Every second of my life reminded me that I've lost my precious treasure - my beautiful wings. No, I don't mean 'beautiful' the way Rarity uses this word - actually, I think that's more of an abuse than use of that word, but that's straying off-topic. They were splendid, strong and during and lasting and awesome and... maybe even beautiful the way Rarity uses this word.
Already a week had passed. At first I was very troubled, but we all were eager to find a solution - maybe me, Twilight and Rarity being the most eager ones.
All we had figured out was that we had somehow not gained any new things (or lost) but rather switched. It was pretty simple in Twilight's and Rarity's case - they just lost their horns, and Twilight had given her horn to me, but Rarity - to Fluttershy. I had given my wings to Pinkie Pie, but Fluttershy - to Applejack. That's why yesterday Applejack had asked me if flying really was that hard to do, because after having her wings ache all the time, she guessed that being a pegasus wasn't so easy.
We would have figured everything out earlier, if somehow mysteriously the book Twilight had taken the spell from had burnt in the process. Twilight said we will have to go Canterlot and search for the book in some wing which I really don't recall - I don't care. I told her I'll do anything she says, as long as I get my wings back. She said that I might have to do more than just anything.
Well, I kinda didn't understand her last statement, but I right now, I was on my way to gather all of us and get to Twilight's library and then go to Canterlot.
"Rarity! Hey, Rarity!" I knocked at door, waiting for the fashion queen to get out. After a little while longer than normal, she came, and looked tired as Applejack after good applebucking.
"Yes, Rainbow Dash, was there anything I could help you with?" I could see she tried to be polite, but the tired expression on her face didn't lie.
"I wanted to ask you to come to Canterlot to get the book, but nevermind. I can see you're kinda busy." I said, taking a glance into her boutique. Clothes, papers, measures and those sharp pointy things were all over the place, and Opal looked even more unhappy than normal. "Ah, I'll be back in shape just when I get my horn. Everything is so hard for earth ponies!" The white mare complained about her life, and I almost yawned in a very impolite manner. Suddenly she seemed very enthusiastic.
"But Rainbow, dear, I forgot! You could help me!" I looked at her, not understanding what I could do so special, that Rarity would want me to help at her boutique. "Please, could you snip this ribbon? It's taking forever without my magic!" The white mare started ranting on the hardship of life without magic, and I sighed.
"Rarity..." I said, putting my hoof on my nose.
"And the new season's dresses won't come out as early as the previous ones-"
"Rarity!" I said louder, and she blinked her excessively lashed eyes. "...yes, Rainbow?"
"I've got to go." I said and turned, but felt tugging on my tail. I turned my head back at the sophisticated mare.
"Would you please please please cut this ribbon?" She looked at me with puppy eyes, and I sighed.
"Rarity, you know that I can't," I said, looking at her with already tired look. I hadn't got all day to sit around and talk about that stupid horn.
"You still haven't figured that out!? I mean, darling, you have got Twilight's horn! You should be able to do Celestia's wonders!" The mare said, throwing her hooves in the air.
"The only wonder I want is to get my wings back."
With that sentence, I was gone. I galloped as fast as I could away from Rarity's. Okay - okay, I know she was having a hard time with all these dresses, but, believe me, I couldn't do anything about it. I just couldn't do any magic - maybe because you learn it at an early age, not when a horn suddenly appears on your forehead, when you're already grown up.
Or... maybe because I hadn't even tried to do magic? But that'd be no use anyway, if I'm going to get my wings back by today.
Without even noticing it, I had already galloped by Fluttershy's home. I was a bit jealous of her - I mean, I had lived in an easy-to-build cloud home, and I had laughed at her taking on an old house on the ground, and I had laughed at her all the years that she repaired the house from the state she had found it in. Now I had to live... wherever anypony accepted me. Monday I had slept on a meadow outside of town - it was creepy and uncomfortable, but nothing dangerous had happened.
I knocked on her door, and she opened. "Well, hello, Rainbow Dash!" She said, and I smiled at her. "Ready to go to Canterlot?" I asked, looking in her eyes.
