“Hey! She’s waking up!” Pinkie’s voice said.
Darkness faded and light returned, Rainbow realized she was on her back on a soft surface, still somewhat dazed. “Where… am I?” she asked.
“Whaddya mean where are ya, yer in yer bed, sugarcube!” Applejack’s voice said.
“She certainly took quite a spill!” Rarity’s voice said.
“I do hope she’s okay, she did hit her head on the way down,” Fluttershy’s voice said.
“Ughhh…” Rainbow moaned. “I had this crazy dream… did something way stupid…”
“Stupid, you? Ya sure, Twi? Ah know ya can be a little antsy about stuff sometimes but ya always seemed pretty sensible to me otherwise.” Applejack said.
Twi? TWI?!
Rainbow raised her hoof, sure enough it was Twilight’s lavender color. “Ohhh no, no, NOOOO” she whined, letting her hoof fall to her side as she stared up at the library ceiling.
“Oh my, she must think she overslept through exams!” Pinkie Pie said.
“How would you know about anythin’ like that?” Applejack asked, doubting Twilight to be the type who shared things like that.
“You weren’t here for it. There was this one time where she thought she missed exams, and was freaking out like that time she was late on a friendship report, but it turned out she just forgot daylight savings!” the pink pony said with a wide grin. “It was pretty silly of her, I mean she was so caught up she missed it on her lists!” she patted Rainbow on the head. “Don’t worry, Twilight, daylight savings isn’t for another few months! Well, plus you wouldn’t have come back early from Canterlot unless you got done with exams there early, right?”
“I just realized something… where’s Spikey?” Rarity asked.
“Spike….?” Rainbow asked, realizing it would have been odd for Twilight to arrive without her faithful dragon companion. “He’s… he’s still in Canterlot,” she said. “He’ll be coming along later… important stuff, said he’d cover for me so I could come home early.” She hoped they’d buy that.
The questions that followed came in such a cacophony that Rainbow couldn’t hope to keep up with them. How did Twilight manage through all this?!
“Girls, please!” she cried out, rubbing her head with her hoof. “I just wanna… go get something to eat, okay? I’m really hungry and I feel like eating out!” she said, rolling off the bed and hurrying downstairs. “We’ll all talk later, okay?” she asked, immediately heading out the door.
Before she could get far, she found Pinkie Pie already waiting outside for her. When did she get there?! she wondered.
“Wait, Twilight!” Pinkie said. “I still gotta make a cake for you, and Rarity wanted me to remind you of the trip to the spa and trying out the line of outfits you girls agreed to once you got back! Oh yeah, and Rarity says she’ll get back to you after breakfast about a spa trip since she said you looked… what was it…” The pink pony wondered, gazing upward. “Oh right! Positively GHASTLY! No offense or anything!” With that, Pinkie cheerfully bounced away, leaving the alicorn to her thoughts… only for her to return seconds after.
“Ooh! One more thing! So sorry Dashie couldn’t make it since she’s sick and all! Maybe we should go over and cheer her up and let her know you’re back! I saw Tank’s here so we may wanna bring him back too!” Pinkie said.
“NO!” Rainbow shouted instinctively. “I-I mean, no. She’s still out with Feather Flu, she sent Tank to Fluttershy’s I guess, but I kinda found him and was gonna bring him to her later, but… ya know, wanted to not have anypony know I was here yet!”
At that moment, Tank buzzed out of the library and bumped into Rainbow. “Well, like I said, I was totally gonna give him to Fluttershy, but then I was all ‘hey, Tank, since Spike is away at Canterlot still why doncha keep me company for awhile?’ And he seemed happy to agree to that!” the alicorn explained with a nervous laugh, putting her foreleg around the tortoise. “Right, buddy?” The tortoise looked at his transformed owner and gave a slow nod.
“Aaaaaaanyway, it’s probably best we leave Rainbow alone for now! I’m sure she’ll come by when she’s all better!” Rainbow said with a wide grin. Pinkie Pie cocked her head.
