To Jack a Rainbow

by Toraka


Chapter 4

"Success!" Scootaloo darted in through the door of the clubhouse to examinate their samples more closely, knocking over an assortment of things they never cleaned up in the process.

"Really? How's it lookin'?" Apple Bloom followed, even more eager to have a look at the plants they were experimenting on.

Sweetie Belle trotted in slowly after her two friends. "Let's see... One is looking normal, maybe a bit smaller... Two is clearly dead. I told you it wouldn't work... Hey! Three has outgrown the control sample!"

"Ain't that the one Winona tink..." Apple Bloom began. Sweetie interrupted her. "Yes, it is. Must be something in it the soil regularly doesn't have. I doubt it got like that just with more water than the others. What does this experiment tell us, girls?"

"That we're destined to be biologist researchers either." Scootaloo said drily, hinting at their still blank flanks.
"Aww. What's next on the list?"

"Get flying lessons from Rainbow Dash, ask her ou... Eeh he he, wrong list." Scootaloo nervously cleared her throat and pulled out the list of activities they had copied from the book.

Even though they had been working on those all the time, even after returning the book two weeks after getting it, the Crusaders were still not done with the activies contained within it.

"Number seventy-three. Mimery. Or mimicry? Sweetie, what did you write here?"

"I think it's mimicry."

"Tha' sounds like fun. Great chicken impersonation, Scoots."

"Hey! Am I really that good?"

Scootaloo was standing on two hindlegs, flapping her wings to avoid falling over as she picked invisible corns from the floor with her mouth.

"Natural. But Ah don't think tha's what we're s'posed ta do. Shame we had ta return the book."

"Why don't we just go and ask Twilight if we can check it again so we know what to do?"

So the three fillies headed off to Ponyville on hoof. Scootaloo would have pulled them, but she had forgotten her scooter at home. Silly chicken.



They were halfway to the library from Ponyville's border when Scootaloo suddenly stopped walking. The crowd of ponies behind the fillies simply walked around them on both sides.

"What's the matter, Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I thought I had just felt a touch... Ah, never mind. Must've imagined it." Scootaloo tried to explain when the other Crusaders' eyes shot open, then she felt it again. It was not uncomfortable or anything, just strange.

What was worst about it was that there seemed to be no source. "Somepony playing tricks on us with magic? I can't see anything out of order, really." Sweetie Belle described the situation.

"Feels too solid fer that. But just who?" Apple Bloom was visibly confused.

"Rainbow Dash! I know you're there."

A disappointed mare with a sky blue coat stepped out of the cover that was the mass of ponies moving around them. "How did you know?"

"That trick only works when ponies aren't looking for you. Also, I'd recognise your cute giggle everywhere. Oh gosh, did I just call Rainbow Dash cute?" Scootaloo covered her mouth with her hooves.

"I'll just not have heard that. What's the lot of you doing today? Finally finished with AJ's book?"

"Nope! We jus' did number seventy-two. So now we're workin' on seventy-three. Mimicry. But we don' really understand what we're s'posed ta do, so we're goin' ta Twilight's ta check the book."

"Mimicry, eh? You should ask Fluttershy 'bout that. When she's hiding out in the forest - yet again -, all you'll see is trees."

"I dunno, you seem pretty good at it. Where did you learn all of this?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Just stuff you pick up. It's easy, really. Just immerse yourself in the crowd. Synchronise your hoofsteps with them. Give up yourself, and become the whole instead. Can get pretty astounding. Also got the nice side effect that nopony pays close enough attention to see you. Unless they've got the sharp peggy eyes of Scoots here, I'm afraid."

"Ain't pegasuses jus' regular ponies with, well, wings?"

"More than that. Some people say we might actually have some common ancestors with griffons and thus the eyes of a predator to spot prey out of flight. Maybe we're just more awesome."

"Yeah... Not like I could use those predator eyes, if they are. Gosh, I hate those puny, weak..."

"One day, Scootaloo. You'll outfly me when it's time, I'm sure. Didn't I show you some exercises you can do?" Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah. Keep doing those and you'll be up in the sky in no time. It's just biology holding you back, and your wings are about to grow strong enough, I know it." Rainbow Dash encouraged the little pegasus.



"Hi girls!" Twilight greeted the Crusaders. Her left ear twitched once. She looked at it sternly to make it stop.

"Hey Twi', we... woo, no offense, Twilight, but you're not lookin' too good. You ain't tardy again, are ya?" The unicorn mare's eyes had big rings under them. Her mane was a bit out of order. As she turned and walked inside the library, it looked like she had a little difficulty keeping her balance.

"It's nothing, really. I just missed a bit of sleep last night. It's that awful letter I got... But nevermind that, it'll all be fine. What brings you to me?"

"We wanted to look up something in that book we got from Applejack earlier. I've copied the activities to a list, but we don't really understand how one of them, Mimicry, is meant to be done."

Twilight had given up the attempt to bring order of any kind to the foals section of her library. Now, those books were simply in a pile as they'd end up like that anyways.

