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Prologue2,143 words
Chapter 1: Red3,628 words
Chapter 2: Orange3,159 words
Chapter 3: Blue3,442 words
Chapter 4: Yellow3,957 words
Chapter 5: Green3,675 words
Chapter 6: Indigo1,986 words
Chapter 7: Violet5,094 words

Prologue

Colours of the Rainbow
Prologue

Forgetfulness.

It was one of the reasons she kept a detailed calendar, every single day carefully planned out. And each of these days possessed its own list. On it was the things she wanted to get done, as well as free time for reading, but most importantly her friends.

All in all, Twilight Sparkle prided herself on organization. Countless occasions this very trait has aided in the prevention of fiascos like the Winter Wrap Up that was almost late yet again. Thanks to this skill, as well as her leadership, everypony was able to remain on track and welcome in spring right on time.

So with this in mind, the unicorn considered it to be a skill of the utmost importance.

This explains why she was a frantic mess right now.

There were times here and there where she would forget some points on her agenda, but the majority of the time they were of minimal importance. So in turn, any ramifications for skipping an item on her well thought out list was tiny enough to not worry her much.

“How… How could I forget THAT!?”

Twilight was pacing around in her bedroom, Owliscious looking on in both fascination and confusion as she tried to avoid a mental breakdown. She had a feeling that something significant was going to occur on this Sunday, but anytime she tried to think of it, nothing came to mind. Twilight assumed something this important would have been written down on her calendar in bold letters, but when she checked, nothing was to be found. She was sure she had triple-checked it too, which made even less sense in how she forgot it.

But now here she was, pulling her hair out over an event for a very close friend of hers.

Sunday was Rainbow Dash’s birthday.

Even though it was only Thursday she was already starting to feel the stress of what she should do for her birthday. She wasn’t even planning the celebration and party, which was all under Pinkie Pie’s control. And since it's Pinkie Pie, we already know that makes logical sense.

Twilight’s only responsibility was to get Rainbow Dash a proper gift.

It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Last year, Twilight had bought her a limited edition copy of the latest Daring Do novel, to which Rainbow Dash was overjoyed in getting. The pegasus ended up reading nearly half the book the very next day.

So Twilight could cross book off her list, as with no recent Daring Do release, there wasn’t any other type of book Dash would be willing to read.

She thought of other things Rainbow might enjoy receiving. Her thoughts drifted towards the famed Wonderbolts, the group her friend still idolized and put on a pedestal. Twilight’s mind flash-backed to the last time she had seen the group live, and had to admit that they put on an awe inspiring show. On the flip side, whenever Rainbow Dash watched their shows, it was usually with loud cheers and excited jumps.

The only issue with getting Rainbow something Wonderbolt related was that she already had many different items of the sort in her possession. She had their autographs, a pair of goggles, posters, you name it.

“Perhaps I could get her a Wonderbolt uniform?”

Twilight considered the idea, but went against it for one major reason. To get a uniform made to the quality of what they wore would cost a boatload of bits, something she didn’t have. After reading a book on how to give out gifts to other ponies, she knew that giving a gift of so much value puts a lot of pressure on the recipient.

With those two ideas eliminated, it didn’t leave her with much else. She briefly considered a food item of some sort, but she’d leave the baked goods to Pinkie. Besides, when was the last time she baked, or better yet, cooked anything? Twilight considered it rather funny that with the amount she read, following a simple recipe could lead messes of disastrous proportions.

She walked downstairs to find Spike re-shelving some of the recent returns for the day. At this point he was so used to doing this kind of thing where he just went on his business and tuned out everything around him.

“Hey Spike, I have a question for you.”

Spike had two options. First, he could simply pretend to not hear Twilight’s voice and keep on with his activity. Second, he could have heard the unicorn, but ignored her for fear of having to succumb to any more tasks for the day.

“Spike I know you can hear me. I promise this isn’t another chore.”

With that, the baby dragon slid down the ladder, doing quite an impressive somersault so that he landed right at the feet of Twilight.

At least, that was his intention. Unfortunately, he hit the ground too hard upon sliding down the ladder, merely rolling over and onto Twilight's hooves instead. He looked up to see a motherly glare beaming down upon him like a microscope, and just smiled as he dusted himself off.

“So, what is it?”

“Well do you know what Sunday is?”

Spike pondered the question for a moment, furrowing his brow a tad. “Oh! It’s Rainbow Dash’s birthday right?” His eyes closed smiled proudly at his memory, only to open and see an infuriated Twilight Sparkle staring right back at him. “Was that steam coming out of her ears?” He thought, now starting to get just a little scared.

“Umm… you okay Twilight?”

“You knew that all ALONG!?!” Twilight’s growled, her stare seemingly making a hole through Spike, who tried his best to remain level headed.

“Well of course! Rainbow is one of our best friends, I’d feel really stupid if I forgot her birthday.” Spike realized what he had just said seconds after it was too late, and covered his mouth. Twilight turned red, and anypony nearby would say that she looked to be on fire.