“If you say so, Twilight!” Pinkie said. “Well, catchya later!” With that, the pink earth pony bounced away happily. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rainbow went off to find her favorite breakfast diner.
~
“Hi! Gimme the usual, double pancake special with a side of fried eggs and a blueberry muffin!” Rainbow said with a grin to the confused waitress as she at on her haystack.
A beat.
“What? Don’t tell me you’re deaf, you know my usual order!” Rainbow protested.
“Uh, I have to admit, we’ve not seen you here often, Princes—I-I mean, Twilight! We’re… n-not really familiar with what you prefer for breakfast. Though you must have been taking notes from Rainbow Dash given your choices.”
Oh no! How could I forget! Rainbow thought to herself, her tummy growling and suspecting being rather hungry made her forget. “Right, yeah, she recommended this. I figured I’d try the place out since I’m still a little worn from the trip, didn’t feel like breakfast at home today, so just give me what I asked for. I mean, if Rainbow Dash thinks it’s good, it must be, right?”
“Of course, right away, highness!” the waitress said with a bow, then hurried off. Sighing, Rainbow leaned forward, resting her chin on her hoof as Tank hovered across from her.
“What am I gonna do, Tank?” she asked, noticing the stares she was getting. “Normally I’d be eating this up, but it’s Twi they’re oogling at, not me! It just feels all awkward and stuff!” The moment the words left her mouth the other ponies immediately resumed eating their meals. “This must be what Twi’s dealing with in Canterlot…” the alicorn muttered to herself. “Stares, formal titles, ponies acting all edgy around her…” She slumped forward, her head now resting on the table. “The more I gotta deal with it… the less I want to.”
“Awww, still not having fun?” Discord’s voice asked. Rainbow jerked upright, and looked down at the menu, which now had a picture of Discord in that waiter outfit he wore when he was serving a meal at Fluttershy’s.
“Somehow I’m not surprised.” Rainbow muttered. “Haven’t I been stuck like this long enough, Discord?”
“Now, now, are we forgetting our arrangement? I’m not changing you back till you learn the lesson I intend you learn!” Discord said, snickering.
Rainbow growled angrily at the draconequus who just looked to the side with a guilty smirk on the menu. “Wait… wait… you must’ve seen how today’s already been for me! It’s been horrible, everypony looks at me like they’re… beneath me or something. It’s like I’m not one of them anymore, but I… I don’t want it like that. I mean yeah I want everypony to admire me and know how cool I am, but I don’t want to be treated like I’m above them! Right, that grace and humility thing!”
Discord produced a hankie from behind his back and wiped his eyes as he emerged from the menu. “Ohhhh Rainbow Dash, how your understanding moves me to tears…” he said, reaching under the table and pulling out a large black ball with the number 8 on it. “So, shall we see if our little pony learned the lesson?” The chaos god shook it frantically, then turned a windowed corner of the ball to face the alicorn. A second later, a small message appeared on it.
NOT A CHANCE!
“ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Rainbow shouted furiously, causing everypony there to stare at her in shock and Discord to immediately fall over laughing hysterically, though nopony there seemed to notice him. “…Sorry. Just… realized I missed something on my list, I’ll get back to it later. Long night!” Rainbow said with a nervous laugh before turning and noticing Discord holding his fingers behind her to give ‘bunny ears’, then hid his claw behind his back and grinned.
“Sorry, my little lavender beauty, but the most reliable consultant for indecisive questions has spoken!” Discord said with a laugh, kicking the 8-ball into the air, rolling it across his body, and tossing it into the air where it suddenly deflated like a balloon before vanishing in a poof of smoke. “…Besides, I’ve often believed one creature’s torment is another creature’s delight! But don’t worry, I’ll check in with you again later, Princess, I wouldn’t want you to miss out on your… royal duties!” he said, laughing again as he snapped his claw, and vanished in a flash of light.
