She stared at herself in the mirror and scowled. Hours of scrubbing and washing and more scrubbing left her with only pain and stinging eyes. Why did she let Pinkie talk her into going all out for her Nightmare Night costume? Whatever she had dumped into her once glorious rainbow mane wasn’t going to come out unless she resorted to drastic measures.
Or at least, did something out of revenge to feel better about the situation. Come to think of it, what would a monochrome Rainboom even look like? Twilight would think it was the end of the world.
Organizational Skills
Twilight, meanwhile, had a conundrum of her own. The library was a mess after her current bout of studying, leaving the rare opportunity to resort the whole thing. She was torn on whether to do it alphabetically, thereby ensuring that the Elements were always under E, or to follow the tried and true Dulmen Decimal System that every library used. It didn’t help matters that she was currently absorbed in a book of old pony tales, one in particular about some demonic type force and it’s so-called Rainbow of Darkness.
Not that such things were real, Twilight noted.
A Gem Too Far
What she wouldn’t give for a Rainboom right about now.
Rarity stared at the giant rock, her horn pulsing at the no doubt large deposit of gems inside. Of all days for Spike not to come with her for gem hunting. Granted his little bouts of eating (or hoarding) the loot were easy enough to tolerate if only for his company. Rarity was a very social pony, and she hated going to events alone. Even more so since the incident with those Diamond Dogs.
She glanced over her shoulder. None in sight so far. Perhaps they learned their lesson.
Sick Day
It was bound to happen eventually. Fluttershy had caught the feather flu and was currently stuck in bed. The little visit from the stranger pony with the monochrome mane had been exciting, and a much needed boost of morale when she found out it was Rainbow Dash. Laughter is the best medicine after all, which might explain why Pinkie never left her to rest. The crashing and banging in the kitchen downstairs was occasionally punctuated by Angel Bunny’s overreactions like Pinkie was going to burn the place down.
Of course, knowing Pinkie, that wouldn’t be too far fetched.
My Mare!
Pinkie smiled to herself as she prepared Fluttershy more soup. Seeing her prank on Rainbow Dash work so well made the tantrum she was going to face later well worth it. No way her Dashie could top a prank like that.
It felt nice to finally get rid of all the tension between them and do things right. Now they were better friends than ever, so to speak. Alone, they were perfectly capable of getting into trouble. But together, they had become an unstoppable force of mayhem and mischief.
Ponyville didn’t stand a chance against the brewing prank war.
An Apple A Day
Applejack stood dumbfounded, trying to pinpoint who to blame for the mess the south field had become. She only knew one pony capable of pulling off a Sonic Rainboom, but the fact that it was as black and white as a polecat added an air of mystery. Whoever caused it, the shockwave cracked trees in half and sent apples scattering everywhere. Apple Bloom thought a twister was coming, the racket it made.
At least whatever did it had the courtesy to make sure it only hit the area of the orchid that had been struck with a case of blight.
Blight
Dash stood on a cloud and admired her handiwork. The monochrome explosion in the middle of the sky almost looked like a hole tore in the fabric of time-space, waiting to suck up anything in its path. She had to admit, it looked awesome. Maybe even say, ‘wicked’.
Applejack should thank her for the free tree clearing service. A few free apple fritters would suffice. One bad apple spoils the bunch, after all, and those blighted trees weren’t going to clear themselves.
It would take her and Twilight a while to figure out what had happened. Plenty of time.
Twilight Sparkle righted herself and shook the daze from her mind. The already scattered books now in even more disarray. Once the room stopped spinning and her heart returned to normal, she rushed to the window in a vain hopes of finding the source of the explosion.
Instead, she was greeted with an anomalous black hole slowly stretching across the sky. She dashed over to a pile of books, and found the one she had been reading. The Rainbow of Darkness, she thought. The image in the book looked almost exactly like what was currently entrancing the town.
Oh no.
Bloody Panic
“We’re doomed!”
“Relax! It’s just a Rainboom.”
“It’s not a rainbow! It’s all dark and scary!”
“You’re a princess now, act like one!”
“You’re right. I need to calm down and think this through.”
“And even if the world did end, you gotta admit, it does look kind of cool.”
“Spike!”
“What? Dash would think the same thing.”
“Rainbow! Of course! How did she... oh yeah...”
“I don’t like that look. What’s going on? “
“I think it’s time for Rainbow to be the one in a panic, don’t you agree?”
She Looks Mad
Rainbow Dash gave a weak smile, frozen before Twilight’s angry scowl. It wasn’t her fault Twilight didn’t have a sense of humor. Though Dash had to admit, she had gotten so comfortable around Twilight, she totally forgot she was pranking a pony who had the full authority to banish her someplace dark and scary. Or at the very least, make her life hell a few days.