She dove her head into the container. Using her horn both as a source of levitation and as a pole to physically move the books, she searched the pile until finding what she was looking for. She noticed she was not giving any opposition to gravity any more. The pile was simply too comfortable. Maybe she could... A few minutes...

"Need some help?" Scootaloo shook Twilight out of her trance.

"N-no, thanks for asking." She pulled out the desired book with her magic as she withdrew her head. "Here you go." The fillies didn't seem to have any intention to read more than that one article of the book, so she placed it on a nearby reading table.

"Thanks, Twilight. Cutie Mark Crusaders speedreaders, go!" Apple Bloom shouted out as all three of the fillies darted to the table. She opened the book, flipped to the desired page with her hooves and began reading.



"Tha's a bit unclear." Apple Bloom stated the obvious with a disappointed voice.

"That's a bit simplified, Bloom." Scootaloo added.

"Keep your heads to the matter, fillies. Says everything we need, doesn't it? Search out something, try to imitate it, maybe learn something about it in the process." Sweetie Belle stopped the rant of the others.

"Yeah, but what exactly?"

"Does it really matter?" Twilight called over from her work. If reading dozens of books on end, then trying to fit them back into the shelf could be called work.

"Thinking about it, not so much. I think I'm gonna work on my animal impressions. Always handy to know the world 'round you."

"Eh, you go do that, Scoots. Ah think Ah'm gonna try wha' RD told us earlier. Fitting in wit' the world 'round you 'n' stuff."

She didn't finally blurt out too much about the Order, did she? Twilight thought, then dismissed the idea by clearing her throat. Surely, Dash would be more discreet than that. "Great ideas, girls. How about you, Sweetie Belle?"

"I don't really know..." Sweetie scratched the floor with a hoof and looked around, void of ideas.

"How about you try to imitate Spike? Must've snuck off to Rarity or something. We could work on your magic, and of course I'd pay you for your work." Twilight asked with an encouraging smile.

"Hey, why not. I can always use practice and bits alike."

"That's the spirit!" Let's hope she gets the hang of pick shelf, insert book quickly so I can nap in peace... Twilight mentally added.





Apple Bloom stepped out into Ponyville's market square. It was market day, so it was crowded with both vendors and customers. Even now there was still a continous stream of ponies in and out of the square.

Alright, let's try this out. Apple Bloom thought as she ducked into the flow leading towards the market. She took a middle position in it.

Somethin's still odd... What did Dash say? Slow down, synchronise... The filly gave up consciously hiding and instead focused on actually hiding. Now that she moved just like the ponies around her, she felt far less visible.

Ah no, Diamond Tiara's here, too. Wait, she shouldn't be able to see me, right? Apple Bloom did her best to remain at a normal pace, acting as if nothing was out of order. If Diamond Tiara was to look attentively in her direction, she'd spot Apple Bloom, but luckily, there were so many ponies there that she didn't pay attention to individual ones.

Encouraged by her successful avoidance of Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom kept sneaking around. Or walking normally, to describe it better.

She now was in the heart of the market. The crowd was mostly focusing on the stands littered around it, but it was still dense enough to move around in without stepping into the open or being visible to selling ponies.

Speaking of whom, Apple Bloom noticed that her sister was present too, with the usual crowd surrounding her stand all on its own already. There were ponies left from it, right, in front of, behind, even one or two pegasi above.

A great plan suddenly came into Apple Bloom's mind. If she could pull that one off, there was nothing she couldn't hide in plain sight from.

She made her approach to Applejack's stand. The front would be too obvious, so Apple Bloom walked around to its right side (on her left). Nopony seemed to notice her. They were all too busy trying to get their own apple products before Applejack ran out.

She moved in closer. Just as she did, a customer on Applejack's left caught her attention. It'd take her at least five seconds to serve that one what he wanted. Enough time.

Apple Bloom did the final step towards the rows of apples lined up. They weren't in Applejack's direct line of sight, so she wouldn't be spotted.

She stretched out her neck and grabbed one of the Granny Smiths with her teeth.

Now to vanish into the crowd after done mischief.



"Ah know they're technically already yours, but when didya stop askin'?"

Busted. Apple Bloom had nothing to fear, she knew that. Nevertheless, she let her head hang in disappointment of herself as she trotted over to the back of the stand to face Applejack.

Apple Bloom set down the apple. "Let mah explain, sis'."

"Eh, you done nothin' wrong, Bloom. Ah'd jus' like it if ya asked."

Apple Bloom began an endless swell of words, picking up speed continously. "I know, I know. Ah would've, but we finished the biology experiment t'day an' moved on ta other things ta try fer our marks an' then it said mimicry an' we went an' looked up wha' they mean by that but they didn' say anything an' we met Rainbow Dash on the way an' she told us how we could hide in tha crowd an' Ah wanted ta try it an' tha' kinda was mah final test."

Applejack's brain took a moment to process what she had just heard. "So... Y'all been trying ta be all sneaky like Dash... ah, yes, Ah get it. Should've tried ta steal from somepony other than me - wait, no. Ah've been... closely knowing Dash some time now, ya know that. Hey, stop laughin'! Ah reckon Ah jus' know her tricks by now."