“Stupid chaos god…” Rainbow grumbled, and was suddenly startled by a plate landing in front of her.
“Your breakfast,” the waitress said with a smile.
“Uhh, thanks!” Rainbow said with a sigh and noticing Tank had been staring at her. “Let’s just eat, buddy…”
~
“I must say, Twilight, it’s fortunate we went to the spa when we did! I had half a mind to march right over to that diner and dragging you here before you ate, you’re positively a mess!” Rarity said as the spa ponies worked on Rainbow; one was giving her a back massage while the other brushed out her tail.
Rainbow had to admit, despite being Twilight, this felt really nice. She wondered if it was due to Rarity’s being on great terms with the place or because she herself currently resembled the newest member of the Equestria royalty. Either way, this she couldn’t complain about. When the massage ended, she felt the brush start being worked through her mane. “This feels great…” she muttered. What did she have to fear from losing coolness points? It wasn’t Rainbow Dash being treated it was Twilight Sparkle after all!
No, no! This was all wrong! She shouldn’t be enjoying this! Twilight always did, though… wait, if she was enjoying it now, did that mean she was enjoying this because Twilight did, and she was Twilight now so she was starting to like things Twilight did like she was worried she would? Rainbow’s eyes snapped open, her body twitched, startling the spa ponies.
“Is everything alright, dear?” Rarity asked, looking over at the alicorn.
“Uhh, yeah… never better!” Rainbow said as the spa ponies began brushing her mane again. Within moments, they stopped. “Well, that was fun, should probably get going?”
“Not quite yet, Twilight. We still have one last thing to do here, remember?” Rarity asked.
“Uhhh what?” Rainbow asked as she was suddenly turned over.
“Well before you left we DID agree to my insistence I’d get you the full package when you came back, correct?” Rarity asked.
“Ohh, yes, right, of course! What’ll it be then?” Rainbow asked, managing a smile but drawing a blank on what could of have been left.
“Why a full hooficure of course! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten!” Rarity said with a smirk.
WHAT?! A horrified look came over the alicorn’s face as she saw one of the spa ponies approach with the brush and file. Oh no! I draw the line here! I don’t like my hooves being touched! She scooted into the chair, fear overwhelming her.
“Twilight, whatever is the matter, you never seemed against the idea before. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were Rainbow Dash in disguise!” Rarity said, confused by her friend’s odd behavior.
Oh you have NO idea… aw, and I gotta act like Twilight! Why’s that egghead gotta be so girly too?! Rainbow protested in her mind. Suck it up, Dash. Your rep’s not going anywhere they only see Twilight, how bad can it be… Sinking into the chair, and closing her eyes as tightly as she could she waited for the inevitable…
~
“I’ve got to say, Twilight, I thought you were going to laugh yourself to death back there. They had to strap you down to keep you under control!” Rarity said as they left the spa, heading towards the Carousel Boutique with Tank hovering behind them. “Honestly, I’ve never seen you get that hysterical over a hooficure, Twilight.”
Rainbow cringed at the memory. Her inexperience with a hooficure had come back to bite her badly, and even the change of form did not protect her. She thought she’d never stop laughing after it’d become evident how ticklish she was. Rainbow paused for a moment, when she thought she saw Discord leaning against a cottage, sipping the glass of a martini and allowing the contents to splash on the ground.
“Are you okay, dear?” Rarity asked, Discord making a shushing gesture and vanishing right before Rarity turned to look in his direction.
“Yeah… I’m… alright, Rarity,” Rainbow said, unsure how it could get any worse.
“Oh, you’re going to LOVE the outfits I came up with, but oh, we can only choose one winner, can’t we? You are a princess, so that means you’ll have to make an appearance at the next Grand Galloping Gala, won’t you?” Rarity asked, her expression fell at the mention of that event. “…Please understand I don’t envy you in that respect… my apologies.”
I take that back. It CAN get worse…