How Pinkie Pie met Rainbow Dash

by CookieCrumbles

Chapter 3

"Let confusion reign. There was beauty in confusion, anyway. And in each other."

Chapter 3

Close Calls and Closer Feelings

It was morning in the super-duper-rifical streets of downtown Manehattan. Cumulonimbus clouds swiftly became cirrus clouds and floated away into the Everfree Forest, nestled closely by the busily growing city. Everything seemed soo quiet and peaceful in the large pink house, currently nuzzling the rainbow-maned Pegasus pony in a comfortable sleep; however, something had left the yummy-looking cake house since the dawn broke over the horizon.

As the next morning shifted dully into the afternoon for the uptight residents, Rainbow Dash – possibly breaking the laws of physics – got up early to see her friend about what she had done last night. "P-Pinks? I'm sorry about last night… I just wanted to–" Her sentence came up short when she realised the sleeping bag was empty. Clamouring out of bed, Dash trotted confusedly down the steps and looked around the bottom floor for anything bouncy and pink. Peering around the room, something caught her eye; a pink note was placed on the couch that the two ponies had chatted on, long about yesterday's pranks. The colourful note was filled with tons and tons of red hearts, decorating the outside with pink and magenta. Hesitantly, Dash hoofed open the letter to read its contents in her fearful mind; she gulped and began to read. To Dashie. Sorry I'm not there whenever you're reading this, but I have these super weird thoughts in my head right now and a walk usually helps me figure strange feelings out easier. Your bestest best friend, Pinkie Pie. This message worried Dash to no end; she let the brightly coloured letter fall to the ground at her cyan hooves. "No. Pinkie, please…"

She flew all through the house trying to find the little pony and even checked the secret places Pinkie had shown her, including the secret party closet, but found no pink pony. Finding no pony in the pantry, still filled to the brim with candies and sweets of all deliciously spectacular sorts, Rainbow's search for her bestest best friend became more frantic and more confusing as she sped out the front door.

Flustered, Rainbow flew through the skies staring down at the ground to find the pony. She was thinking of what the pony might do and fearing to get an answer all at once. I've gotta find her. I have to apologize before… Her eyes shut tightly to forget those kinds of imaginings; her thoughts trailed off as the confusing feelings she'd had last night returned to torment her, but she fought them off too and locked her mind on finding the pink pony. She looked all around Manehattan, flying by all of the places Pinkie had pointed out to her as they flew across the large and rather dull city – including the local sweet's shop and the hair salon where they first met. She looked by the movie theatre Pinkie had promised to take her one day and peered inside a streamer seller's store that the Earth pony bought all her party supplies from. Pinkie Pie. Where are you? She questioned the inside of the store with her fore-head and hooves plastered against the window pane.

In a bustling busy pony city such as Manehattan, there weren't too many stores that actually sold party supplies. Most buildings in the boring-as-hay city were business oriented and the ponies of those industries focused on such things as being unimaginably boring at most times of the day, only lightening a teensy-weensy bit once their day was done and they could go home. This fact of un-fun parties was known to everypony in Manehattan, but it appeared to be completely ignored by the pony running the shop. The fact that this was a store for party ponies in a city for boring businessie type ponies was not missed by the residents, or by the shop keeper; however there was also the really weird fact that he was still here and was of course, doing fine.

It was getting late and Dash had run out of places to check. She was out of breath from all of the searching she alone was doing. "Where is that pink pony? I've gotta find her quick, before something happens to her. I'd never forgive myself if–" She had just begun a second round of searching the stores, but then she spotted a rather large crowd gathered on the borders of the forest just outside. She flew down and hoped to Celestia that they hadn't done anything to Pinkie Pie. "Hey, what's going on?"

"We just ran that Pinkie Pie out of town and into the Everfree Forest." The colt in question turned around as he responded and Dash recognized him instantly as Paul. He obviously recognised her immediately too as he glared up at the airborne pony. "You! You're the one that dropped that balloon on my head!"

"Yes I am." She lied. "So why did you have to send her away? She didn't do anything." She lowered her head and whispered sadly to herself. "She has enough trouble as it is right now."

Paul didn't seem to hear her last words and focused angrily on answering her first question. "Because that pony has been a nuisance in this city for far too long and you joining her with these pranks just made her cross the line." The colt scowled at the hovering Pegasus pony. "We've wanted to do this for a long time and now she's finally gone, thanks to you."

Rainbow Dash recoiled at this statement and stared into the Everfree Forest. She lowered her head as she recovered and glanced to the side in thought for a moment. Turning back slowly, Dash squinted at Paul as she spoke, teeth clenched. "I'm going to get her back and then I will make you personally apologize to her for putting the blame on the wrong pony." She kicked off the ground in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

"Then which is the right pony to blame?" Paul shouted towards the forest anxiously.

