Canterlot Academy: Knights of the Dark Moon

by LordLycaon

Be True to You

A figure knelt before the altar in the chamber, his body completely covered from snout to tail in a heavy monks’ habit. His low voice offered a hymn to his goddess, the Mistress of the Night. The many acolytes behind him pressed their muzzles to the floor as he completed the sacred ritual. The giant emblem of the Mare in the Moon seemed to gaze down upon them with a stern glare, as if deity depicted was displeased.

Finishing the hymn, the cloaked pony spread incense upon the altar, and used a nearby candle to set them aflame. The smell of the incense washed over the gathering, filling their nostrils with the strong scent of sacred datura. The cloaked pony rose and turned to his followers.

“We are the children of the Night.” His voice echoed throughout the vaulted chamber.

“Chosen, by the Mistress,” the gathering said in unison.

He raised his forelegs to them. “We will be the ones to bring the majesty of the Night to this realm.”

“Beloved, by the Mistress.”

The cloaked pony swept a foreleg across the gathering. “No place will there be for the Light.”

“Despised, by the Mistress.”

“All who cling to the Light shall know the holy fury of the Nightmare.”

“Pitied, by the Mistress.”

“Go now, and await the eve that she will call her beloved sons and daughters to her side. Dwell within the dark, and wait. For soon, she will return to us, and show us the way to true enlightenment.”

“As commanded, by the Mistress.” As one, the gathering stood and silently filtered out of the chamber room. All save for the cloaked pony and another.

The cloaked pony turned his gaze to the other. “White Star,” the stallion said. “How goes recruitment?”

“It goes well, Master,” the snow white mare replied in her perpetually calm voice. “We have a steady flow of new acolytes joining our ranks, willing and otherwise.”

“You have done well.”

She lowered her head at the praise. “All I do is for the glory of the Mistress of Night and Dreams.”

He turned back for the altar and watched as the incense burned to ashes. “But now, your focus must be on another task.”

She looked back up, her crimson eyes widening only slightly. “Milord, have I done something to offend?”

The stallion chuckled. “Of course not, my dear. I merely need you to oversee some… deliveries.” White Star gave him a quizzical look. “When the time comes for the One Queen’s return, there will undoubtedly be resistance. Our forces are formidable, but our… volunteers will needs arms as well if our plans are to succeed.”

The white mare felt as though she knew where this was going. “You wish for me to ensure that we acquire shipments of weapons and armor, correct?”

He nodded. “Our means of acquiring them are less than reputable, but we’ve not much choice, given our circumstances.”

“And what of recruitment? Do you wish me to continue?”

“No. We’ve enough recruits and acolytes to surpass the Royal Guard’s pitiful defenses. We merely need weapons and armor to further tilt the scales in our favor.”

“As you will it, Master,” White Star said with a nod and a bow.

He turned back to the altar and brushed clean the incense. “I want the citizens to think they are safe, to think that their protectors have done all they could to keep them protected. And when the time comes for the One Queen’s return, we will crush that feeling of hope they so cling to. The days of Celestia’s reign are numbered, and the citizens of Equestria will welcome the Queen and her Knights with open hearts.”

-o-

For some reason, the Academy looked a little smaller than she remembered. She wasn’t really sure why. Maybe it was all the students filing into the courtyard? The first time she came here, it wasn’t nearly as crowded. Some ponies even bumped into her as she walked, which she mostly ignored, despite some ponies not even bothering to acknowledge that they had bumped into her.

‘Is it always this hectic at the start of the second semester?’ Rainbow inquired to herself, making a mental note to ask Fluttershy about that when she saw her next.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash!” said a familiar, hyperactive voice from a pink blur that stopped next to the prismatic pegasus. Pinkie grabbed Rainbow in a hug, her face beaming excitedly. “It’s great to see you again! How was Cloudsdale?”

Dash smirked as Pinkie released her. “Good to see you, too, Pinks. Cloudsdale was awesome, just like always. Scootaloo showed off some sweet moves on her scooter. I swear, that filly’s gonna have a cutie mark of that thing at some point.” The pair started walking, heading into the Academy with the other students. “What about you? How was your family?”

For a brief moment, Pinkie actually hesitated. She let out an uncharacteristically heavy sigh. “Well… Mom and Dad still argued. On the bright side, I managed to make all my sisters happy for the holidays! I’d never seen Maud so excited before!”

The cyan mare chuckled. “Every victory counts. Take what you can get, Pinks, and work to get what you can’t.”

