Thoughts from the last night were still swirling around Rainbow's head when she woke up the next morning. She'd been trying all night to find the perfect thing to do today and she had fallen asleep before she had come up with anything near a solution. It was the crack of dawn but Dash didn't really feel groggy. Rainbow's favorite responsibility on the weather patrol had recently been creating the picturesque sunrise so she was usually up about an hour or two earlier than the sun itself. It was just her, the sun and the endless sky, but in her hooves it turned into a masterpiece that started every day off as awesome as she was. Today however the clouds didn't frame the sun perfectly and the dew had already evaporated ahead of schedule as well. The sunrise was not helping Rainbow Dash at all today.
It served a purpose for her though as she looked out her window eating her breakfast of toast and jelly. When she wasn't focusing on the toasty delight in front of her, Rainbow's mind was split between the weather patrol and Pinkie. On one side was the window, the other her leftover cupcake from last night on her table. It was too early for worrying so she instead looked neither at the cupcake or the sky as she ate her breakfast, completing it in record time. It was a hollow victory though, the second she swallowed the last gulp she couldn't stop thinking about what she was going to do with Pinkie Pie.
She was of course worried because she hadn't figured out what they were going to do today yet, but deeper than that was the fear that whatever she chose was just going to end up like yesterday. Yesterday hadn't been an unlucky day, yesterday had been what should have happened for a long time. Their pranks had been spiraling out of control and this time there hadn't been any level headed farm pony's or clever librarians to save the day when it got too crazy. Why did Pinkie keep getting crazier if Rainbow was only getting more fed up with the ridiculous antics? If today was anywhere near as irresponsible as last time then even if they didn't get caught Rainbow didn't know what she was going to do.
The regular outings just weren't going to cut it today. Pranking used to be the only thing they had in common, but today...
"I told you Dashie," Pinkie said as she ran out of town. "they wont get the joke until they check the vault and see that we've swapped all the money out for green and gold jello. Now get your head down and hustle because we need to get to the Everfree quick."
Rainbow Dash was close behind, running at full speed with a black wool ski-mask clumsily covering her head. She had no idea how it all had happened so fast, and even if Pinkie was just kidding the police ponies in hot pursuit were anything but.
"Stop and turn around right now!", bellowed the cops as they followed. " Rainbow Dash, we realize that this wasn't your idea so if you stop right now you'll only serve a few years in the Canterlot dungeon!"
...today Rainbow didn't want to risk it. But at the same time, she didn't really know what would work anymore. They had used to spend their afternoons at the library when the newest Daring Doo would have come out, but once again...
The smoke was dying down now, no longer threatening to jump across the street and burn down the entire town. Twilight was bearing down on her and Pinkie, showing no mercy in her unrelenting lecture. Rainbow couldn't blame her, they had burned down her home. However, Pinkie also deserved some credit. They had tried to do every activity they could find in the dictionary that day, and Twilight said they were crazy. She might have been right, but they had got all the way to arson and...
How did this idea ever sound defensible again? Why was Pinkie still under that impression?
... the library didn't seem like the best place. As Rainbow contemplated, she realized that the only place she would be really comfortable with Pinkie would be her house, where it wouldn't matter if anything broke. Sadly the same reason it was so replaceable was the same reason Pinkie had never stepped foot in the floating domicile. That realization crossed out places other ponies owned and places Rainbow Dash owned. With a sigh, Rainbow got up from her table and soared down to the ground. Today seemed like a good day for a picnic.
An outsider might say that the center of Ponyville was Town Hall, where all of the decisions were made. Twilight might say that the center of town was actually 42 feet at twelve degrees north of east from Town Hall. However any native to the town knew that undisputed center of the community was Sugarcube Corner. Every pastry bought, every party planned, every cake ordered happened right behind those doors for the entire town. Today was no exception.
In fact, today was the day that proved the rule. Sugarcube Corner was down one employee out of three and the store was packed. The heat of the oven made the whole store reek of sweat, and the mood was not alleviated by the piercing sound of crying infants from the back. Rainbow was suddenly very glad that Pinkie didn't have to work today, because there was no way that Rainbow was going to spend more than two seconds inside the store. The fates must have been smiling on her today then, as Rainbow was tackled before she even reached the door.
"Hiya Dashie!" Pinkie said as she climbed off Rainbow's back. Groggily turning over and shaking out the stars in her vision, Rainbow managed to catch the open window that Pinkie must have catapulted herself out of. That answered where she came from, but not how she had seen or known that Rainbow was there. That was Pinkie for you. Not today though, not for Rainbow Dash.
"Pinkie, how did you know I was here? That window is like four feet off the ground and where the customers line up. You couldn't have waited there for me."