Dash disappeared through the trees and yelled one word back at the startled pony:

"ME!"

As Rainbow Dash soared rapidly through the trees determined to find her friend, Pinkie was walking slowly as thoughts clouded her Pinkie mind. I'm sorry Dashie, but I can't stay there anymore. At least until I figure out these super confusing feelings I get whenever I'm with you. I don't know how you feel about me; I don't know how I feel about you anymore. I'm sooo super confused.

Before she could take another step she heard a large crash from in front of her and quickly collapsed to the ground in agony. A gimongous cobra had appeared from the trees and was quickly and easily crushing Pinkie to the floor. Her pink body – usually quite resistant to any kind of injury – was being squeezed with every fibre and feeling striking her body, mind, and heart at once. She felt like at any moment she would pop… and not the soda kind of pop. A very unpleasant balloon pop feeling was coming over her entire being and she lay there for quite a while in pain, until she heard a faint whistling from where she had recently come.

Something or somepony was zooming through the air at rainboom speeds. As the cobra relaxed its muscles to see the disturbance, Pinkie was allowed to look up just in time to see a rainbow blur dash in and kick the snake's giant head. The cobra was struck dumb for a moment; it slid off the pink pony it had previously seen as prey, to shake its battered cranium. Rainbow Dash landed sharply in front of the injured pony to protect her from any further harm and fearfully looked over her shoulder to see the visible damage done to the pony. Seeing her bestest best friend struggling to stay conscious from the super-duper huge constriction on her small body, Dash's fearful face turned to heated anger, all towards the ginormous predator. She turned back to glare at the cobra as the snake regained its senses to loom over Rainbow Dash, trying to intimidate the new threat. "You won't touch her again." She growled with a blazing fire in her gorgeous rose-coloured eyes.

Dash stood her ground against the great serpent and dug her hooves furiously through the dirt at the snake, until it lunged its entire form forth with surprising swiftness; Rainbow, however, had anticipated this move and feverishly kicked off the ground to avoid the snake's strike, spreading her wings to take flight. And then Rainbow Dash swooped down the large snake with determination on her beautiful face schoom and just before she hit the ground zoom, she pulled up vroom. Picking up great amounts of speed she looped around and around the cobra like woo woo woo woo woo woo woooo, making it dizzy as she tried to figure out the best way to solve this slippery serpent problem.

Sensing a weakness in its jaw she pulled her wings in tightly around her body, looped around once more with the wind parting effortlessly from her outstretched hooves, and skyrocketed up to the snake's mouth to kick her back hooves out with all her might at the vicious predator. The cobra reeled and collapsed to the floor with its jaw nearly unhinged; shaking its head to re-join the bottom jaw to the top, it decided that a little pink pony wasn't worth the trouble of a truly broken jaw. Slowly the snake recovered and slithered off into the tall trees of the Everfree Forest, back to where it came from.

As the sizable serpent slithered silently away (try saying that three times fast), Rainbow Dash focused all her attention on the injured pink pony. Another glance in her direction revealed a motionless pink mass near a rather large, shady tree. Rainbow Dash flew hastily over and landed a few hooves in front to trot the rest of the way, but stopped abruptly; she stood there for a while, frozen at the terrible state of her pink friend. Her eyebrows rose in worry for her bestest best friend as she hesitantly approached the unconscious pony to gently nudge her limp shoulder with her snout. "P… Pinkie?" Her voice was soft as her friend's name barely managed to escape Rainbow's mouth; her throat was dry with fear. Dash was met with a distressing silence as the pony didn't reply; she clenched her teeth and closed her eyes to force back her fears. Rainbow gulped and kept trying to wake the unresponsive pony with more forceful nudges and choked out pleas. "P-Pinks? Please…"

No movement came from her pink friend and Rainbow Dash began to fear the worst. I didn't fly fast enough. Why couldn't I get here sooner? She turned her head down in anger. It's all those Manehattanite's faults… Dash caught sight of the Earth pony and sadly rested her eyes on her. It's all my fault. She lied down on her stomach and rested her head on the pink pony's neck with glistening rose-coloured eyes. "Pinkie Pie… I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Just please don't be– Please don't–" She closed her eyes to stop tears from forming and kept talking. "I don't care. You can hate me all you want for what I did, just please be alright. I-I–" She stuttered and was suddenly interrupted by movement underneath her. She sat up quickly, hoping, praying.

"Dashie?" Pinkie started groggily.

"Y-Yes, Pinkie Pie?" Her eyes bright and wet at the sight of her bestest best friend moving.

"I could never hate you." She sat up and nuzzled her snout and cheek against the now teary eyed Pegasus' mane and cheek; Dash quickly returned the gesture with tightly shut eyes and a very relieved smile on her happy, tear-soaked face. Neither of them blushed; neither of them needed to. At this moment the two ponies were grateful that the other was okay.

