“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!!”
The blue pegasus groaned as Pinkie’s shrill voice roused her from sleep. Even though she’d been napping in the clouds, Pinkie had a knack for finding Rainbow wherever she was—a talent that was useful at times, but mostly annoying.
“What is it Pinkie? I’m trying to get some shut-eye!” Rainbow called, not moving from her spot on the cloud.
“Come down for a second, Dashie! You have to meet my new friend!” said Pinkie.
“It’s not some inanimate object like the last few times you woke me up to meet a new ‘friend,’ is it?”
“No, silly! Just get down here and come say hi!!”
Rainbow groaned again, but complied. It was hard to say goodbye to the warm, soft cloud, but she was awake now. And besides—if she tried to fall asleep elsewhere, Pinkie would just find her again.
As Rainbow flitted down to the ground, she noted that there was, indeed, a living, breathing mare next to Pinkie, with an ivory coat, a blue rose for a cutie mark, and a soft green mane. No sacks of flour or rocks with painted faces this time, at least.
“Rainbow, I’d like you to meet Buttercup Kisses! She just moved to Ponyville yesterday from Fillydelphia, and I’ve been showing her all around and introducing her to absolutely everypony!”
“You can just call me Buttercup,” the green-haired mare said, gingerly extending a hoof towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow thought she rather resembled Fluttershy with her demure voice and small frame, not to mention the wings she carried on her back, but Buttercup seemed to carry herself with a bit more confidence than Flutters and was so small she could have been mistaken for a filly.
Rainbow returned the hoofshake firmly. “Good to meet you, Buttercup. Name’s Rainbow Dash.”
Buttercup’s eyes went wide. “You mean the Rainbow Dash?”
“You’ve heard of me?”
“Every pegasus in Fillydelphia has heard of you! I mean, you won the best young flyer’s competition, you created the first documented Sonic Rainboom, even the Wonderbolts look up to you!” Buttercup rambled, her voice moving quicker as Dash’s cocky smile grew.
“Yeah, I guess I am pretty awesome,” Rainbow gloated.
“Hey, uh, I heard you run the weather team in Ponyville. Any chance you need another pegasus on your team? I’m not the strongest flyer, but I’m fast, and I got the job done in Fillydelphia.”
“Well… we do have an opening on the south side of town… okay!” said Rainbow, “but be ready to work hard, and work often. I don’t accept any slackers on my team.”
“Yeah, of course!” said Buttercup, eyes brimming with excitement.
“I’m so glad you guys hit it off!” said Pinkie, who’d been watching the whole exchange intently, “You should come to Sugarcube Corner tonight, Rainbow Dash! I’m hosting a welcome party for Buttercup! Everypony is going to be there.”
“You know what, I think I will! Thanks for the invite Pinkie! And I’ll see you there, Buttercup! But don’t party too hard—the Ponyville weather team reports for duty bright and early,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep the partying to a minimum,” said Buttercup, “I’ll see you tonight!”
As Pinkie corralled the ivory pony to the next hapless victim to meet, Rainbow flew back up to her cloud. The sun had kept it as warm as she’d left it, but try as she might she couldn’t get any sleep. It had been a long time since she’d met a pony as cool as Buttercup, as lame as her name sounded, and one with great taste in celebrity fliers, to boot. Too excited for the party to fall asleep, Rainbow lazily daydreamed on the cloud until evening.
As usual, Pinkie knew how to throw an amazing party. Sugarcube Corner had been decked out with streamers, balloons and banner proclaiming “WELCOME!” all about, and tables were stacked high with fresh treats like cupcakes, fruity punch, hay brownies and tiny daffodil sandwiches for ponies who liked more savory treats. The music was fun any every pony was chatting animatedly and dancing—though some, like Princess Twilight, probably were better off avoiding the dance floor.
Rainbow tried hard not to laugh as she watched the lilac alicorn dance along with the newest resident of Ponyville, Buttercup. “Dance” was a generous term to use—“flailing” was a little more appropriate. Nonetheless, both seemed to be having a great time, as was everypony else.
“This party is wonderful, Pinkie!” Fluttershy strained to have her voice heard above all the chatter and music.
“Aren’t they always?” Rainbow laughed, taking another sip of punch.
“Thank you all so much for coming! I wanted this to be super-duper-fantastic-extra-special party for Buttercup! She told me her friends in Fillydelphia were really mean to her, so I want her to feel welcome here in Ponyville,” said Pinkie.
“How could anybody be mean to her? She seems like such a sweet pony,” said Fluttershy.