"Well, I was combing my mane up in my room when I felt all of my hooves twitch not once, but four times in a row! So obviously I ran downstairs to meet you when I felt my tail twitch! I knew something had to fall and everything was perfectly balanced, so I figured why not me?" Pinkie said like it was the obvious reason. Rainbow just sighed.
"Well, at least I sort of see where your coming from. Anyway, I was thinking we could have a picnic today way on the outskirts of town. So if you wouldn't mind picking up some bread from the bakery-" her slow pace today was no match for Pinkie's pep.
"Oh, no can do Dashie! I'm not allowed in Sugarcube corner right now so maybe you should go in and I'll just wait here." her mouth scrunched up a little and her eyes darted back and forth in worry.
"Wait, you just jumped out of there! How could you possibly not be allowed in there?" Rainbow asked incredulously.
"Well, I just jumped out a window during the busiest time of day, and the cakes aren't exactly happy with me in the first place so lets just say I don't need my Pinkie sense to know that I'm going to be coming in the backdoor tonight." The fact that Rainbow was holding a picnic basket in her hoof did nothing to stop it from heading straight to her forehead. As she walked up to the giant humid mass of sweaty ponies that they called a line, Rainbow knew that today was starting off great.
The outskirts of Ponyville were actually sort of beautiful today. The sky was clear of clouds and the air smelled like it had never even heard of vinegar. Rainbow knew that the main reason it looked so nice was that the weather ponies had made too much wind so the clear skies meant for the town had blown off course, but for once she decided to ignore it and focus on Pinkie. They were far away from everyone else now, even if things went wrong nothing could spiral too out of control. Pinkie and herself could just talk.
"I bet I can eat an entire loaf of bread in ten seconds flat!" Pinkie proclaimed right as they sat down. It was clear to Rainbow that Pinkie could easily, and was actually waiting for Rainbow to give her a reason. Anypony else would have said she was either crazy or that she couldn't do it. Rainbow knew though that this wasn't Pinkie being Pinkie, this was forced. The smile was a smidgen to long, her eyes blinking a second too late.
"I'm sure you can Pinkie, but I sort of want something to eat while we sit here. I was hoping we could talk." Rainbow could see a trace of fear in her friend's eyes. " I just want to talk like the old days today. Nothing crazy, no pranks, just talking."
"Well, that's good because I wanted to talk to you too. I know I said you could choose what we do, but I was thinking that maybe we could do some sort of activity. Like, more than talking." Rainbow had hoped to talk about this after a few servings, but if Pinkie was going to force the issue they might as well get everything out in the open.
"Pinkie, I was hoping that after yesterday we could have a day where we don't mess up the entire town. I also thought you wouldn't want something like that after the Cakes kicked you out of the bakery for a week."
"If you wanted that why didn't you go hang out with Applejack?" Pinkie said pouting.
"Because you're one of my best friends Pinkie and you have the entire week off. Why would I want to spend a week counting apples when we could hang out?"
"Because when you say you just want to sit and talk you might as well say you want to hang out with Fluttershy. That's not who I am Dashie, I'm your friend who you party with, who you prank with." Pinkie said with a level of seriousness that rarely graced her face. "I'm not who you go to for serious advice, I'm not the one you go on a picnic with. I'm not that type of friend." Pinkie wasn't smiling anymore, her face very close to a frown.
Rainbow was caught off guard from this sudden change, wishing for a second she had taken her up on the bread eating. The way Pinkie was speaking here, so clear and concise with not a tangent or joke was even more surprising. These thought weren't spur of the moment. These were the type of thoughts that didn't go away after you first have them. Thoughts that just echoed and bounced off your mind, always coming and never leaving. Not the type of thoughts that Pinkie should be having, Rainbow figured.
With a smile composed of genuine sincerity and a little extra to boot, Rainbow said " Pinkie, c'mon that's just crazy. You're my friend, no conditions. I mean, sure we do a lot of crazy stuff, but it doesn't have to be that way. We could read the dictionary together and it would be awesome."
"That's nice of you to say Dashie, but I don't do this for me." Dash raised her eyebrow. "Well, it is a ton of fun, but Rainbow you're the one who needs the craziness the most. My whole life is like an explosion of confetti, I never know where I'm going to be next or what I'll even be doing. You were like that for a while too you know. Random."
"Hey, I'm pretty random!" Rainbow said more defensively than she thought she would. To prove it Rainbow promptly did an impromptu back flip, but even by the time Rainbow was halfway through the jump she knew the idea was stupid. You can't be random on command. Well, except for when she landed she saw Pinkie staring back at her with glasses and a red nose she got from Celestia knows where. "You can't be random on command unless you're Pinkie Pie" She corrected herself mentally. Pinkie gave a brief chuckle as she took off her gag, returning to her serious demeanor.