The two lay there for a while, comfortably snuggled up to one another. Pinkie had rested her cheek on Dash's chest, with blue eyes closed blissfully and a quiet smile on her face; Rainbow gently placed her chin on top of the Earth pony's mane and carefully wrapped her fore-hooves around Pinkie's back and magenta-coloured mane. The two silently held each other; the only thing Rainbow could hear was her friend's gentle sobbing.

As the hugging drew on, Rainbow felt something boiling up inside her from Pinkie's warm embrace; for the first time since she saved Pinkie Pie, Dash started to feel embarrassed about how the pink pony was acting towards her. She uneasily buried her muzzle into her friend's curly mane to think. This is what got her here in the first place. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to feel about all this? After a few minutes of unanswered questions, she hesitantly raised her head off Pinkie and loosened her grip on the Earth pony. She stared down at the crying pony leaning against her, trying to get an answer from her beautiful round eyes. Dash didn't have much experience with mushy comfortie stuff – given that she was a Pegasus with a need for speed – so she brushed an uneasy hoof through Pinkie Pie's mane, hoping to comfort her. "It's okay now, Pinkie. I saved you."

Pinkie felt the grip around her lessen and the stroke of Rainbow's gentle hoof on her coat. With glistening eyes, she looked up at the cyan-coloured Pegasus and Dash stared back, now locked in the pink pony's eyes. She saw the fear and worry lingering on the rainbow-maned pony's face and her lip started to tremble; seeing her bestest best friend again was the happiest, saddest, and most confusingest thing she'd felt in those two days spent together. "Dashie!" She screamed, eyes shut tight, and embraced the Pegasus pony closely to continue sobbing into Rainbow's already soaked chest.

Dash grunted as Pinkie Pie pulled her hooves around the Pegasus' back in a biiig hug; for a moment Rainbow was terribly flustered and nervous. She tried to focus on staying seated from the force behind Pinkie's tender hug, to ignore the sudden embrace, until Rainbow felt how nice it was to have the pink pony snuggled up against her. The heat, the tenderness, and the happiness filled her with emotions; at this moment, she chose to feel just one of them. With warmth spreading through her, she pulled Pinkie Pie tighter and began brushing a gentle hoof through her friend's mane in an attempt to stop the pony from crying for a reason she didn't quite understand. She forgot her insecurities and spoke quietly to the pink pony nuzzled against her. "You're safe now Pinkie."

Relaxed again from the contact and Dash's calming words, Pinkie started to explain herself. "I'm sorry… I– I was just soo afraid and confused about–" A sob stopped her from finishing and she buried her muzzle into the cyan Pegasus' chest.

Dash grunted again briefly before smiling down on the party pony, continuing to hold her. "It's okay, Pinkie." They remained there a while longer, but Rainbow knew they couldn't be there forever. One more moment of soft sniffling and tender hugging went by until Rainbow stood up and lowered her snout to nudge Pinkie's soft pink coat. Rainbow Dash spoke quietly to the crying pony. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Pinkie asked, still a little groggy. Rainbow walked beside her friend and Pinkie followed with her gorgeous, deep blue eyes.

"I'm getting you home. I hope you have everything you need to treat injuries like this at your house." She answered as she put her head under Pinkie Pie's body and lifted her carefully on to her back. The pink pony giggled along quietly with the procedure, causing Dash to smile and blush lightly as she kicked off and began her flight back to town.

The Everfree Forest was a strange place. It was a dark, dank, and an oddly spoooky thing to wander into. The most strangest thing about the Everfree Forest, though, was that it was super wild. You really didn't know what was actually, truly in there. It was like if you threw a party for the first time and you had these little party popper thingies, but didn't know what they were and wanted to figure 'em out. So you put the end piece to your eye and pulled and pushed with your hoovsies on the other end until it popped with uncertainty – and streamers – into your very shocked face. The Everfree Forest was, however, more fun than Manehattan was. It was freedom out there; you could throw as many parties as you wanted and everypony would wanna be there with you!

As she flew through the forest, carrying Pinkie back to Manehattan, her relief was replaced with a slight anger towards her friend. She turned her head to the Earth pony on her back. "Pinkie, why did you run away? You got yourself hurt and if I hadn't come along when I did you would've–" She cut herself short as Pinkie smiled kindly back at her.

"Aww, were you worried about me again Dashie?" Despite just being injured by a huge snake, Pinkie seemed to recover quite quickly on her bestest best friend's back; her hooves were wrapped tenderly around the Pegasus' neck.

Dash's expression only lightened slightly at seeing her wounded friend grinning at her after being mauled by a giganterific cobra. "Yes I was; you silly filly." She turned her head back to see where she was going and found that they were out of the Everfree Forest and could see the city of Manehattan ahead.