“Now there’s some words to live by,” spoke a familiar southern drawl. Applejack joined the other two mares. “Come up with that yourself, Dash?”

“I wish. Spitfire of the Wonderbolts said that one time during one their shows.” The three shared a laugh at that. “So, AJ, anything cool happen back home for you?”

The farm mare shook her head. “Nah. Just the usual workload. Takin’ care of an orchard as big as your hometown doesn’t leave a lotta room for much else.” She smiled happily. “It was good ta see my family again, though. Ah really missed ‘em.”

“Is Granny Smith’s hip still acting up?” Pinkie inquired curiously.

“Actually, we managed to work up enough money to afford that replacement hip. Y’all shoulda seen her! It was like she was whole new mare!”

At that, Rainbow flew a bit ahead of her friends, grinning confidently. “Hey, we’re just walking around talking about a our families right now. What do you say we make them proud and make this semester more awesome than the last one already was?”

Pinkie gasped in excitement, her thrilled smile showing off her array of pearly whites. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind!”

“Darn tootin’! Let’s show ‘em what we can do!”

While the three mares cheered themselves on, just outside the Academy gates, one young stallion stood with saddlebags hanging from his back and a pamphlet in one hoof. Looking up from the pamphlet, he took in the enormity of Canterlot Academy, privately admitting to being rather impressed.

“Big place,” he said to himself as he stuffed the pamphlet into his bags and trotted in with the ponies that were likely soon to be his classmates.

-o-

“Yo, Twi! Guess who’s back!” Rainbow kicked the door closed behind her as she entered the room she shared with the lavender unicorn, whose shoulders slumped with a heavy sigh as she turned to meet her roommate.

“And here I was enjoying the peace and quiet,” Twilight said in a slightly snide tone, sarcasm practically dripping out of her voice.

“Ah, you know you missed me, egghead.” The pegasus set her bags at the foot of her bed before flopping onto the mattress with a contented sigh. “Man, you missed out on a great vacay.”

“Vacation,” Twilight absently responded.

Rainbow looked at her oddly. “Say what?”

“It’s ‘vacation,’ not ‘vacay.’” She muttered, shaking her head.

The pegasus scoffed. “Whatever, Twi. I don’t see the big deal.” She rolled to her side, facing her friend. “So, I guess you just spent the whole break studying like you always do in your off time?”

Surprisingly, Twilight seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Mostly. Let’s just say I got a little bit of excitement over the past few weeks.”

Dash blinked in brief confusion. “Uh-huh,” she said. She then rolled onto her back again and stretched her legs and wings with a yawn. “Well, I had a long trip from Cloudsdale. I’m gonna catch a few Z’s. Wake me up when it’s time for dinner.” And just like that, she was out like a light. Quietly, Twilight wished she could fall asleep on command like that. It would make mornings so much easier on her.

-o-

A sharp pain on her cheek startled Rainbow back into the waking world, her head darting around to find whatever had struck her. Next to her bed, Twilight stood with a slightly raised hoof, her expression just slightly annoyed. It didn’t take long for Rainbow to figure out what had just happened.

“Any particular reason you just slapped me?” the prismatic mare asked in agitation. Twilight pointed to Rainbow’s clock. It read 7:45. “Yeah, so?” Twilight pointed to the clock again, and Rainbow looked at it. Upon further inspection, it read 7:45—

“A.M.!?” she screamed in shock. “But what about dinner!?”

“You wouldn’t wake up,” Twilight plainly answered with a casual shrug. “It didn’t seem like that big of a deal at the time. And I took you sleeping in as a blessing of sorts.”

Wait a minute. Sleeping in?

Realization dawned on Rainbow’s head like a sack of bricks to her skull.

“My exercises!” she shouted. “And classes are supposed to start again today!” She grabbed Twilight by the shoulders. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner!?”

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?”

Rainbow grabbed the sides of her head. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! This can’t be happening! I gotta get my exercises in, or I’ll slack for the team! But I can’t be late for class either! Oh, man, what do I do?!”

“How about get to class and exercise later?” Twilight deadpanned.

“Right, exercise later! Class now!” She zoomed out of the room in a rainbow-colored blur.

Twilight huffed and gathered her things, only to be bowled over when Rainbow dashed back in. “Forgot my stuff!” That was all she said before grabbing her things and zipping right back out.

Twilight looked at herself in a mirror and found her mane to be a wind-torn mess. She growled, steam rising from her ears. “Rainbow Dash! If I’m late because of you, I swear, you’re the one paying for it!” But her roommate was already far out of hearing range.