She groaned loudly and stomped loudly over to the kitchen. The refrigerator door was bathed in a violet glow before opening hastily, a pitcher of lemonade and a glass appearing as poured herself some before slamming the glass pitcher back into its place. Spike was rather appalled on how strong that glass was, as he was sure the impact would have shattered it into bits. He was pleased that it didn’t as he envisioned himself mopping a floor sticky with lemonade if it broke.

“So… what were you going to ask me?” Spike kept his voice at a gentle tone, not wanting Twilight to become any more annoyed than she already was.

Twilight’s demeanor softened as she sighed. “Well I’ve been thinking all day about Rainbow’s birthday. The problem I’m having is that I have no idea what kind of gift to get her.”

“That’s it?” Spike questioned all the anger over a trivial problem.

“What do you mean that’s it!?! It’s a problem of immense proportions!”

“Twilight… it’s only a gift. Rainbow’s already happy if you come and celebrate with her. A gift is extra,” Spike explained, trying to reason that the gift wasn’t as significant as Twilight was making it out to be.

“I know, but I really want to get her something special. Something she can make a memory of, or look back on the rest of her life.” Twilight watched as Spike hopped up and sat on the other side of counter and swiveled his seat towards her. He put both of his hands under his chin and propped his head up while continuing to look at Twilight.

“You’re putting an awful lot of importance on a simple birthday gift. Any reason why?”

Most ponies knew about Spike’s crush on Rarity. Even Rarity was well aware of it, yet she got great satisfaction in teasing Spike here and there, especially with the ever embarrassing nickname of “Spikey-Wikey.” Twilight felt bad for laughing, but she always giggled every time Rarity used the moniker.

But despite his crush, Twilight was well aware that the baby dragon had very little grasp on the concept of love and relationships, so to reveal the real intention behind getting such a nice gift would merely confuse him.

“I just would like to get a gift for Rainbow that involves both of us. I’m trying to think of something less materialistic.”

This made Spike look upon her quite confused. “Wait, isn’t a gift supposed to be a material item?”

“On most occasions yes, but think about it. Are memories materialistic?”

“Well…”

Twilight stared down Spike as he tried to figure out a way to turn the argument in his favor. A look of defeat, but with a smile plastered on his face was the result as he realized where she was getting at.

“Exactly. The kind of gift I want isn’t the typical item or thing you would give somepony. I want to give Rainbow something she’ll cherish for the rest of her life. And yes, I understand that this seems a little much for a birthday present, but…” Twilight paused a bit, noticing the look of curiosity on Spike’s face. “…this time it’s really important for me. I have a really good reason for trying to find the perfect gift to give her.”

Spike reached his hand out and grasped Twilight’s hoof, looking up right into his mother’s eyes. Biologically, no they weren’t even the same species, but Twilight had raised him from when he was just a little speckled egg. At this stage, he didn’t care what the true definition of mother was, but Twilight seemed to be the perfect one at that.

“I won’t ask what the reason is, but I’m sure if you want to tell me you well. Now let’s get thinking.”

The pair got out some paper, quills, and ink. Twilight wrote Rainbow’s name in the middle and proceeded to jot down a bunch of things Rainbow enjoyed doing. Spike helped by thinking of related ideas, but otherwise merely served as support for the unicorn before him.

On paper, both literally and figuratively, this did seem like a great idea. However they continually ran into the same problem time and time again.

The problem was Twilight.

One by one, she refused each and every idea, her main complaint being that the idea felt too materialistic for what she was going for. It was frustrating for both parties, and at times Spike even considered giving up entirely. He knew as well as anypony how agonizing it was to work with Twilight on something research related, but toughed it through, knowing how much this meant to her.

After nearly 3 long and excruciating hours, both dragon and unicorn were slumped in their seats, brains weary from use. They were no closer to coming up with an idea than before, and it was starting to take a toll on both of them. Spike was getting cranky due to Twilight’s constant refusal, while Twilight’s expectations for the perfect gift started to reach unreachable heights.

“Maybe it’s time we call it a day?”

“NO!” This sudden outburst caught Spike off guard as he nearly fell off the stool. “I’ve already wasted enough time forgetting the gift, I can’t waste anymore. I promise we can take a break in a little while okay?” Spike nodded in approval, and once more the duo began to think of possible gift ideas.

“Hey Twilight?”

“Yeah Spike?”

“Speaking of a break, wasn’t Rainbow supposed to be taking a vacation for the next week?”

Somewhere in Twilight’s mind, a switch was suddenly flipped into the on position. Spike would call himself crazy for seeing it, but there seemed to be a faint outline of a light bulb appearing over Twilight’s head. Twilight wore a gleeful smile as she figured out the perfect gift.

“What if I took Rainbow on a trip?”

Spike pondered the idea for a moment, before realizing that it was probably the most practical idea either of them had yet. “That sounds... really nice actually! But where are you going to take her?”

It was Twilight’s turn to ponder the idea, and she did for a minute or so, strolling around the kitchen counter before setting her eyes upon a picture of all her friends on the fridge. More significantly, the pair of violet eyes were drawn upon the colorful mane of her friend, and yet another idea pulsed its way through her brain.

“Spike! Take down a note...”

Author's Note:

Short and sweet, working as an opening to the story to come. This will be my longest story to date and will have at least 7 chapters. My longest is 3