The pink pony rubbed her cheek against the Pegasus' rainbow mane as she spoke quietly. "Thanks for saving me Rainbow Dash. I was just scared about something… something… super-duper important to me."

The Pegasus didn't seem to feel the pony resting her chin upon her neck and kept talking strictly. "And what was that? What was so scary and important that you had to go into the Everfree Forest at night time to figure it out?"

Pinkie tensed up, gulped, and hesitated, lowering her head to rest on Rainbow's multi-coloured mane again. "My Granny Pie taught me a song when I still lived with my parents. And by singing that song it made me not afraid of anything scary in the world."

"Then what was the deal with the snake? If you sang your 'no fear song' then you could've totally taken him." She asked angrily over her shoulder at the pony and noticed for the first time that she had rested her pink head on her mane. The anger in the Pegasus pony's face faded and was replaced with a gentle smile.

The Earth pony responded immediately, but held calmness in her voice. "I couldn't remember the words. I was too scared of something I felt on the inside to worry about that. All I could think of was… was–" Pinkie became choked up suddenly and lowered her head, trying not to be seen by her bestest best friend.

"Was…?" Rainbow Dash asked, becoming impatient with her friend as she spoke, trying to receive an answer. Dash lowered her head as well, so that she could gaze into Pinkie's eyes for her silent answer.

Pinkie stared directly into the rose-coloured eyes of the Pegasus pony and beamed. "You Dashie." Pinkie finally struggled out.

Dash almost fell out of the sky, but she recovered quickly and continued flying with her eyes facing forwards; a secret smile glided across her face. She was thinking about me? That smile flew away and another thought plagued her mind. I almost got her killed because I–? Because of what I did?

The pink pony sensed something was wrong with her friend; she nuzzled her beautiful rainbow-coloured mane gently in an attempt to get her attention. "Dashie, you okay?" Pinkie Pie asked, Rainbow's attention granted.

"I'm fine Pinkie Pie, just… fine. Did the snake get you?" She replied, concerned about her friend's injuries.

The pink pony looked her body over, turned back, and smiled again with her head tilted to the side happily. "Nope, I think he just squeezed me a teensy weensy bit too tightly."

The Pegasus pony raised a confused eyebrow and looked quizzically at the party pony. "And… that's okay to you?"

Pinkie seemed to consider the question and raised a hoof to her chin before answering. "Well it's better then what I thought would happen if he continued to squeeze me too ittsy bittsy much." The sunny disposition she held was never lost on her bright pink face.

"And what was that, Pinks?" Rainbow Dash asked, half trying to keep the conversation going in fear of Pinkie's injuries being more extensive than either of them thought and half actually interested in what the pink pony might have been thinking while the snake squeezed her 'too ittsy bittsy much'.

"Oh, popping like a balloon that's filled with too much stuff. Why?" She answered cheerfully as if she was talking about an over-filled party balloon exploding.

"Just… curious." She replied, trying to hold back giggles and stay airborne.

As they returned to the city Rainbow Dash spotted Paul trotting along happily and she decided to pay him a visit. She dropped down behind him with Pinkie Pie still on her back.

"Hey, Paul!" She shouted with a sly smirk.

"What is it you–" The end of this sentence has been replaced with a gasp to stop a certain inappropriate word from entering a child's television show… thanks for laughing at the joke. His face dropped open and his eyes grew twice as wide as they normally were.

"Hi Paul!" Pinkie waved a hoof from the blue Pegasus' back as if nothing had happened between the two of them in the last few hours.

Paul tilted his head nervously to see the pink pony on Dash's back. "Uh h-hello, Pinkie Pie."

"So," started Rainbow Dash as she put a hoof to her chin. "What did I say I'd get you to do after I brought Pinkie Pie back from the Everfree Forest?"

Paul gulped. "Uhm… a-apolo-gize?" He windily answered.

"Correct." Rainbow Dash indicated with a sharp nod.

"I'm s-sorry for… chasing you… out of town?" He finished with a questioning tone and a tense smile. Dash's eyes narrowed as she gave him an unsatisfied glance. "A-And it'll never happen again. I swear." He spoke quickly and closed his eyes tightly.

The Pegasus dropped her angry gaze and smirked at the scared colt that was practically sweating in front of her and Pinkie. "Oh no, you've gotta Pinkie swear that much."

Paul gazed from Dash to Pinkie before beginning the well-known rhyme. He – along with the other residents of Manehattan – had unintentionally heard the rhyme coming from the pink pony's mouth every time she passed by; which happened to be quite often. "Cross m-my heart… and hope to fly, s-stick a cupcake…" He gulped. "… In my eye– Oww!"

Rainbow Dash's grin widened and she raised her head in triumph. "What do you think Pinks? Should we believe this guy?" She turned her head towards the party pony for her answer.

"Hmm, I guess. But only on one condition." She smirked as an idea came to her evil Pinkie mind.