“Who knows? She said they all called her names and spread super mean rumors about her. Well, she won’t be having that problem in Ponyville, nosiree Bob! Not when she has us for friends!” laughed Pinkie.
“Wait guys, here she comes now,” said Rainbow, turning to Buttercup as she trotted to the three ponies with Twilight lingering close behind.
“You’re such an amazing dancer, Princess!” said Buttercup, grinning from ear to ear.
“Oh, thank you so much! And just ‘Twilight’ is okay.”
“Quite the party, huh? Having fun?” said Rainbow.
“A blast! You guys are so much better than my old Fillydelphia friends. I’m so glad I met you all!” laughed Buttercup, “In fact, I made you all something to say thanks for making me feel so welcome. It’s not much, but I hope you like it.”
From the pocket on her dress, Buttercup pulled out four lovely bracelets. Each were personally designed for each pony—Fluttershy’s was light pink beads with a butterfly charm, Pinkie’s was yellow beads with a balloon charm, and so on. She even had a rainbow lightning bolt charm for Rainbow’s and a magenta sparkle for Twilight’s.
“These are just lovely! Thank you so much Buttercup!” cooed Fluttershy, admiring her new friendship bracelet on her outstretched hoof.
“Oh, it was nothing after all you six have done for me. I’m glad you all like them, though! I gave Rarity and Applejack their bracelets too, and they were happy too,” said Buttercup, shyly hoofing the ground.
“You’re sooooo nice! Come here!” Pinkie said, gathering everypony around for a group hug. As the hug dissipated, Pinkie said, “I’m going to go check on the other guests and hand out refreshments! Do any of you want a daffodil sandwich?”
“I’ll pass, I have to get back home anyway. Thanks so much for the party though, and thanks again for this lovely bracelet Buttercup!” said Twilight, giving the tiny pony one last hug.
“I better head back too, but thanks again!” said Fluttershy.
“I think I’ll stick around a while longer, but I’ll pass on the sandwich. Can’t stand daffodils,” said Rainbow, making a gagging motion with her hoof.
“Me neither,” said Buttercup.
“Wow, you too are so alike! No wonder we’re all such good buddies already. I’ll talk to you both in a little!” said Pinkie, bouncing away to the refreshments table.
Before Rainbow could say anything else, Rarity came suddenly appeared. “Terribly sorry to bother you two, but Buttercup, darling, before I forget to I simply must ask you where you got your dress! It’s lovely!” she said, gesturing to Buttercup’s light pink, frilly satin gown.
“Thanks! I made it myself!” said Buttercup, looking proud.
“Did you now? Oh you simply must tell me how you stitched the hem, it looks absolutely flawless! How about we discuss it over some daffodil sandwiches?”
“You bet!” said Buttercup, sauntering away with the purple-maned mare.
“Didn’t she just say she hates daffodil sandwiches?” thought Rainbow, but she quickly shrugged it off. She probably was just doing it to be polite. Knowing how Rarity was, it would be an insult to decline something like that, and Buttercup probably knew that already.
Either way, Rainbow had no interest in the nasty things, and as much as she wanted to talk to Buttercup she didn’t want to hear about the riveting difference between a blanket stitch and a running stitch—leave that up to the fashion ponies. Instead, she made her way to the table opposite and chowed down on several cupcakes.
A few hours passed, and more ponies kept leaving the party. However, everybody wanted to talk to the new pony, and every time Rainbow thought she had an opening another pony would swoop in and strike up another riveting conversation. Everybody seemed to love the new mare, which was great for Buttercup, but bad for Rainbow Dash, who only wanted to talk to her new friend and co-worker.
As the hours passed, Rainbow grew bleary-eyed and heavy-lidded. It was getting late, and she had skipped her nap, after all. Bored and tired, Rainbow wandered into the Cake’s kitchen, right next to the common room where the party was being held. She only meant to get herself a glass of water and leave, but the kitchen was so quiet and warm and empty. “No pony will notice if I just rest my eyes for a couple of minutes, right?” thought Rainbow, resting her head on the empty table.
Before she knew it, she’d drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow awoke to a muffled clatter. Forcing her eyelids open, Rainbow stretched her arms and wings, joints cracking, and let out a yawn. It was dark now and completely quiet—the party must have ended ages ago. Either nopony had noticed her curled up next to the table in the kitchen or they hadn’t wanted to disturb her, because everypony was asleep at this point.
“Except for whatever is making that noise out there,” Rainbow thought to herself, craning her neck to get a look outside through the small window. Whatever it was, the sound was coming from right outside Sugarcube Corner.
