//------------------------------// // Chapter III // Story: Gold-Tinted Lenses // by Incredible Blunderbolt //------------------------------// It didn’t take long for Rainbow to fly out of sight of Twilight’s castle. Still pondering the peculiarities of griffondom, she weaved around a few tufts of cumulus and hummed happily to herself. She eyed Rarity’s house, Carousel Boutique, as she passed it. Rarity was probably inside, busily weaving and sewing and trimming all kinds of last minute dresses and suits and stuff for Hearth’s Warming. A grin broke out on Dash’s face as she thought about it. Rarity wasn’t the only one hard at work these days. And she has no idea . . . “Dashie!” a voice called out from below. “Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow looked down and saw that Pinkie Pie was hopping after her, dodging around the ponies on the ground, jumping off of park benches, and bouncing through alleyways with a bright grin on her face. She smiled and shook her head. “Heya, Pinkie!” she said with a wave. “What’s up?” It only took a few seconds to reach ground level, but it was more than enough time for Pinkie to plop down into a snowbank. “Just wondering what you’re up to,” she said, splaying her legs out and making a snow pegasus. “Wanna do some pranking?” Oh, that was tempting. It felt like it’d been years since the last time Rainbow and Pinkie had gone on one of their infamous pranking sprees. She could already see Twilight’s face as she took a sip of hot cocoa with chili powder in it—or Applejack’s, when all of her apples were replaced with bright red ornaments. A Hearth’s Warming pranking spree would be epic. But she couldn’t, Rainbow reminded herself. She had work to do, and only a few hours to do it in. “Sorry, Pinkie,” Rainbow said, her wings drooping a bit. She gave Pinkie an apologetic smile. “I’ve still gotta finish my present for Rarity.” That seemed to jolt Pinkie out of whatever reverie she was in. She sat up, mouth stretched ear to ear. “Ooh,” she said, leaning in close to Rainbow. “What’d you get her?” Rainbow bit her lip. She pulled her goggles off of her face and let them hang off of her neck like a necklace. An awesome necklace. “I don’t know, Pinkie,” she said carefully. “I haven’t exactly told anyone about it . . .” “Aw, come on!” Pinkie bounced closer, sparks dancing in her eyes. “I won’t tell anypony, I Pinkie promise!” “It’s not that, Pinkie.” Rainbow scratched the back of her neck. Her face felt warmer than it should have, out here in the cold. “It’s just . . .” “Cross my heart, hope to fly—” Pinkie started, gesticulating wildly. Rainbow groaned. This again? It was kinda cute the first time, but . . . “No, Pinkie,” she said quickly, “You don’t have to—” “Stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie finished, pulling a cupcake out of seemingly nowhere and mashing it into her eye. Chocolate cake crumbs and white frosting covered her face for a moment before Pinkie’s tongue twisted out of her mouth like some freakishly long and pink garter snake, sweeping it all into her mouth with a practiced motion. “Mmm!” Ew, Pinkie . . . “Do you have to do that every time?” Rainbow asked, her voice strained. She’d long since given up asking where the cupcakes came from. After all, physics were physics, and Pinkie Pie was, well, Pinkie Pie. Pinkie held Rainbow’s gaze with an ingenuous smile and sucked her teeth. Her tail flicked to the side. “Do what?” Rainbow’s nostrils flared. “Forget it,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Okay!” Pinkie shrugged. She leaned in close to Rainbow—too close. Pinkie’s cupcake breath flooded her nostrils with the sickening sweetness of commercial icing and sprinkles, and Rainbow was forced to turn her head away just to breathe. “So,” Pinkie whispered, her hoof on the side of her mouth. Her eyes shifted from side to side, but Rainbow wasn’t sure what she was looking for; the park was empty. “What did you get Rarity for Hearth’s Warming?” Rainbow clenched her teeth. “I didn’t get her anything!” she said, bristling slightly. Pinkie leaped backwards, gasping in horror. She apparently forgot about the snowbank, though, because she immediately fell backwards and vanished into it with a puff of white mist. Her head popped out a second later, capped with several inches of white powder, and shook wildly before settling back on Rainbow, who couldn’t help but chuckle. “For real?” she cried. “Oh my gosh, Dashie! This is a Hearth’s Warming emergency! But don’t worry! I can help! I just need a bucket, some rope—” “Pinkie, relax,” Rainbow said, fighting the urge to both smile and roll her eyes at the same time. “It’s cool.” “—some ramen noodles, a can of tuna—” “Pinkie,” Rainbow said, the small smile she’d allowed herself beginning to fade. “—unicycle, a nine-string guitar—” “Pinkie!” “And fifteen panda bears that know the cha-cha!” Pinkie finished with a proud nod. Rainbow took a deep, controlled breath and wondered just how many gingerbread houses her friend had eaten for breakfast. The thought of her friend razing an entire cookie village brought the smile back