In her rush, Rainbow blew past several other students, knocking books out of unicorns’ grasps and off earth ponies’ and pegasi’s backs, earning her the ire of numerous peers. At this point, however, she didn’t care. Rainbow Dash was never late to anything. She couldn’t consider herself the fastest flier in Equestria if she was ever late to anything.

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t have time for breakfast, but she’d just have to grin and bear it until lunch rolled along. Her stomach bellowed in protest to that decision, but there was no help for it. Class first, food and exercise later.

In her furious flight, ponies around her were little more than colorful splotches in the world that she blasted past on her way Professor Daring’s class. Normally, that wasn’t much of problem. She was agile enough to avoid crashing into anypony, one of the many traits she was proud of herself for. That is, until one navy blue splotch decided to turn right into her path at the last possible instant.

With a yelp of both surprise and pain, Rainbow flew straight into the splotch, both her and the pony she met violently rolling across the ground until they met a wall with a very audible thud. Both ponies groaned in pain as they separated, Rainbow rubbing her throbbing head in an attempt to stop the planet from spinning so fast.

When she eventually succeeded, she looked around for the pony she’d run into, hoping to Celestia that they weren’t—

“Whoa…” That was all she could say. In front of her was pony unlike any she’d seen before. He was a stallion that looked around her age, with a dark blue coat and near-black mane. His cutie mark looked like a lance or a spear piercing a tornado, which was probably one of the cooler cutie marks she’d seen in her life so far.

His most obvious and startling features, however, were his wings and eyes. His wings were leathery and batlike. His eyes were a golden yellow, with thin, slitted pupils, like a cat’s. Beyond those abnormalities, though, he was… well, he wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes, that was for sure.

“Uh… s-sorry about that,” she said in an awkward tone that sounded as though she were Fluttershy instead of herself.

The bat-winged pony looked at her briefly and shook his head, standing on all fours before carefully popping his neck. “It’s all right,” he said in a weirdly calm tone of voice. “I’ve been hit harder by ruder ponies.”

“Er, okay. That’s good. I-I mean, um…” She honestly had no idea where this was coming from all of a sudden. Shyness was Fluttershy’s thing! “Sorry.”

The bat pony eyed her with a raised eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

“What? Uh, no, I’m fine.” With a cough, Rainbow cleared her throat. “I’m Rainbow Dash. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. You new here?”

“Yeah, actually.” He pulled what looked like a schedule out of one of his bags, which must’ve fallen to the ground when Rainbow crashed into him. “I’m Howling Wind. Or Howl, if you prefer. I’m trying to find the arboretum. I have a botany class there.”

“Oh, really?” Rainbow smirked. “Hey, no worries.” She pointed over to where natural science classes were held. “The arboretum is over thataway. My friend Fluttershy is usually around there in the mornings. Just look for a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. She’s got a bunch of butterflies for a cutie mark. You can’t miss her. She’ll show you where to go from there.”

Howl nodded gratefully. “Thanks.” Without another word, he put away his schedule, gathered up his bags, and headed off in the direction that Rainbow had indicated. “Hate to be late for class.”

Rainbow could almost swear she heard glass breaking somewhere. “Aw, horse apples! I’m gonna be late!” She then flew off in a prismatic blur, leaving Howling Wind slightly befuddled by her sudden departure.

As Rainbow sped down the hallway, she saw the classroom door begin to close.

“No-no-no-no! Wait!” With a burst of speed, she zipped passed the door, leaving Professor Daring with a natural, wind-blown look.

“Nice to see you could make it to class on time, Crayon Box,” the instructor deadpanned before closing the door in the face of another student, straightening her mane with a hoof.

Rainbow chuckled nervously as she took her seat next to Twilight, ignoring the humored grins from both the unicorn and Wanderer. “Sorry about that, Prof. I kinda slept in.”

“I can attest to that,” Twilight commented.

Rainbow blinked at the unicorn. “Wait a minute, how did you get here before me?”

“I’ve been working on my teleportation,” the lavender mare answered with a small grin of satisfaction. “Did you really think I’d spent the entire break just reading books?” Again, Rainbow blinked at her friend, then heaved out a sigh of very nearly defeated acceptance.

“Whatever. Let’s just—” She stopped her sentence short as she reached for a pencil from her saddlebags, feeling nothing but air and her own side. “Wait, where’s my bags?” Her eyes popped open wide when she realized that they must’ve fell off when she crashed into Howling Wind.

‘And I doubt Teach’ll let me go get them,’ she bemoaned as she lay her chin on the desk in front of her, sighing through her nose. As if this day could get any worse.