Paul looked even more uncomfortable at the Earth pony's expression. "And... what condition is that, Ms. Pie?" He asked tensely, watching the two ponies before him with a nervous smile plastered on his fearful face.

Pinkie's expression lightened and she waved a hoof at the cringing colt in dismissal. "Oh, Pinkie is fine… and my condition is…" She paused for dramatic affect and to hold back her giggles a little longer. "… for you to throw more parties around here!!" She finally burst out laughing at the colt's frightened face and began rolling over on Dash's back, holding her stomach tightly.

The rainbow-maned pony rolled her beautiful eyes with a chuckle. "I knew I should've just gone with my idea of giving him his wish to one day fly, but that can just be a warning to ya." She spoke with a wink.

Paul started backing away while he continued the conversation. "Yes… in fact… I'll start a party right now. Would you like to come and see it Pinkie?"

"Oh no. Thanks anyway Paul, but I need to rest up after being attacked by a gigantirific snake in the Everfree Forest; Rainbow Dash here is just carrying me back home to relax now." Pinkie relaxed her head on Rainbow's neck again and continued talking; Rainbow, on the other hoof, looked over at Pinkie and felt a warm smile growing on her face. "Sorry about that, I know how much you'd want me to help at one of your parties." She suddenly lifted her head off Dash's multi-coloured mane with another idea. "Oooh, maybe next time though?" She looked at him with glistening, hopeful eyes, waiting for his answer.

"Of course." He replied and trotted off, thankful that his 'wish' had not come true.

As they too walked away, Rainbow looked over her shoulder at the pony on her back. She seemed quite comfortable for a pony that was just recently mauled by a giant cobra. "Uhh, Pinks? About that. I was thinking that this place has been all pranked out and… well my vacation… here is almost done. So I have to move back to Cloudsdale soon." She tried to continue, but she was interrupted by the blue-eyed pony.

"Oh no, don't go Dashie. I'll-I'll miss you." Pinkie Pie suddenly looked very concerned and nervous, staring into Dash's eyes earnestly.

Rainbow quickly looked over her shoulder at the pink pony. "Let me finish Pinkie, I'm not gonna leave you. You are my bestest best friend after all." Dash lowered her head with a hopeful look on her face. "I was kinda thinking that you could come to Cloudsdale with me when I leave this boring place."

Pinkie stared silently into the blue pony's rose-coloured eyes, blushing deeply. A warm smile slowly bounced onto her face and she was about to answer, until a realisation struck the Earth pony. Pinkie's head tilted to the side quizzically and her blush and smile faded into a questioning look towards Rainbow Dash. "Cloudsdale, but isn't that a city in the clouds? Only Pegasi can get in there." When she finished talking, Pinkie seemed a bit downcast as to what she had said.

"Oh yeah." Rainbow's determined look turned to one of silent sorrow. "Never mind then." She turned her head away and kept walking towards Pinkie's cake-house.

Pinkie saw that look one too many times on her own face in the mirror and didn't want to see that expression on her bestest best friend's beautiful face any time. She had had another idea. She spoke out loud, but quietly enough so Dash wouldn't hear her. "I'm having tons of good ideas this week… Well except for the Everfree Forest one." She looked up thoughtfully again and spoke confidently. "But I do know where we could go."

"Really, where?" The Pegasus pony seemed hopeful and turned her head to see Pinkie's sparkling blue eyes again.

"My parents told me of a place not far from the rock farm we lived on and it's even closer to us from here." She continued with an ever widening grin.

"Cool." Dash replied, returning the Earth pony's expression. Confident now to get back to Pinkie's house, she turned her head forward.

Pinkie Pie, however, kept talking excitedly to the Pegasus, leaning her chin on Dash's shoulder gently. "Yeah, it's where I was headed to before I came here."

"Well, what's it called?" Dash looked over her shoulder and eagerly awaited the pony's response with bright, hopeful eyes.

Pinkie paused for suspense and then yelled:

"Ponyville!"

Rainbow Dash's cheerful gaze coasted down to one of confusion. "Ponyville?" She stopped for a moment to wonder why the pink pony wanted to go there, but shrugged it off and started again, walking more slowly than before.

The pink party pony popped her head up from her spot on Rainbow's shoulder and looked gleefully into her friend's baffled eyes. "Yeah, it's a really cute looking town. My Mom and Dad showed me all kinds of pictures from it and it looks real super cute and cuddly."

"Well okay, but we should pack all our stuff today and leave tomorrow. First I'll drop you off back at your place and help you get your stuff set and then I'll go to my house." Dash smirked as a thought came to mind and kept walking. "Hey Pinkie Pie, there's no real need to pay the rent for the next day if you're gonna leave the next day is there?" By this time, Rainbow Dash had passed the streamer sellers shop and was walking by the movie theatre Pinkie had told her about yesterday. Guess we'll have to find a movie theatre in Ponyville instead. She chuckled lightly when she imagined Pinkie Pie eating tons and tons of candy at the movies and laughing at all the scary and spooky parts, having a good time and just being Pinkie, until she imagined herself being there with her.