"Closely knowing all right..."

"Shut it, Bloom. Are yer friends still at it? Ah can't see 'em."

"Because they ain't here. Sweetie Belle's imitating Spike 'cause he ain't at Twilight's fer some reason so she can practice magic an' all that an' earn some money for her work an' Scootaloo's at Fluttershy's, learnin' the wild."





A little outside Ponyville, the mentioned filly had just finished explaining her intentions to another fellow pegasus over the doorstep of her cottage.

"Oh, how wonderful. You can help me tend to all of the animals, especially those poor little fluffies that have got themselves a cold or..."

Scootaloo audibly cleared her throat.

"Sorry. I know you'll just love being with the little furries, everypony that's tried so far did!"

"Everypony? Oh, right, I'm hardly the first one, I should have figured..."

"Doesn't mean you can't be the best one. Oh, and you can learn so much from these cute animals. I've tried Mimicry too, you know. Pretty 'awesome', as you'd say, what they can do. Stuff I never thought even possible."

"Such as hiding like a tree in a forest at the first feeling of danger?" Fluttershy blushed slightly from Scootaloo's direct, somewhat sarcastical question. "N-no offense. I just thought - no, I didn't think at all."

"Oh, it's okay. You kinda got a point there. It can be, um, handy not to be seen. I admit I might have taken it a bit too far..."

"Let's just move on. What would you normally do about now?"

"It's about time to feed the little chickens. You look pretty hungry. Um, too, I mean. Come inside, I have ingredients for snacks both for ponies and chickens in my kitchen."



Scootaloo had politely been refusing to accept what Fluttershy wanted to offer her, but the older pegasus simply wouldn't let up. She didn't force her to eat, but she made very clear how important a good diet was and how Scootaloo was by no means allowed to skip multiple meals like that.

After that was out of the way, they walked outside, Fluttershy carrying a bowl of assorted bird treats. It was mostly seeds, but also dried out plant parts or pieces of worms. Most of the animals kept on running around without any apparent goal, except for those whose food she was bringing out, of course. The avian part of Fluttershy's friends slowly approached her, waiting for her to give them their meal.

Scootaloo helped her spread out the food, but seemed rather disinterested afterwards.

"What's the matter, Scootaloo? Don't you want to watch and learn?"

"Nah. I mean, sure, but I already know pretty much about the chicken way of living. I mean, watch this!" She repeated the imitation she'd already shown the other Crusaders. This time, she actually snatched up pieces of food while her head was down on the ground. "Urk! Of course I gotta catch a piece of worm..."

Fluttershy giggled quietly. "That's pretty good. I see, you need something else. How about... Squirrels! How they dart around and store acorns in their mouths for later and..."

"You don't mean to tell me that you can pull that storage thing off?"

"Um, you see, it's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of ignoring the objects. It's really useful if you want to carry around some hay or things and don't have your saddlebags with you..."

"Wow, and I thought Twilight must've been bored when she spent last night researching AGAIN. What was it this time? Something like that Draco Minor star constellation is supposed to be a crude pegasus instead."





Back in the heart of Ponyville, the unicorn mare didn't hear the mention of her name or how seemingly pointless her research was. Neither did she care about research, stars or anything. In that moment, all she cared about was getting into her bed - no, on top of it, getting under the covers would require energy.

Educating Sweetie Belle on the art of librarytionism - she didn't care about whether that was an actual word either - had not been particularly hard, but it took time and effort. At last, she could leave her alone and claim some much needed sleep upstairs.

That peace didn't last long, unfortunately. After about three seconds for Twilight, or thirty minutes for anypony else, her slumber was disturbed by the little unicorn calling up and then entering her bedroom.

"Twilight? Where does this one go? Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"It's okay. For some reason, I can't really sleep anyway." She eyed the book that was floating in front of her, surrounded by a faint silver glow. "Disease and Cure for the Smallest Creatures. That goes unter lexica, second shelf left from the door... Wait, are you using magic to hold that?"

Sweetie Belle looked as surprised as Twilight was. "Wow, I am. I didn't even try, I just wanted to move it and it came along..."

"Oh, that's great! Such an object is rather heavy for unicorns your age, but you've not only moved it, but also already started subconscially using your magic. You're almost as strong with it as I was when I was your size."

"That's... a compliment, right?"

"Um, yes. I'm kind of a bad comparison, Element of Magic and such. But you're really making progress!"

That was all the encouragement it took. Sweetie Belle hopped back down the stairs happily. Twilight followed after her.

Not long after she'd risen back to her hooves, a headache came over Twilight. Her body demanded more sleep.

Ugh, where's everypony when you need them. I wonder what Rarity's doing... Right now, I'd even drop Sweetie off with Applejack or Rainbow if I had to. What are those two up to right now, I wonder...



Unknown to anypony but the two mares, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were together in that very moment. Not far from the border of a lake, not far from Ponyville. Yet far enough to ensure privacy.

This, nopony should know about before they were told by one of the two.

This was the moment. Rainbow Dash was kneeling before Applejack, presenting in her hooves a golden ring with an inlaid diamond.