to her face. She probably even acted out the gingerbread ponies running away . . . Rainbow thought to herself. “Yeah,” Rainbow said after a moment. She opened her eyes and gave Pinkie a half-smile. “Listen, Pinks, that sounds cool and all, but I don’t need any of that for Rarity’s present. I didn’t buy it. I made it.” “Ooooh, I get it,” Pinkie said, giggling. “But that stuff wasn’t for Rarity, Dashie. That was just my shopping list. See?” She pulled out a long strip of paper that was littered with dozens and dozens of lines of items, all meticulously hoof-written in tiny cursive. “It’s everything I need for Gummy’s birthday next month! I’ve been writing things down as they come to me so I don’t forget any of the amazingly superific ideas I think up!” Rainbow just stared. “. . .Right,” she said, taking another deep breath. “Hey, listen, I haven’t told anypony yet, so could you keep it a secret until tonight?” Pinkie smiled and sprang out of the snowbank like a Pinkie-in-the-box. “I Pinkie-swore, didn’t I?” she said gleefully. She landed in front of Rainbow, tail wagging. “So, can I see it?” “What?” “Can I see what you made for Rarity?” Pinkie asked again. “Come on, it’ll be fun!” She wants to see it? Rainbow gulped. It felt like a lump had formed in her throat. Nopony had actually seen it yet. “I-I don’t know, Pinkie . . .” “Aw, but it’ll be fun!” Pinkie cheered, wrapping her hoof around Rainbow’s neck a little too tight and making her cough. “You’re so sweet, making Rarity something special for Hearth’s Warming!” she grinned at Rainbow and waggled her eyebrows. Rainbow puffed up and shoved Pinkie off her. Her wings fluttered violently by her sides, and her cheeks warmed up with just as much ferocity. “It’s not like that!” she huffed. Pinkie giggled. “It’s not!” “I heard she caught Wind Rider trying to frame you!” Pinkie sang, now bouncing around Rainbow and laughing. Rainbow set her jaw. “That doesn’t have anything to do with . . . with anything!” she exclaimed, ignoring the rising heat in her cheeks. So what if Rarity hadn’t given up on Rainbow—even when she herself was convinced that she was guilty of sabotaging Spitfire? So what if Rarity was the sole reason Rainbow was still allowed to call herself a Wonderbolt? Pinkie’s laughter grew louder. “Fine!” Rainbow snapped, standing up and trotting toward the large cloud house in the distance. Her tail cracking like a whip as she glared at her home. “You can see it!” “Yay!” Pinkie cheered. “Oh, wait!” In a flash, she vanished, leaving behind only a long trail in the snow. Rainbow’s brow furrowed as she stared at it. She didn’t get much chance to contemplate it, however, because Pinkie reappeared just as quickly as she vanished. “All set!” she said, showing Rainbow the bright gold horseshoes affixed to her hooves. “Can’t forget my cloud-walking shoes, or I’d be a Pinkie pancake!” “ . . .Cloud-walking shoes?” Rainbow deadpanned. Pinkie beamed with pride. “Yep! I had Twilight make them for me for extra-special pegasus birthday surprise parties!” “Of course you did,” Rainbow sighed. She turned back around and resumed her trot through the snowy field. “Let’s just get this over with.” “Sorry about the mess,” Rainbow said, opening the front door of her house and revealing the kitchen. A tower of plates sat in the sink, crusty with alfredo sauce and bits of broccoli. Several pizza boxes laid on their sides, pressed between the counter and the overflowing trash can. A collection of exercise equipment was strewn across the floor to the living room alongside several sets of spandex training suits. “I wasn’t really expecting anypony to come home with me today.” Pinkie poked her head in and “oohed” before bouncing inside, singing a song to herself. She seemed content to walk around, investigating this and sniffing that, so Rainbow turned around and closed the door. “Aww! Is this you and Gilda as fillies?” Pinkie said from across the room. “You were so adorable!” Rainbow followed her gaze to the wall, where a picture of her and a young griffon in the pegasus city of Cloudsdale hung. “Well, I definitely wasn’t a weatherpony back then,” Rainbow said with a smirk. Pinkie giggled. “You’d be, like, the youngest weatherpony in the history of ever, if you were!” “Yeah, I guess so,” Rainbow said, passing by Pinkie and motioning toward the stairs with her head. “C’mon, my room’s up here.” Rainbow heard Pinkie bouncing behind her, oohing and ahhing at seemingly every insignificant detail about her house. She poked at pictures, looked through doors, and asked way too many questions. “Does it rain in here?” she’d ask. “How did you get all these clouds?” She stopped listening after “Where do your toilet pipes go?” A few seconds later, they arrived arrived at the end of the hall. Rainbow’s hoof hovered over the doorknob. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Right now, Pinkie Pie was rambling on about funny-tasting rain, but as soon as Rainbow opened the door, she’d see her project—and she’d be the first ever. Rainbow’s throat felt as dry as desert sand. She swirled her tongue around inside her mouth, but it didn’t help at all. It’s cool. She’ll like it. It looks great. . . .I hope. . . “And now I don’t know how much I want to go splashing in puddles anymore!” Pinkie concluded, tapping her hoof on her chin. “Anyway, are you gonna show me Rarity’s present, now?” Rainbow nodded, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. Her room was still a mess, with bedsheets strewn across the floor and books scattered about. Rainbow’s eyes rolled over the room, purposefully avoiding the middle. She frowned as she noticed one of her many Wonderbolts posters starting to peel off the wall. Pinkie gasped and bounded in through the door. “Oh my gosh, Rainbow!” she exclaimed. “You’re making her a dress?” Rainbow’s cheeks felt hot as she nodded. She watched Pinkie canter across the room, up to the ponyquin that stood by the window. It wore a long, flowing red dress, carefully stitched with white trim and decorated on the flank with three sparkling sapphires on either side. Gold laces held the bodice tight to the model, and Rainbow tapped her hoof on the floor as Pinkie gently tugged at a couple of the crosslays with a smile. “So . . . you think she’ll like it?” Pinkie’s smile faltered. “You mean this is it? It’s not like a prototype or anything? This is what you’re giving her?” “Hey!” Rainbow huffed. Her tail cracked behind her. “Do you have any idea how hard I worked on that?” “I’m not saying you didn’t work hard on it, Dashie,” Pinkie said gently. She ran her hoof down the back of the dress and gave Rainbow a sorry look. “It’s just . . . Maybe you should wait a little while and give her something else tonight?” It was like Rainbow had just swallowed ice. Her ears fell. “Wh-what do you mean?” she asked. “I-I thought it looked okay . . .” “This is really the one you want to give Rarity for Hearth’s Warming?” Rainbow’s breath hitched in her throat. “Y-yeah.” “You’re sure?” Pinkie asked, giving Rainbow a careful look. “Like, really, really super sure?” “Well, yeah . . . You don’t like it?” I was at least . . . Rainbow could see the trepidation on Pinkie’s face. She was biting her lip and her eyes darting from Rainbow to the floor every few seconds. “Well,” Pinkie said shifting her weight to her rear hooves and scratching her foreleg. “It’s just . . . Rarity’s a super-duper ultra designer. Everything she makes is just so elegant and amazingly-splendorific and, well, she only likes the best clothes . . .” “So you think it’s terrible.” Rainbow let her head drop as she plopped down on her haunches and stared at the floor. Of course it was awful. What was she thinking? Rainbow Dash didn’t know how to make dresses! She was a flier, not a seamstress! Rarity would probably hate this dress. Or she’d laugh at her attempt. Rainbow wasn’t sure which was worse. “It’s not terrible!” Pinkie said quickly, jumping back to her hooves. “I can tell you really tried! It’s just . . .” She pulled at the trim on the bottom of the gown. “The stitching is on the outside; it’s too long for her to walk in; and the trim isn’t even and, well, it’s white, so, even though it’s super pretty, it would blend right in with Rarity’s coat . . .” “Is it really that bad?” Rainbow asked quietly. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer, but she had to ask the question. The thought of Rarity happily walking around town in the dress she’d made had kept Rainbow up until the crack of dawn over and over for days now. How could she have been so distracted that she hadn’t seen how awful it was turning out? Pinkie set her jaw and stared at the dress for a long moment. “Your present tells your friends how much they mean to you,” she said, echoing her words from earlier. “It’s the ultimate way to show them how much you care about them. And I know you wanted this to be a great present that says you care a lot, but it’s all messy and, well, it kinda says . . .” She shifted in place and turned back to Rainbow with soft eyes. “‘. . .I don’t.’” “. . .I don’t?” Rainbow echoed hollowly. “B-but—” “I know that’s not what you want to say!” Pinkie said quickly, putting her hoof up. “It’s just that sometimes, even if you work super-duper hard on something, it still looks, well, not so super-duper . . .” “But I worked so hard on it!” Rainbow moaned, falling onto her back. She stared at the ceiling and cursed her luck. “All that work! Th-the trim! The seams! I spent weeks on that stuff!” Pinkie shuffled on the floor and sat down next to Rainbow. “Well, it was good practice,” Pinkie said, placing a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Maybe you just need some more, and you can make a dress to knock Rarity’s hooves off next year?” “I don’t want to wait until next year!” Rainbow snapped, sitting back up and shrugging off Pinkie’s hoof. She glared at the dress that, until just a few minutes ago, she’d been so proud of. It looked awful, like something Sweetie Belle had made for the talent show last year. “And now I don’t even have a present for Rarity.” Great. Just great. The one pony Rainbow really wanted to impress this year—to pay back for helping her in Canterlot—was going to go without a present because Rainbow Dash thought she could play fashionista. What kind of friend was she? Rarity went out of her way to rescue Rainbow from her dreams being ruined, and she couldn’t even get her a good Hearth’s Warming present to pay her back. How could she possibly look Rarity in the eye again after this? Rainbow sat up, her heart suddenly racing. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “I don’t have a present for Rarity!” No, no, no! The mere thought of Rarity’s disappointed face filled Rainbow’s chest with a dull ache. That couldn’t be what happened! Rainbow refused to allow it! Rarity was too kind and generous and pretty to let down like that! There was no way she was going to be the only pony Rainbow didn’t give anything to for Hearth’s Warming! Her wings fluttered fearfully at her sides. There had to be a way to fix this! She gave Pinkie a desperate look. “Well, Clear’s is still open . . .” Pinkie suggested. Her hoof, still floating where Rainbow had pushed it, slowly retreated back to Pinkie’s barrel and found it’s way to the floor. “We could go pick out something there together, if you want.” “Yes!” Rainbow cried, scrambling to her hooves. If Rainbow couldn’t make a good dress for Rarity, she could at least buy one! “That’s it! Clear’s!” Pinkie shrieked with delight and pulled Rainbow toward the door. “Yay!” she cheered. “Present shopping with my bestest friend for another of my bestest friends!” “Ow! Geeze, Pinkie!” Rainbow growled as she was dragged down the stairs. Her hooves clambered to find purchase, and her jostling goggles bounced up and smacked her painfully on the nose. The staircase filled with the sound of rubbing feathers as Rainbows wings instinctively flapped against the walls. “I can’t go to the party if I have a concussion!” “Then don’t get one, silly!” Pinkie said with a grin, hauling her around the corner and through the kitchen. Rainbow’s wing caught the trashcan mid-flap, and the kitchen was turned into an even bigger mess as the pizza boxes were sent flying. “C’mon! We’ll turn your frown upside-down!” They careened through the kitchen door, and Pinkie leaped off the stoop with glee. Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Wait! Pinkie!” Her voice was shrill as they tumbled through the air. “There isn’t enough space for you to—oof!” They landed with a poof, and rolled without control right off the side of the cloud. “Pinkie, you idiot!” “Wee!” Poof! The world was white and cold. Very, very cold. Rainbow’s hoof lashed out and swirled around, searching desperately for anything solid. After a moment of frantic searching, it found something, and she dragged herself out of the snowbank and gasped. Shivering, she rubbed her hooves together and blew on them. She knew it wouldn’t do much through her boots, but it felt good. “I say, darling, do be more careful!” Rainbow froze, which wasn’t hard considering how cold she was. “Rarity?” she asked, turning around. A white unicorn was giving her a concerned look under the brim of her santa hat. Next to her, a small red bucket filled with golden bits and a bell lay forgotten in the snow. “I’m sure you found it fun, but diving headlong into snowbanks sounds terribly dangerous,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to see you in the hospital again.” “Oh, uh, yeah . . .” Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Actually, it was—” “—That. Was. Awesome!” Pinkie exclaimed, bursting out of the snowbank several feet away. “It totally beats diving into a lake!” Rarity giggled and stepped up toward the snowbank. “What shall we do with you two . . .” She reached out with her hoof and gently brushed the snow off of Rainbow’s head. Instantly, the pegasus went from too cold to too warm. “Aw, jeeze, Rarity,” she said with a cough. “I’m not a filly.” “Of course you’re not.” Rarity giggled again. “But you simply must dress warmer,” she said, taking her hat off of her head and pulling it snugly onto Rainbow’s. “Your cheeks are positively glowing!” Rainbow’s face felt like it was on fire. She pawed at her new hat and tried to say thanks, but her tongue felt like rubber, so she just settled for smiling at Rarity. “So,” Rarity said, picking her bucket up in her magic. The bell, also wrapped in a light blue aura, seemed to tingle of it’s own accord as a stallion walked by while clearly trying to avoid eye contact. “Other than flinging yourselves off of clouds, what are you two up to today?” Just as Rainbow opened her mouth to answer, a pink hoof grabbed ahold of her and dragged her out of the snowbank. “Sorry, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie said hurriedly, pulling on Rainbow once more. “It’s a Hearth’s Warming emergency!” she declared. Rainbow tried to fight against Pinkie’s relentless grip, but it was to no avail. The pink mare continued to drag her down the street as Rarity’s chuckles slowly fell out of earshot. Dash groaned and waved to Rarity, knocking the ball of her hat back over her shoulder and pressing down the feathery, tingling feeling in flowing through her veins. Dang it, Pinkie . . .