Thinking about Dash's offer, Pinkie answered her question absentmindedly. "Not that I know of, but–" The Earth pony gasped, startling Dash out of her reverie. Pinkie didn't seem to notice the Pegasus jump as she smiled. Another super terrifical idea; how do I do it? Pinkie thought. "Ooh ooh! What if I go over to your house tonight? I mean to see where you haven't been sleeping this whole time." She giggled at her own joke and waited to hear Rainbow's answer.

Rainbow Dash smiled with the thought of finally being back in her own bed. "Not a problem… if I can remember where my house actually is; I've been away from it for so long I might not be able to find it." Her smile turned into a chuckle as she turned to see the pink pony's inevitably giggly reaction.

"Oh Dashie, you're such a silly filly." She hugged Dash from behind and leaned her head against the multi-coloured mane of her friend. This made the Pegasus pony stop, raise a fore-hoof, and gaze at the pink filly silently. Rainbow Dash's smile was again growing on her lovely blue face as she began to trot leisurely along the streets, facing forward.

The trip back was a silent one, but – unlike the many uncomfortable journeys from before that both of the ponies had awkwardly endured, accompanied by bizarre feelings creeping up on both of them – the two ponies couldn't have been more comfortable with each other at that moment. The pink pony became so relaxed in the multi-coloured mane of Rainbow Dash that she almost fell asleep. Just as the Pegasus pony noticed her friend relaxed in her mane and smiled gently at her, the house came into view; Dash prudently nudged Pinkie awake with her snout, making the pink pony slowly lift her tired head up to gaze at the building.

Once the two ponies entered Pinkie's cake-house, they quickly began packing all of the cupcakes and streamers and sarsaparilla and cakes and balloons and anything else the pony wanted to keep – and possibly eat later – into a bag. When they seemed to be done, Pinkie's bag didn't seem even half full yet.

"There's just one thing I'm forgetting. Wait here Dashie, I shouldn't take long." She started up to her room as Rainbow Dash watched her friend happily bounce up the stairs two steps at a time with the bag in her mouth.

Well, Thought Dash smugly. At least she's not jumping on top of skyscrapers anymore.

Pinkie had reached the top and trotted into the room, humming to herself. Loud crashing, glass breaking, and other unknown objects smashing following swiftly after filled the Pegasus pony's sensitive ears. She instantly began to worry and flew up to the top step to see what had happened, just in time to see the pink Earth pony bounding out and landing in front of her.

Pinkie Pie sat down and leaned into her Pegasus pony friend merrily. "Hiya Dashie. Did I take too long? Sorry about that; I'm usually a whole bunch quicker, but with the snake and all, my mind was on other things. Are ya ready, Rainbow Dashie?" She asked with a cheesy rhyme at the end and chuckled to herself, leaving Dash wide eyed and very confused.

"What happened? Did you even put anything in there, Pinkie?" She asked, gesturing to the bag next to the seated pony.

She responded with a look of concentration as she listed off the supplies on her fore-hooves. "Oh yeah, I got my bed sheets and my pillows… and my bed in there too." Finished with listing off what she now had in her bag, Pinkie Pie smiled back thoughtfully at the confused Pegasus pony.

Dash was staring, wide-eyed at the Earth pony. "Your whole bed?!"

Pinkie closed her eyes and lifted her head up proudly. "Yep!" But just as quickly as she answered, her expression turned quizzical and she lowered her head back down to look into Dash's gorgeous rose-coloured eyes. "Hey, do you know how much I looove pillows? A lot! That's why I have so many; 'cause they're all just soo super poufy and cuddly and comfy-umfy to rest my head on them. How do you feel about pillows, Rainbow Dash?" She asked with a tilt of her head and curly, pink mane.

Ignoring the pink pony's bizarre inquiry, she kept the wide-eyed expression on her face. "But… but you were only in there for a few seconds." Her voice cracked with confusion.

"I know I'm sorry. I'm usually faster, but we've still got plenty of time to get back to your house so you can pack. I think I have another packing bag around here somewhere. Ooh, here it is!" She replied, hoofing out another bag to the Pegasus pony with a cheerful smile that could have uncurled expired milk.

Standing up awkwardly, Rainbow Dash took the bag while still holding her wide-eyed expression. "Okay… uhh, thanks." Dash turned sideways, but kept her gaze on the pink pony.

