It was the hottest, stickiest day in the history of Ponyville. Vendor ponies lined the street dutifully like an exhausted army line-up while Rarity's sun-hats were flying of the shelves. Fluttershy and her animals gathered by the pond and Sweet Apple Acres wasn't bucking for once. Nopony had seen Pinkie Pie all day but one thing was certain: Everypony had their own unique way of beating the heat.
Despite adverse conditions, the economy of Ponyville flourished in the scorching sun. Vendors sold hundreds in icecream and lemonade. Anypony selling sunblock made a killing! If today were anything to them, it was definitely lucrative. Money signs filmed every salespony's eye and with business booming, the only ponies who could complain were those without the luxury of a shaded kiosk or an air-conditioned boutique.
However, somewhere in a tree by Sweet Apple Acres, some little pony was thinking something a little more fun to relax Ponyville. She wanted something awesome and bad ass. Perhaps something festive...maybe white too.
"That's it!!!", thought Rainbow Dash as she pulled out the small blue machine from out of the large hole in her tree bed. This, she had saved for an emergency, for it was said to contain a century of snow and Princess Celestia had warned that only ponies capable of turning off the device may use it, but all with caution. Rainbow Dash was one of the few, though she'd never tested it. All she knew was it required a pegasus and and a particularly strong one too. How hard could it be? Afterall, she was the fastest flyer in all of equestria!
She'd just crank it to the highest setting and turn it off in a nanosecond. Without over-thinking it, Rainbow Dash planted the rocket-shaped, snowflake-covered device on a small cloud nearest to her tree, she turned the dial to HIGH, and pressed one out of forty different buttons: ON.
In an instant, a harsh, cold wind came and knocked Rainbow Dash hard to the ground. Her wings barely spared her the impact as she fell rapidly to the crushing earth. Everything was blank from that point. Rainbow's eyes slowly closed and the world went dark as a deep and frosty sleep overtook the pegasus. Was this a coma? She'd only wished. Princess Celestia was going to be pissed when she got word of this.
Sadly, Rainbow Dash's eyes painfully flickered open and awake after only thirty minutes. Snow covered her stinging eyes, almost freezing them closed. She was sure that if she fell back to sleep, she'd parish after only a half an hour more. A huge half of her wanted to just lay down and let death come to her and sweep her far away from equestria. She wanted to be spared the disapproving stares of every pony in Ponyville. The humiliation when she is banished for betraying the royals' trust. But, for her fellow ponies, she couldn't die here. She had to get up. Now.
She looked around herself and could hardly believe it! Not even an hour ago, Ponyville had been in the wake of a heat wave but now was in blizzard condition! She had to get back up there. This was far beyond enough snow. The sky-colored mare spread her wings and prepared for flight. Only, it was useless. Another wind soon came and punched her hard, downward to Ponyville. This time, however, the wind felt instinctively like cold hooves had kicked Rainbow down away from the mechanism. She pondered this for a moment. It couldn't be. No. It wasn't.
Unsure what to do, Rainbow seeked out the egghead pony, Twilight Sparkle. A book nerd like her? She's bound to know exactly what to do in this crisis! Unable to fly, Rainbow trotted by foot to Twilight's library where Twilight and Spike probably sipped tea, studied, and relaxed by a warm, comfy fire. It took a little too long to arrive. By then, Rainbow Dash's wings rung with soreness from the cold wind beating against her, almost pushing her back. She knocked frantically. She was freezing and needed in ASAP!
Inside, Twilight Sparkle called on her baby dragon, Spike, to get the door while she spilled over a book called "Weirdest Weather in Equestria's History". She had to get to bottom of this sudden winter immediately. Something about this just wasn't right. Not even possible. Spike called from the doorway, snatching Twilight out of her mind momentarily, "It's Rainbow Dash!"
"Well, let her in, then.", Twilight replied "It's too cold out there for anypony to rough it in that storm!"
Twilight smiled as Rainbow's familiar form walked in and took a seat by the fire. It always felt good to help a friend in need. Especially a loyal one like Rainbow Dash. Rainbow opened her wings to warm. It felt like two-hundred small needles had jabbed them, filling them with only more pain. She was sure of frostbite. Her hair was wet with melted snow and frozen tears hung off her face like icicles clinging to a roof. Just a drop of blood hung from her lip, frozen dry and cracked. However, no sooner had Rainbow sat down, did she decide to get back up. "Twilight Sparkle!" she exclaimed, "I need your help!"
Twilight appeared bewildered. "Huh?" she asked, "With what?"
"The weather, Twilight! It's all my fault!" Rainbow explained, "I used a weather machine earlier to help cool Ponyville! Princess Celestia warned me to use caution and I didn't listen! I should have, but I didn't! I had a...a-- Rainbow fail!"
Twilight furrowed her brow for just a minute. There had to be something that could be done... Princess Celestia invented the thing, afterall. Surely, she could help them turn it off. Twilight looked into Rainbow's worried gaze. "We have no choice. We must get to Canterlot and speak with the princess. She can help us. This, I am absolutely sure of."
"And what if she can't?" Asked Rainbow Dash. Besides, the last person she wanted to go to was the princess. Celestia would never ever trust her again. This she was sure of.
"Then we gather up our friends and stick together through this!" Twilight replied, "We can't let this cold ruin Ponyville. We need to get going. Fast!"
Rainbow swallowed her pride. She had caused this and now she must face the Princess' music. Ponyville depended on it! She nodded to Twilight and that night, the pair agreed on the option of waiting for tomorrow morning to rally up Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkiepie, and Rarity to begin the very perilous (and sadly, wingless) journey to Canterlot. But what else awaits them on their way and was Rainbow Dash only imagining the cold hooves or is something more sinister at play? Something cruel... Something evil...