Rainbow Dash spun around in the air, pulling off some of her more dangerous stunts. She felt quite happy that she'd done so well, or at least she would have if something big and green hadn't appeared in front of her. She tried to stop but to no avail. The next thing she knew she had a face full of leaves and branches and a major headache. She shook herself free from the tree, dazed.
“Rainbow Dash!!!” a very familiar voice shouted from inside the tree that was Ponyville's local library. She gulped, then stuck her head into the ever-open window and peered inside.
There, amidst hundreds of books that had been knocked onto the floor by her collision, stood her five friends. Twilight sighed and shook her head.
“Really Rainbow Dash, it's almost as if you make it a habit to crash into MY library and wreck all of MY hard work,” she said, exasperated.
“Hehe, sorry girls.” Rainbow Dash apologized.
Twilight groaned, looking around at the mess, then levitated a black book over in front of her.
“Now, you're all probably wondering why I called you here, but it's for a very good reason,” Twilight began, holding the book open and flipping through the pages, “it's because the Princess sent me this book and asked me to look into it.”
“So, what is it?” Rainbow Dash asked, receiving a glare from Twilight.
“Well, it's a spellbook, but not just any spellbook. The spells in here relate to friendship. And because you are all my friends, I figured we could try one or two on us all,” Twilight finished, looking at each one of the girls in turn, who smiled in return.
“Sure Twilight, sounds like fun!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Rainbow Dash flew inside and settled on hovering in the air above the five mares.
“Now, there’s one particular spell that I’d like to cast, but the book says nothing about what it does, so I’m not sure how it will affect us all,” Twilight flipped to the back of the book.
“Oh my, it won’t mess up my mane, will it?” Rarity asked as Applejack and Rainbow Dash rolled their eyes.
“I’m sure your mane will be fine. Now, let’s see,” Twilight replied.
Three tribes at war for oh so long
Fighting over lands where they belong
They soon found, through trouble and strife
They all were needed to save their way of life
If one day you seem to find
Your group of friends aren’t one in mind
Just cast this spell and then you’ll see
That soon, the same they’ll never be.
Twilight recited the spell and the others watched as her horn lit up, growing in brightness as she concentrated on the spell more and more. Then a great flash of light lit up the library, blinding them all. As the light dimmed, they all noticed that each one of them glowed briefly before it faded. They all looked at each other, then examined themselves.
After a few minutes of examining their bodies, Rainbow Dash sighed.
“Ok, the spell was a dud.”
“No, Rainbow, we just don’t know what it did,” Twilight retorted.
“Well, it seemed like it didn’t do anything. Perhaps you cast it wrong?” Rarity asked.
“I didn’t cast it wrong! There wasn’t much instructions, just concentrate on the spell and let it work,” Twilight snapped.
“Maybe you’re thinking too much about it?” asked Rainbow Dash. Twilight glowered at her and Rainbow swore she saw small wisps of smoke come from her ears.
“I’m not thinking too much!! Maybe if you hadn’t slammed into the library when you did I would have gotten it right! So if it doesn’t work, it’s your fault!” she jabbed a hoof at Rainbow Dash.
“My fault?” Rainbow Dash looked wounded, “it’s your fault for thinking too much! If you just let your instincts guide you, it would’ve been better!” she snapped.
“If you stopped to think about what you did, you wouldn’t get hurt all the time and you especially wouldn’t run into the library all the time!” Twilight snapped back.
“Now girls, it won’t do us any good-“ Rarity started, but both angry mares turned their attention to her.
“Oh be quiet, Rarity!” Rainbow Dash snapped, “you don’t know anything about letting your instincts guide you. You just go off of crazy ideas!”
“Yeah, and when was the last time you tried to cast a spell harder than your gem finding spell?” Twilight added, “do you even know any other spells other than your gem finding spell or levitation?”
Rarity seemed taken back by the anger, but she narrowed her eyes, anger filling them.
“Oh, and when was the last time you both made a dress?” she glared daggers at each of them.
“Probably about the same time you actually got dirty,” Applejack muttered under her breathe, but not low enough that it escaped Rarity’s hearing.
“Oh? Get dirty? You don’t know the first thing about being a Unicorn! You don’t know how hard it is to cast a spell!” Rarity snapped.
“And you don’t know how hard it is being a Pegasus!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Oh please, it can’t be that hard, all you do is fly around and sleep all day long!” Applejack shot back at her.