The magenta-maned pony then proceeded to jump onto Dash's back again, wrap her fore-hooves around her friend's neck and give her another biiig Pinkie Pie hug. "No problem Dash. What are bestest best friends for?" Her hold relaxed and she leaned forward to look into the newly embarrassed pony's eyes. "But Dashie, you shouldn't hold that expression for too much longer… it might get stuck like that. You wouldn't want to walk around with a wide-eyed expression on your beautiful blue face for the rest of your life. All the ponies would think you were crazy!" She raised a hoof to her muzzle to prevent her giggles from escaping.

Rainbow Dash chuckled at Pinkie's warning and happily hugged her pink friend back. Me? Beautiful? She thought. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Now let's get goin'!" She kicked off from the top step and zoomed out of the house, leaving a trail of rainbow colour and a reverberating shout of:

"Woooohoooo!" from Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash's home wasn't as complex and confusing as Pinkie Pie's was, but her room was decorated with posters and pictures of her favourite high-flying group:

'The Wonderbolts'.

Pinkie was instantly interested in her heroes and began to rapidly ask her friend about them.

"How fast can they go? Do they ever get dizzy if they spin around really fast? What kind of trail do these ponies leave? How does my mane stay up like this all the time? And why is there tons of weird looking ponies staring at us through a little screen?" As she asked these questions, Pinkie appeared all over the room as she gestured to different pictures on the walls with Dash's eyes following swiftly after to try and keep a lock on her bouncy pink friend. As she reached her last inquiry, Pinkie Pie was staring directly into the computer screen with round, confused eyes.

As Pinkie's super-tastically odd questions ceased in record time, Dash – after a few minutes of careful thought processing – listed off her 'answers' in order. A hoof resting under her chin helped her to concentrate on what her friend had asked. "Real fast, no way, thunder, smoke, and fire, I don't know, and huh?" By now the Pegasus was accustomed to most of the pink pony's bizarre questions, but this last one was a doozy. Dash waited intently to hear what the pink pony could possibly be talking about, but she also knew that the answer would probably be just as none-sensical as the question.

The gravity defying pony just shrugged at Dash's answers. "Oh well, I guess we'll never know what makes my mane so puffy." She smiled sweetly at her Pegasus friend who eventually shrugged the unanswered question off and start packing again. This left the pink pony time to wave at the fourth wall she was currently involved in rapidly breaking down and speak to the viewing audience. "Hi weird creatures my name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours? Ooh, you must be new. 'Cause I know everypony and I mean everypony in Manehattan. And if I don't know you then you must be new and if you're new then you haven't met anypony yet and if you haven't met anypony yet then you must be lonely and that'll make me soo sad so I was thinking I'd throw you a super-duper fantabulistic party! Do you need a party? Of course you do! Wait here, I'll get one set up in a jiffy!" She went to rush off to set up the party, but was quickly interrupted from her mission by the blue Pegasus.

"Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash called over to here from inside her closet full of twenty percent more awesome stuff.

Pinkie cringed at Dash's voice and turned back to the screen with a nervous smile. "Oops. Sorry guys, but I gotta go. Dashie's calling me; maybe me and Rainbow Dash can give you strange, two legged things a party together later bye!" She winked at the screen and trotted off, saving the fourth wall from another Pinkie Pie break down.

As she reached Dash, she could plainly see how unorganised her blue pony friend was. Rainbow lifted up a collection of trophies she had won over the years at flight school and looked awkwardly at Pinkie. Pinkie Pie tutted loudly and shook her head, disappointedly. Rainbow Dash suddenly felt self-conscious and darted her eyes from left to right.

"What?" The Pegasus asked defensively.

"You Dashie! You're sooo messy. Here I'll help you." And with that, the pink pony yet again became a pink blur to Dash's eyes.

Pinkie zoomed and vroomed across the room gathering all of the poster and pictures and trophies and anything else Rainbow Dash seemed to want to keep, into their own neatly organized piles. By the end, the Pegasus pony thought she could still see three blurry images of Pinkie and an in focus one standing before her. She shook her head, opened her eyes, and there was only one pink pony again. Phew.

"Whoa, Pinks, that's the fastest I've ever seen you go. I'm still seein' spots of pink." Dash smiled and rubbed her slightly wobbly eyes with a fore-hoof.

Pinkie blushed and smiled. "Thanks." She turned her head down and brushed a fore-hoof of her own along the floor.

"Well, I guess we'd better get all of this stuff into your bag then." Rainbow Dash said as she looked around her room at the neatly organized piles and then back at the Premier pink party pony.

"Ooooh, done." Pinkie responded brightly, beginning to hop up and down joyfully.

"Huh?" The Pegasus pony peered around the room and saw that it was bare except for the fridge, the kitchen sink, and the bed. Dash looked as calm as ever back at Pinkie Pie. She wasn't at all shocked from this ability her pink Earth pony friend had. She sure is different from the other ponies I've met before and I'm glad for that; in fact I love that aspect of her. Most of the ponies I meet are sticks in the mud. Rainbow lowered her head nervously in a sudden realisation. Did I just think the word love?! She shook that thought from her mind, but found it was much more difficult to forget than she would have liked to admit. "On second thought, that is the fastest I've seen you go." Pinkie just grinned wider at the Pegasus pony before her.

