//------------------------------// // That's So Rainbow! ...and Pinkie, too. // Story: Princess Rainbow Dash, or An Alternate Ending to How Rainbow Dash Got Her Cutie Mark // by LuluCalliope //------------------------------// Princess Rainbow Dash The migraines continued. The doctors over at the Ponyville Hospital chalked them up to “stress”, “head trauma”, and other boring possibilities, but Rainbow dismissed them all. She hadn’t been in any major accidents...she hadn’t been in ANY accidents recently. And she was the most relaxed pony around, so it couldn’t have been stress. But then things started getting a little weirder...Pinkie Pie had always been close with Rainbow Dash, especially after “the Gilda incident”, but she started becoming a lot more chummy. She followed Rainbow Dash EVERYWHERE and always kept a close eye on her. At first, the princess didn’t mind, but after a little while, it became somewhat creepy. One day, Rainbow decided to ask her about it. “Pinkie, is there a reason for why you keep following me around town every day?” “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,” Pinkie said with a toothy, but seemingly genuine, grin. “I’m just wondering, that’s all...if you’re feeling okay!” How did...does she know about the headaches?! Rainbow decided to play it cool. “What do you mean? I feel fine!” “Are you suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure? No itchy knees? Floppy ears? Twitching tails? Achy shoulders? Eye flutters?” “...those are specific symptoms,” Rainbow noted, biting on her lower lip as a migraine attacked her again. “The thing is, I get these symptoms ALL the time! It’s part of my Pinkie Sense!” “Your what?” Rainbow asked, confused. “My Pinkie Sense! See, certain symptoms I get mean that something specific will happen in the future! Like when my back gets itchy, that means that I’m about to have a lucky day! Or when my knee gets pinchy, that means that something scary is about to happen!” “What about headaches?” Rainbow asked, trying to probe without giving the truth away. Her plan didn’t work. Pinkie Pie’s face contorted into an all-knowing, smug smirk. “You’ve been having headaches, haven’t you, Rainbow Dash?” “Pffft, what?! NO! I’m not...yes, I am,” Rainbow admitted with a defeated sigh. “How did you know?” “Well, I didn’t, but someone else did! And she knew about my Pinkie Sense, so she told me to find out as much as I could about what’s been happening with you!” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Who sent you?” “Well, it was Princess Celestia! And she sent a letter telling Twilight to tell me, so because they communicate through Spike, that means that he knows about it, too…” Rainbow sighed. “Let’s go find Twilight and Spike and send a note to Princess Celestia.” About three hours later… Princess Celestia had arrived in Ponyville as soon as she had received the report from Pinkie Pie. Even though Twilight and Spike now knew what was going on, Celestia requested that they leave the library so that she could talk about this with just Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. “...but I live here…” Twilight protested under her breath as she obeyed Celestia’s order. Once they were alone, Rainbow looked up at Celestia. “So, what’s going on? Why am I getting all these headaches? What do they mean?” “This is something that very few ponies have…” Celestia began to pace back and forth. “...okay!” Rainbow Dash said, somewhat impatient. “I’ve known for a while that Pinkie Pie was clairvoyant…” “...uh-huh…” “but in all my years of knowing you, Rainbow Dash...I never picked up on this power that you have…” “Yeah, can we get back to that for a second, or…?” “...could it be developing now that you’re in Ponyville…?” “CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Rainbow shouted as she pounded her hooves against the floor. Celestia huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine!” She sighed. “Way to ruin the dramatic tension…” She stopped pacing and looked at the younger Alicorn. “It’s like...you have a certain amount of knowledge about Equestria, but you don’t know how much you know or what you know until you have to know, you know?” Celestia said. Rainbow blinked. “Nope. I don’t know.” The white Alicorn sighed as she tried to think of another way to explain it. “It’s...like...well, you basically have the ability to see things in the way the world works...things that normal ponies can’t see. And this power might even be connected to worlds, dimensions, outside of Equestria.” “...you mean I could talk to aliens if that was a thing?” Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Yeah, sure, let’s go with that…” Celestia answered half-heartedly, but Rainbow was already celebrating. “This power is AWESOME!!!” She cheered. “So...what should I use this power for? To stop wars? To make contact with new creatures? To contact new creatures to help them stop wars?!” “Nah, you’ll mostly just be using this to communicate feelings of exasperation that beings from another dimension may feel towards us or our actions. In other words, it’s a gag.” “...SERIOUSLY?!” Rainbow Dash groaned. “I have this AWESOME power...and I’m supposed to use it as a running gag!” “Well, sort of...sometimes the power will show up for an episode...of our lives...and then disappear for the remaining seasons...of our lives,” Pinkie continued in a chipper voice, oblivious to the cyan Alicorn’s growing confusion and anger. “NO! I REFUSE!” She stomped a hoof down and glared at Celestia. “I REFUSE to go by this bullshit logic!” She began to back away from the older princess in a dramatic fashion. “You’ll see! I’ll use this power for something more important than stupid laughs! Someday! Someday…” She paused. “There’s...not a door behind me...it would have been cooler if there had been a door behind me...now my dramatic exit is ruined…” She sighed. “Just pretend that I backed out of the room dramatically, okay?” “Okay!” Pinkie replied. “Uh-wha? Oh! I totally wasn’t listening just now, I was thinking of something else!” Celestia admitted with a sheepish grin. “What were you saying, Dashie?” “...never mind. I’m going to go over here now.” “And that’s how I found out about Rainbow Dash’s new power!” Celestia said as she finished her story to Luna over some tea and biscuits. The blue Alicorn cocked her head to the side, deep in thought. “A very interesting story...but I just have one question now…” “Yes?” “...how DID you find out about Rainbow Dash’s ability? You said that you ‘sensed it’ when you were here in Canterlot,” Luna pointed out. “Oh! That’s simple! I have ‘Deux Ex Alicornia’,” Celestia explained. “It’s the condition where I have impressive knowledge, unstoppable powers, and basically the ability to stop any or all threats with a wave of my horn...but only when an outside force deems it necessary.” “...that sounds really contrived and stupid.” “...I know.” “...are you sure you didn’t know about this for a long time, but didn’t want to do anything about it because that would mean leaving your cakes behind? And when you did have the opportunities to address it, you totally forgot about it?” “...yeah, you’re right.” “And how did you find out about Pinkie Pie’s sixth sense?” “Pinkie Sense,” Celestia corrected. “And Luna, think about. She’s an Earth pony who can play six musical instruments at once. If THAT isn’t an indication that she’s a pony with one-of-a-kind abilities, then I don’t know what is!” Luna shrugged. “Okay, fair enough.” Actually, it was a lucky guess, Celestia thought as she sipped her tea. But there’s no need for anyone to know about that...