“Uh... no hard feelings?”
The scowl didn’t budge. It was almost as bad as being on the receiving end of Fluttershy’s stare.
“You gotta admit, it did look radical.”
Sis, What's That?
Forget the gems. As soon as the shockwave from whatever that... thing was in the sky shattered the rock before her, Rarity took off for home, her mind focused on one thing, making sure Sweetie Belle was safe.
“Rarity, what was that?” Sweetie asked, emerging from under a table when she heard the door open.
Being the ever aloof big sister who knew everything, Rarity didn’t answer. She couldn’t, really. Part of her knew that Rainbow had to have been behind it somehow, but how she managed to mute her colors was a fashion tip sought another day.
How Did I Get Over Here?
Putting up with bratty rabbits and other demanding animals, on top of having to foalsit the likes of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you learn to sleep through anything. So Fluttershy wasn’t really surprised that whatever was causing a panic in town didn’t wake her from her flu induced coma, but rather surprised at how she managed to wind up across her bedroom and almost down the stairs. She never fidgeted that much, and that the rest of her room had been neat and tidy when she went to sleep.
She blushed and adjusted her robe. What a day.
Where's The Dictionary
“Did you see that?! That was awesome!”
“Scoot, everything Rainbow Dash does is awesome to you.”
“Don’t roll your eyes! Look at the colors! That’s not Rainbow Dash!”
“Then what is it, smarty?”
“It’s a black hole! Like in those movies!”
“Maybe we can get our cutie marks in ano.. anom... Where’s the dictionary?”
“She’s back with Rarity.”
“Not that dictionary, you dodo!”
“Maybe we can get space explorer cutie marks! Like Buck Rogers!”
“Who?”
“Or Buck-aroo Banzai!”
“Now yer just makin’ stuff up, Scoot...”
“You think that pony with the hourglass knows anything?”
“Who?”
Another Setback
Pinkie craned her neck and stared with wide eyes at the crawling darkness that spread across the sky. She was disappointed for not thinking about that in her prank, and admired Dash for figuring it out and setting the whole town in a panic. Not even she could cause Ponyville to erupt into such a fracas.
Not that she wanted to. Unlike Dash, Pinkie considered the feelings of others in her pranking. Calming all of Ponyville down would take days, which meant no time planning a counter-prank.
Well played. Pinkie thought. She smiled at how super smart her mare was.
She just had to open her big mouth. At least her public service punishment was something she could do in ten seconds flat. Princess Twilight wasn’t that cruel. So she had to bust a few clouds and endure a few snickers from Cloudkicker about how her rainbow roots were starting to show. It was worth it to top Pinkie’s prank. Putting ink and horse shoe polish into her mane dye was pretty sneaky.
She managed to one up Pinkie, help Applejack, and scare the wits out of everypony else. All things considered, it was a good day.
“Yeah.”
Back To Work
“Sorry about what I did to your mane, Dashie.”
“Nah, it’s cool. Besides, that black and white Rainboom was wicked awesome! I hope somepony took a picture!”
“You can do it again and I can take a picture!”
“Eh... I don’t want to dye my mane again for a long time.”
….
….
“So... I guess it’s back to work, huh?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Oh...”
“But that doesn’t mean it can’t wait.”
“Oh! We going on a date?!”
“Depends. Who’s paying?”
“Dashie!”
“Don’t pout! Okay, fine... I’ll pay.”
“Yay!”
“You know my weaknesses after all.”
Reservation For Two
Dash stared at the menu and tried not to make a scene. She never knew Pinkie had such refined taste. Of course, it only seemed to show itself when Dash was paying, but it was worth the price of admission to see that smile (as well as what usually came afterwards).
That and the exotic chocolates and imported flowers were enough to make even Rarity swoon. After she overcame the initial shock that the likes of Pinkie and Dash enjoyed such things, of course. Who was she to judge anyway?
Dash had to admit, it was nice not being bothered.
Whatever Happened To The Rainboom?
The title of the article made it sound like Dash was dead. Everypony knew by now what happened to the Rainboom. It got a makeover by way of Pinkie and Daring Do. Of course, seeing the hastily scribbled notes about Armageddon that Twilight had initially composed before getting wise to what was happening were priceless.
She also thought it hilarious that no pony seemed to know it was her by looking at her mark. Having her mane dyed only pointed out the fact that cutie marks don’t mean anything when it comes to being famous.
Just like Daring Do.