It was late by the time the two had settled down. They had unpacked some of Pinkie's treats by 'accident' and had decided that the bag was too full for them to fit them all back in, so Dash sat comfortably next to her friend and ate more of Pinkie's delicious cupcakes. Rainbow and Pinkie were quite content to sit and eat sweets close together as the time bounded by. While the two ponies ate they shared stories of there foalhood, but Pinkie mostly sat and listened intently to Dash's stories about the Wonderbolts and her high-flying tricks that would surely get her into their group.

Rainbow Dash had lost track of the time by the end of her stories and the two happily ate in silence. They both finished their last cupcake and noticed the sun going down, so they started getting ready for bed. The moon rose, shimmering and gleaming brightly over the horizon and Dash was all set to sleep in her own house again.

Rainbow Dash watched from her bed as Pinkie brought out her sleeping bag and had a sudden, embarrassing thought. Dash gulped deeply as she stared at her friend laying out the bed. "Uh, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow's wings opened up as she called her friend's name. "You can… sleep in my bed if you want." Attention granted by the pink pony, Rainbow continued stuttering out her words. "I-It's not as comfy as your pink fluffy one, but… but there's enough room for both of us to sleep in it." Dash finished quickly and covered her muzzle with her fore-hooves loudly; her gorgeous eyes shut tight in suspense. She lowered her head to the sheets as she started to bite her bottom lip nervously. Why did I just say that? Stupid, stupid, stupid–!

"Okie dokey lokie!" The pink pony chimed in quickly. The Pegasus' eyes were shut so as not to see the pink pony's face in response to the awkward question, but to her Pinkie didn't seem to need much time to think it over.

The rainbow-maned pony's thought was interrupted so abruptly that all Rainbow Dash could manage was:

"You mean–" She was once again interrupted by the pink ball of fluff.

"Yep." She dragged a fore-hoof on the floor silently. "I mean the hostess always offers the guest her bed… even if the hostess still uses it." Pausing from her anxiety, Pinkie placed a hoof under her chin and sat down on her rump to wonder. "I think that's in the rules too. Although, if it was part of it, I think Granny Pie left that out." She lowered her hoof to the ground and looked off to the side, seeming to be even more baffled. "Hmm, why would Granny Pie leave a rule like that out? It seems to be a very important part of sleeping over after all." Pinkie glanced back at the pony in bed as if she could answer that befuddling question easily.

Dash chuckled at her friend's self-asked question, but still felt a bit odd at offering her bed to the Earth pony. She awkwardly waved a hoof towards herself as she spoke. "Well then… climb in."

"Okie dokey." She shook off her Granny Pie question and smiled as she looked at her friend in the bed and then down at her hooves.

As Pinkie wandered up to the right side and entered under the covers as well, the longest and most uncomfortable quiet yet came over the two ponies. They sat at opposite sides of the bed, twiddling their hooves and staring forward, unable to look at the other. After a few agonising minutes passed, they managed two words each as they slowly turned to the other and spoke in sequence.

"Goodnight Dashie."

"Goodnight Pinks."

As they smiled, they found themselves entranced by the other's gorgeously coloured eyes as the two ponies stared unblinkingly into them; unable to look anywhere else. Moments past unnoticed by the ponies, until they saw the other blushing profusely; they smiled timidly when they realised their own blush was growing. The two ponies turned just as slowly away as they had to each other and tucked themselves into the Pegasus pony's comfy bed with questioning looks on their faces. With another long silence, Pinkie began to relax under her friend's deep, blue-coloured blanket. She opened her closed blue eyes intently while still facing the opposite wall Dash was staring at.

"Rainbow Dash?" She asked, turning her head to look up at the ceiling.

Dash shuffled around in her bed and opened her own rose-coloured eyes carefully. "Yes Pinkie?"

Finding her courage, the pink Earth pony rolled over to look at Dash's side with a cheerful Pinkie Pie smile. "Thanks for letting me sleep in your bed. It's super cosy." She smiled intently at the rainbow-maned pony, waiting for her reply in the hope that the confusing feelings she now held would be answered with just one word from her bestest best friend.

The Pegasus was surprised and a little embarrassed that the pink pony had actually thought her bed was comfy. Her words made sense in her mind, but came out in a jumbled mess as she spoke to Pinkie, finding very little courage to shuffle around in her own bed at all. "N-No problem Pinks. What are bestest best friends... for?"

The two ponies didn't talk after that. They again faced away from each other and soon found themselves asleep. Neither of them dreamed anything that night.