-o-

“Today is the worst day of my life,” groaned a certain multi-colored pegasus as she slowly ate her lunch.

“It wasn’t that bad, Rainbow,” Twilight assured. “I mean, sure, Professor Daring threw that pop quiz at us without warning, and you weren’t prepared by any definition of the word, but this is far from the worst day you could ever have.”

“You could have lent me one of those billions of quills you wave around all the time,” the pegasus grumbled.

“Rainbow, you know how strict Professor Daring is about things like that. Rule 14: No sharing writing utensils,” Twilight said as she took a bite of her food, her eyes looking over an open book next to her.

“That seems a tad extreme,” said Rarity as she sipped from her glass of water. She put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Then again, most ponies do write with their mouths. I suppose I can see why that rule is there.”

Rainbow snorted. “It’s a dumb rule when you consider the fact that I wanted to borrow a pen from a unicorn who writes using her magic.”

“Rules are rules, Rainbow,” Twilight chided before taking a bite of her lunch. “I don’t make them. I just follow them.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dash turned her head away from her friends, looking around at the ponies milling about in the cafeteria. She was trying to find that Howling Wind guy again. He probably had her bags. She briefly thought for a moment that he might’ve looked through them, but quickly shot that down. He seemed decent enough not to look through other ponies’ things.

“Hello, everypony,” said Fluttershy, who sat down with her tray of salad and turned to her. “Rainbow, a pony named Howling Wind said you’d dropped this.” She slid a dark blue bag with a prismatic lightning bolt insignia stitched onto the flaps over to her fellow pegasus, who took it eagerly. “Was he a friend of yours?”

The cyan mare rummaged through her bag, making sure everything was where she had originally left it and sighed once she saw that all was there. “I only just met him today. I bumped into him in my rush to get to class.”

“Care to elaborate on that?” inquired Trixie as she took bite off of an apple.

For a moment, Rainbow hesitated. “Well… I didn’t ‘bump into him’ so much as I flew him into a wall.” The others all stared at her. “What? He walked right in front of me, and I was going too fast to turn in time!” A few eyebrows raised at that, and she shook her head. “It was an accident! I don’t tackle random ponies on purpose!”

“Nopony said anythin’ about that, Dash,” Applejack assured her.

“What was this Howling Wind like?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash thought on that for a few moments before settling on an answer. “That’s… kinda hard to say. He seemed kinda quiet. Didn’t look like he was bothered too much when I ran into him.” She perked up a bit as details returned to her. “He looked sorta weird, too. He had these weird eyes, and his wings were like a bat’s or something.”

“He had bat wings?” Twilight looked up from her book curiously. “So he was a thestral?”

Rainbow gave a helpless shrug. “I… guess so? What’s a thestral?”

Twilight took a few seconds to ponder the question. “Well, I don’t know much about them - they’re a fairly reclusive race - but from what I understand, they’re a lot like pegasi, except they’re mostly nocturnal. They’re actually pretty rare.”

Pinkie Pie perked up with a somewhat impish look of curiosity in her eyes. “What do you mean rare?”

It took a moment for Twilight to remember that history wasn’t a subject that Pinkie studied often. “During the Nightmare Wars a thousand years ago, a lot of thestrals - not all of them, mind you - took Nightmare Moon’s side. After the war, ponies started to actively hunt them down. It took years for Princess Celestia to end the persecution before it could become genocide.”

Fluttershy gasped with her hooves over her mouth. “That’s awful! And all because some of them made a bad choice?”

Applejack frowned with an uncharacteristically venomous look. “Ah know things were different back then, and ponies musta been scared stiff o’ nighttime critters at the time, but that shouldn’t give anypony the right to condemn an entire race o’ ponies for somethin’ not all of ‘em were a part of.”

“A few bad apples spoil the bunch,” Twilight said dourly. “Ponies can be suspicious and sometimes even cowardly creatures, especially a thousand years ago.” A grim, oppressive silence fell over the table.

Wanderer rubbed at his chin. “Still, if a thes… whatever, is a student here, it shows that things are better they used to be, right?” He shrugged idly. “Maybe he’ll be in some of our other classes. We can always try to be friendly.”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow said. “He wasn’t a jerk about it, but he didn’t seem particularly chatty.”

Wanderer smirked playfully. “Neither would I if I got slammed into a wall by a speed-crazy pegasus.”

She glowered at him. “Wanderer, do I have to beat you at a race again?”

He snorted. “Keep your wings out of it, and we’ll see.”