"See, back when we first started hanging out you wouldn't have to prove it. We'd be like a wrecking ball without a steering wheel going through Ponyville. Now I know more about what you're going to do than you do."
"Really? I'm not that predictable."
"How was the toast you had for breakfast today?" Pinkie said monotone and removed. Rainbow scoffed at her apparent ace.
"Oooh, you got me, I eat toast for breakfast most days. Are you sure your not actually psychic because-" but Pinkie cut her off.
"I bet it was bland, it would have to be. Nothing tastes good when you have it everyday. I remember when you'd come to SugarCube Corner for the scones and the danishes. Now it's just bread. You wake up to late to have anything fancy, so now its just toast. It's too bad for you, I remember once after your birthday you ate cake for a week for breakfast. Now it's just toast."
"Ok, well I guess you've got me there but you do sell me my food so-" before Rainbow could rationalize what was happening, Pinkie interrupted again.
"That's the other thing, you used to sleep into noon. You worked on cloud patrol, a simple job. No real responsibility but still important. Now you wake up early, eat your toast and go off to work. It doesn't take ten seconds flat anymore huh?" This time Rainbow didn't have a reply. "I'm not super crazy smart Dashie, I can't see the future. You're just predictable now. And I know you can be so much more than that." Pinkie Pie wasn't smiling anymore, her face was hiding in no way her gloom.
"Now's the part where you do something crazy and random to prove me wrong, and I'll smile and we can forget all this sadness and have fun again." Pinkie said with a hint of optimism in her voice. " I mean, that back-flip was pretty impressive." She said with a slight shake in her voice. What ended up happening was actually a much more muted affair. Rainbow Dash slowly walked across the picnic blanket to her friend and gave her a hug.
"For somepony who is so random, you've really started to fall into a rut of schemes to get a hug." Rainbow said with mock seriousness before pulling out of the embrace. "Maybe your on to something though. I have been playing things a bit safe recently. Well, except for when we wrecked the town yesterday."
"Oh, I don't want us to get that crazy! I know that was way overboard, I guess I just got... excited." Pinkie said adorably swaying on her hooves. Ironically Rainbow realized, it was that cuteness that got her into all the trouble. Who could say no to her when she was like that? A pony stronger than Rainbow Dash maybe.
"Well how about we try a new prank tomorrow, but a small one. One target, one pay-off, no town destroying mayhem?" Pinkie could barely hold in a squeal of delight. "This was how things are supposed to be" thought Rainbow Dash.
The rest of the day went by like most picnics did. Pinkie and Rainbow talked, they schemed, they gossiped. It turned out to be exactly what Dash wanted. There was so much to say, so much that they just hadn't had time to address while they were pranking. And from the constant smile on Pinkie's face, it looked like she was enjoying it as well. After they ran out of food, they kept talking. After they got hungry again, they went back to the corner and got some more food. Treats this time instead of a loaf of bread. They talked late into the night until even Pinkie was tired.
"And she said "They don't call me Spitfire for nothing!". Oh man, it was possibly the coolest moment of my life, even if I was just watching it." Rainbow said as she tried to retell her day with the Wonderbolts.Pinkie had probably heard that story twenty times, but she never cut Dash off. "What do you think Pinks?" However the sleeping pony beside her offered no response but a light snore and Rainbow could only chuckle quietly at her friend. Together, under the stars Rainbow wasn't thinking about how clouds were blocking the sky today, or how their prank could fall apart tomorrow. She was just glad to be here with her friend. It was a perfect moment, the type where she really felt glad to be friends with Pinkie Pie. But it was only a moment, it couldn't last forever so Rainbow carried Pinkie on to her back and took her home. It was funny, Rainbow realized, she never really had these moments with her other friends. Must have been something about Pinkie. Realistically though, that could have been anything.
As Rainbow snuck through the back door of the bakery to drop off her friend, a sparkle caught her eye. Than a few hundred as she picked up the delicious looking doughnut. With another light chuckle she took a few of the unsold doughnuts and dropped Pinkie off. Tomorrow was going to be a fun day.
Rainbow was in the bush, waiting to see Twilight open her closet from outside. Beside her was Pinkie Pie, keeping a hoof over her mouth to stop the giggles from giving them away. Twilight was walking right towards her closet, oblivious to the terror about to jump out from behind the door. Than, all of the sudden she began casually whistling. It was too much Rainbow takes in a breath and-
Pinkie covers her mouth so she laughs quietly. Twilight opens the closet, and then all bets are off as the bush explodes in a burst of laughter.
Tomorrow was going to be different.