around (as best as she could) and let out a gasp. Her best friend was lying on the ground, motionless. A big bruise blossomed on the orange mare's stomach, and she had a big red welt on her head.
"Oh sweet mother of Luna..."
Rainbow rushed (again, as best as she could) to Applejack, and struggled as she tried to slide the earth pony on her back, resulting in more cries of pain. Dash flipped her over, examining Applejack's injuries.
"AACK!!"
A big crack ran through AJ's motionless head, and bits of skull were showing.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!! AJ! Wake up!! C'mon, let's get you to the hospital!!
Rainbow fell on her haunches and started crying. Crying for her friend, crying for her friend's family, crying for her friend's friends.
After a while, Dash wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up with all the strength she could muster.
"WHY!? WHY IS MY BEST FRIEND DEAD!?!? TAKE ME INSTEAD OF HER!! I BEG YOU!!! IF YOU DON'T I'LL...."
Rainbow continued to sob. "Just... just take me. Take me instead of her. Pegasi don't live that long, anyways... just.. please."
"Is that what you want?", a mysterious voice said.
Dash looked up instantly.
"Yeah. I want that!"
"Are you sure? This is your life we are talking about..."
"YES I AM SURE!!"
"All right then. See you two soon!"
"Huh?" was all Rainbow Dash could say before she was engulfed in darkness.
**************AUTHOR'S NOTE************************
Thank you so much you guys for reading and tracking! I would also like to apologize for the big gap... curse you, homework!
Anyways, I would also really appreciate taking suggestions from you! Don't be shy to comment! Cya! -ARD