"C-c-canterlot? Oh, goodness," she looked worried, "I can't, sorry, Rainbow. Angel is really sick, caught a virus in this fall, and I need to stay here and help him!" She said, and showed me the sick bunny who slept in his bed and kicked in his dream. I nodded. "Well, that's alright. He needs you," I said, and went out of her house after that.
I walked along the way to Applejack's farm, and thought for a while. It was interesting, I knew that Fluttershy wasn't sad at all about her wing loss. She would be a little sad if she would have to stay as an earth pony, but with the gain of horn she seemed even happier - life for her seemed easier.
For me? Not so.
Finally I arrived by Applejack's farm, and saw Pinkie flying through the air. Suddenly there was a tight lump in my stomach, and my muscles tensed at the sight. My wings.
Quickly enough I managed to start thinking about other things, like apples, trees, and Applejack, who was approaching me.
"Hey, Rainbow! Rare to see ya 'round." The orange mare said, looking at me. Pinkie Pie dashed through the trees, and chuckled, looking at me. "That's good that you two are together. Wouldn't want to walk back to Sugarcube corner." I said, and let out a forced chuckle. I saw Applejack narrow her eyes at me, I knew she saw through me, and I knew that she knew how I felt about my wings. Pinkie Pie, however, seemed to be so high on her wings that she didn't notice anything around her.
One could see that Pinkie won't be happy when we change the wings back. I smiled at the mare, and already thought how good it will be when we all return from Canterlot and change our lives back. "Rainbow Dash, you can't possibly know how good it is to soar at the skies!" I heard Pinkie shout, and I tensed.
"Uhh... Pinkie..." Even Applejack understood how intolerant and insensitive she was by saying that, but, like I said, Pinkie didn't see anypony but herself.
"I mean, this is a dream come true! I never knew that flying, that falling through the air and being able to just... not be on the ground, it is so amazing! Oh, and Dash," Pinkie continued on her rant, and I tensed even more, to the point that I was barely holding myself back. "Cloud Kicker and Medley say that I'm even a better weather pony than you - maybe not as fast, but definitely less lazy," she said, thinking, but I had enough of her rant.
"Cool, me and Twilight are going to Canterlot, you come along," I said and turned my back on both ponies.
"Oh, Dashie, I'm sorry, but we can't," I heard the bubbly voice behind me, and I whipped around. "What, more of your new fancy weather job?" I almost hissed with anger. "Oh, no, no, no, you see," she didn't even see that I was angry! How dare she call herself a friend? I was ready to leap, but Applejack came between us and looked at me sternly. "It's the applebuck season, Rainbow." The orange pegasus said, locking her green eyes with mine. "And Pinkie's helpin' me with apples." She said. I knew that if I would beg, Pinkie would come with me, but we both - and I mean, me and Applejack - understood that it would not go on well. Twilight would not even prevent an accident happening, because she was so away all week that it seemed that she was barely alive.
"Okay." I said, and looked at both mares, then turned my back and galloped back to Twilight's library.
***
"Then we will wait until Rarity's finished with her dresses, Angel is healthy and the applebuck season will have ended." The purple earth pony said, and I glared at her. "No! Rarity will always have dresses, and some animal of Fluttershy's will always be sick and there always will be work at Applejack's farm!" I almost shouted at Twilight. It was almost an hour since we had started this argument. We were definitely not going to Canterlot today, since it was about six in the evening.
Twilight sighed, then shook head. "Twilight, I know you want your horn back as much as I want my wings." I said, and she yanked her head up, but didn't speak. She slowly looked at her flank, and sighed. I sighed too, looking at her.
We both had lost our cutie marks. It had happened the day after we had switched our races. The day we both woke up, we were without cutie marks.
"Believe me Twilight, I could go to that Canterlot library alone. But I need you to help me. I have no idea where the books stand, and you read much faster than I do."
Everything was silent, then she turned at me with a such sad eyes, that it almost broke my heart. But I didn't show it out, of course. I may have a horn, but that didn't mean that I would become sappy like most unicorns.
"Okay," the purple mare silently said, "come here tomorrow at nine."