Naturally, Rainbow had to investigate. As the clatters continued, Rainbow made her way out of the kitchen to leave Sugarcube Corner, as quiet as could be. When she opened the door and peered outside, she gasped. All around Sugarcube Corner, trash was strewn all about the building. Not just any trash, she recognized—trash from the party the previous night.
“How—what--?” Rainbow stammered, gaping at the mess. Who could have done such a thing?
Just as she thought this, a shadow flew past—quite literally, flying. It looked like the silhouette of a cloaked pegasus pony, carrying some sort of sack. However, it paused for a moment, noticing Rainbow, discarded the sack and flew off in a flash. As the sack hit the ground, trash scattered out from it.
“Hey, get back here!” Rainbow yelled, taking off after the pegasus.
Rainbow had met some fast fliers in her life time, but few as fast as this one. The mysterious flier already had a headstart on her, and it didn’t help that Rainbow was still not entirely awake. Still, though, Rainbow wasn’t a renowned flier across Equestria for nothing, and caught up to the shadow within 30 seconds.
“Gotcha!” said Rainbow before she grabbed the pony’s tail with her teeth. With a sharp yank, she pulled the pegasus—along with herself—to the ground.
As the two tumbled to the earth, the other pony tried to get away as Rainbow composed herself and scrambled up. “Oh no you don’t’!” she cried as she pounced on the pony, this time pinning them down so there was no escape. “Who are you, and why’d you do that to Sugarcube Corner!”
As Rainbow pulled back the hood of the cloak, she expected it to be some crazy pony that hadn’t been invited to the party and was bitter about it—except that Pinkie’s parties were usually open-invitation so anypony could come. Who could hate the Cakes so much they’d do something like that?
Rainbow gasped.
Beneath the hood was a maniacally grinning Buttercup Kisses.
“Buttercup?!” Rainbow cried out in disbelief.
“Sorry you had to see that, Rainbow Dash,” Buttercup sneered. Before Rainbow could react, Buttercup had pushed her off, throwing her off balance. Rainbow felt a sharp impact on her stomach—Buttercup landing a sharp, precisely aimed kick. The kick was strong enough to send her flying backwards and knock the wind out of her, rendering her powerless to stop Buttercup as she flew away into the night.
Rainbow was absolutely exhausted the next morning. She’d stayed up all night searching for Buttercup all over Ponyville, only to have no results. As she figured, the mare didn’t bother showing up for weather duty, either. Ponyville had a scheduled rain shower for the day, and since the south end of the town was missing a pony, Rainbow Dash had to do double the work. Just perfect.
By the time she was out of work, Rainbow was fuming, ready to tell all her friends what happened in detail. But first, she flew over to Sugarcube Corner, partially to tell Pinkie what happened and partially to help clean up any mess that may have been left.
As she landed in front of Sugarcube Corner, however, the grounds around it were spotless—good thing too; Rainbow would have been even more angry with Buttercup if she’d made the Cakes clean up her mess in the rain.
The big, red “OPEN” sign beckoned Rainbow in. Sugarcube Corner was warm and inviting, as usual, with sweet scents wafting about. Rainbow gave a little shake, getting excess water off her coat, and stepped inside.
“Hello! Pinkie? Mr. and Mrs. Cake?” Rainbow called, closing the door behind her.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow flinched at the sound of Pinkie’s uncharacteristically angry voice. As the pink mare rounded the corner, she wore an angry expression, and she wasn’t hopping as usual. Behind her was a familiar green-maned pony—Buttercup Kisses!
“Buttercup! How dare—“ Rainbow began, but was cut off.
“Rainbow! Buttercup told me what you did. I can’t believe you would trash Sugarcube Corner like that! The least you could have done was helped clean up!”
“What! But I-“
“Listen Rainbow, I know you like pranking, but that wasn’t even a prank, that was just mean!”
“Hey! I didn’t do this!” Rainbow finally blurted out, gesturing toward the small pony slinking behind Pinkie, “She did!”
“Me? But I… I…” Buttercup whimpered, shrinking even smaller, “I can’t believe you’d say that… I have to go.” Rainbow almost lunged toward her as she ran out of Sugarcube Corner into the rain, but an angry Pinkie cut her off.
“I can’t believe you’d accuse her like that! After she’s been nothing but nice to us, too. I thought we were all friends!”
“Pinkie, you have to believe me, she’s lying! I fell asleep in the kitchen last night and heard something outside, and caught her in the act! Then she kicked me and ran away. I wanted to tell you this morning, but the weather team—“
“What reason could Buttercup possibly have for ransacking Sugarcube Corner? There’s only one liar here and it’s you, Rainbow!”