“Your wings are useless!” Applejack shouted, “you could probably have them ripped off and you would be fine!”
“Actually,” a soft voice jumped in, “I use my wings to help my friends.”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Really Fluttershy? All you do is walk around on the ground! You rarely use your wings! Your wings are useless!”
“Hey!” unnatural anger fed into Fluttershy’s voice as she defended herself. “I use my wings more than you think! I just don’t use them for weather!”
“Come on girls, we should just have a party and laugh at all this!” Pinkie Pie jutted in. All five of the angry mares turned to glare at her.
“Life is not just a party!!!”
Pinkie blinked at the five of them, then a dark cloud fell on her face. “You think that all I do is throw parties? You think all I do is think about how to make people happy?” she glared at all of them. If they hadn't been so angry the other five mares would have been very worried, but right now they didn't care.
“Yeah, we do think that. All you do is run around and get into other ponies' faces and try and cheer them up!” Applejack snapped.
“Do you do anything else besides butt into other ponies' business? I mean really, always running around and saying 'hi'? It's a wonder the Cakes don't throw you out, always throwing parties at Sugarcube Corner without their permission.” Rarity snapped at Pinkie.
“The Cakes care for me! They have me stay with them because of all that I do for them! What about you, Rarity? How many times do you help ponies who stay with you? Oh wait, you don't have anypony that stays at your boutique because you're afraid of getting dirty!” Pinkie snapped back, causing Rarity to gasp.
“You always have a one-track mind, Pinkie, and sometimes it's too distracting when it comes to other, more important things!” shouted Twilight.
“Well, I'm sorry that I have a one-track mind! At least I can see what's going on around me!” Pinkie shot back.
“You Earth Ponies don't even know how hard it is to keep several things in mind! When was the last time you thought of something other than sweets, Pinkie? And Applejack, when didn't you think about your farm?” Rainbow jeered at the two Earth ponies in the room.
“Oh pulease, Rainbow! You act all 'holier than thou' only because you've got wings! You wouldn't know the first thing to do if you were stuck on the ground!” Twilight shouted at Rainbow.
“And what about you?” Rarity asked, “always pulling the 'I'm Princess Celestia's Personal Student' card whenever we need a leader.”
“All Earth ponies know how to do is make food! It's the Pegasi that have to take care of the weather!” Rainbow Dash shouted, getting glares from Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
“Oh please, you don't know the first thing about life on the ground! It's not hard to flap your wings and escape from the troubles down here! Maybe you should try it sometime, you might get something done!” Pinkie shouted back.
“Ya'll wouldn't know what ta do if ya'll didn't have your precious horn or wings! Ya'll wouldn't last a day being a normal pony!” Applejack interjected.
“Normal?” Twilight scoffed, “I'm afraid there's nothing normal about being plain. That's more boring than anything else!” Unbeknownst to them all, Twilight's horn started to glow softly and increased in strength.
“Please, Ya'll couldn't do my job even if ya tried!” snapped Applejack.
“Flying's a lot harder than you think! And I have plenty of things I have to worry about!” Rainbow Dash glared down at the five mares.
“Magic isn't something that comes easy! It takes study and dedication to grasp even the easiest spells, much less make your own spell!” Rarity shouted.
“I do more than just sit around and think of parties I can throw! I can only do so much!!!” Pinkie glared at the rest of them.
“Wings are used for more than just flying!!” growled Fluttershy.
“Enough!” Twilight's horn grew to almost blinding in brightness, “you all don't know how hard it is to be Princess Celestia's student! You just sit around in your stores and homes and act like everything is just fine! Well it isn't! I have a lot on my shoulder and none of you understand that!” They could all feel the magic flowing through the room. “You all don't know how hard it is to study everyday and try and be perfect! You all wouldn't last a second in my place!!!”
And with that final statement, Twilight's horn blew up. Not literally, but magic blasted off it with such force that it slammed all six mares into the walls, knocking them unconscious. Their last collective thought was 'This isn't my fault.'
As they slept, their bodies started to glow and each one had a specific change come over them. One that would make it's mark on their lives.
Outside the library, a certain Draconequuis smiled as he snapped his fingers, teleporting him back to Canterlot. Celestia would love to hear about this. Discord afforded himself a smile as he thought about her reaction. The student had become the teacher.