Rainbow flinched at Pinkie’s harsh accusation. She’d told some tall tales before, sure, but never lied. And now she was getting blamed for what another pony did?
Just then, the door creaked open and hoofsteps were heard behind them.
“Howdy there, you two!” Applejack said cheerily, wiping her hooves before stepping in, “Did I… come at a bad time?”
Before Pinkie could say anything, Rainbow cut in. “Applejack, you’ve gotta help me out! I caught Buttercup spreading trash all around Sugarcube Corner last night, and Pinkie won’t believe me!”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Buttercup? What reason could she possibly have for doing that?”
“Exactly!” Pinkie cut in, “Rainbow, I love pranking as much as the next pony, but eventually you have to admit when you took it too far!”
“Hold on now, before we make any wild accusations, let’s hear Buttercup’s side of the story,” said Applejack, holding a hoof up before Pinkie or Rainbow could comment further, “Now, where did that filly say she lived?”
“I didn’t get her address…” Pinkie said, “But it’s okay! I can use my Pinkie sense to find her, like I do with Rainbow Dash!”
“I sure do hope that nopony is lyin’,” said Applejack, tossing an accusatory glance at Rainbow.
“Whatever,” Rainbow groaned, “let’s just find her and get her to tell the truth.”
Pinkie held her tail up. “A twitchy twitch- twitch-a-twitch…” she murmured.
Rainbow tried not to roll her eyes. Pinkie Sense may have been effective in some odd way nopony could explain, but it looked ridiculous.
Suddenly, Pinkie shuddered all over. “A-hah, I found her!” she said, standing upright again. “She’s… right above us?”
“What in tarnation could that filly be doing out there while it’s raining?”
Rainbow sighed. “I’ll go get her, you two stay here.”
Rainbow angrily made her way out and flew above Sugarcube Corner. Sure enough, Buttercup was lying on a low-hanging cloud below the rainstorm, sobbing into her hooves. For a moment, Rainbow thought that maybe she had accused the wrong pony. After all, she looked so innocent, and why would a guilty pony react this way? They were friends, weren’t they?
“Buttercup, come back inside! We all want to talk to you!” Rainbow said, hovering closer to the cloud.
To her surprise, Buttercup’s soft sobs turned to giggles. She reeled a little as the small pony turned around, a wicked expression across her face. “Oh Rainbow Dash, it looks like no matter what you do, your friends won’t believe you,” she laughed as Rainbow hovered in shock, “but it’s okay, keep it up and soon you won’t have to worry about friends at all.”
“I—uh—huh?” Rainbow stammered as Buttercup flittered to the surface.
She was still reeling as she entered Sugarcube Corner, drenched from the rain. Applejack and Pinkie had already rushed over to comfort the sobbing pony. “Now what in Celestia’s name were you doing there?” Applejack said, patting Buttercup lightly on the back.
“I-I didn’t have anywhere to go back to,” Buttercup sobbed, “I slept on that cloud last night, and that’s when I heard Rainbow d-destroying Sugarcube Corner. I tried to stop her, I really did, but she just wouldn’t have it! She kicked me instead, and then she was gone…”
“Are you kidding me?!” Rainbow finally composed herself enough to blurt out, “she was the one who kicked me after I found her out!”
“Rainbow!” Applejack snapped, “Now listen here, I have knack for telling when ponies are lyin’, and somehow I seriously doubt that Buttercup would lie about this. Why, she’s homeless! I reckon the last thing she’d care about now would be petty pranks.”
“If you’d just admitted you went too far it would have been fine, but now you’re trying to pin the whole thing on Buttercup? Why I’m so mad, I—“ Pinkie began, but stopped and sighed. “Please stay out of Sugarcube Corner for a while, Rainbow. We may be friends, but I think I need a while away from you if you’re going to be like this.”
“I—I—fine!” Rainbow snapped, stomping out. She couldn’t believe her friends were going to believe this random pony over their long-time friend. Why couldn’t they see that she was the one lying to them? The story did look bad for Rainbow, given her track record, but when it came to pranking Rainbow never went too far—Pinkie had taught her better than that.
As Rainbow left, she heard Buttercup’s fake sobs again, and Applejack saying “If ya’ll don’t have a place to stay, there’s plenty of room at my place! It’s been a while since we had some guests.”
Rainbow turned before closing the door. The three ponies were hugging, but Buttercup was looking up. Watching the dejected blue pony leave, with a cruel smile upon her face. Rainbow just slammed the door and flew as quick as she could to her cloud home.