“Mind if I join ya?” Applejack asked after swallowing her bite of food. “Ah’ll show ya both how to win a race.”

Rainbow scoffed, flipping her mane out of her eyes. “You actually think you can keep up with me, AJ?”

Applejack snorted challengingly. “And Ah can beat ya, too.”

“Says you!”

Wanderer chuckled. “You ladies can fight over second place after I win.”

They both glowered at him, but he didn’t back down from those challenging stares. “A race after class today? Winner gets bragging rights for a week?” His smirk showing a hint of cockiness.

“You’re on!” Rainbow challenged.

“Ah’ll show ya both how it’s done,” Applejack said. “Just like Ah did at the tryouts!”

Rainbow chuckled as Wanderer muttered at Applejack. Despite their rivalry, she always considered their boasts and challenges as some of the greatest moments in school. She saw that the rest of her friends were either smiling at the three or shaking their heads at them—Twilight and Trixie being part of the latter.

“Sometimes, I think you three are just little foals in older bodies,” Trixie grumbled despite a faint smirk of humor.

Pinkie bounced in her seat with an excited grin. “Oh, this is so exciting! Three of the best athletes in the freshman year racing to the finish to see who’s the top athlete! I call being the announcer!”

“For who, exactly?” asked one of Rarity’s followers, the unicorn named Victor. “I’m guessing it’s just going to be all of us. Maybe one or two others who stumble on it.”

“Ooh! Ooh! We make an event out of it!” Pinkie said, bouncing in her chair. “A welcome back to school race!”

A faint flush crept up Wanderer’s face. “It’s just a little competition between friends. No need to get the entire Academy in on it.”

“Afraid you’ll lose in front o’ everypony, Wanderer?” Applejack smirked at him.

“He’s probably scared he’ll get shown up by two girls,” Rainbow added with her own grin.

The flush vanished from his face, replaced by a daring expression. “I was gonna say to save you mares from embarrassment, but if that’s the way you’re gonna be…” His lopsided grin grew viciously. “I’ll have to prove to the school who’s the best.”

Pinkie, beaming excitedly, bounced over to the three, pulling them in a tight hug. “This is gonna be so super-duper-fantasti-mazingly-awesome-rific!”

“You do know that that's not a word, right?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.

The pink mare giggled and patted the unicorn’s head. “Semantics, my dear Twilight. I’ll spread the word!” And just like that, she was gone in a pink blur.

“Do any of you think Pinkie would be up to join the race as well?” Rarity inquired jokingly.

Rainbow scoffed. “Are you kidding? Even I have a hard time keeping up with her.” A laugh was shared around the table.

As conversation turned more general, even as Wanderer and Applejack shared tales of their winter break, Rainbow found her mind drifting back towards that Howling Wind guy she had run into earlier. She wasn’t sure how or why her mind found its back to him; maybe it was guilt for running into him without really apologizing for it. Maybe if she ran into—met him again, she clarified—she would give him a true apology. It just didn’t sit right with her to leave it as it is.

-o-

Howling Wind squinted his eyes at the sunlight as he stepped out of Academy library, a navy blue foreleg over his brow as his pupils slowly and meekly adjusted to the brightness of the daytime. How did diurnal ponies put up with this all the time? He knew they were more adapted to daylight than his own race was, but still.

The light, however, was the least of his concerns. The Academy’s scheduling system didn’t agree with his internal clock. Sleeping at night and waking up during the day just didn’t come naturally to him. Again, he had to ask himself how other ponies put up with that.

‘Why did I think agreeing to come here would be a good idea again?’ he asked himself. He rummaged through his bags for a moment, looking for the wide-rim hat he brought with him to keep the sun out of his eyes. He stopped when he found something else. In his hooves, he held up a photograph from a few days before he left home for the Academy. A family of three smiled back at him from the picture. Well, two of them were smiling. The third one was himself, looking more or less indifferent.

Next to him in the picture stood a thestral stallion; tall, well-built, golden-eyed, and with a big, cocky grin on his slightly scarred face, with a coat a darker shade of blue than Howling Wind’s own, and an equally dark mane. Between them beamed a thestral filly, her yellow eyes gleaming excitedly beneath her sky blue mane that complimented her dark red coat.

‘Oh… right.’ With a sigh, he placed the photograph back in his bag carefully, so as not to risk it getting damaged.

He strapped his saddlebags onto his back again and headed for straight for the dorms. With classes over for the day, it was time to hit the books for a night of study before going to sleep for the night. As he walked, he found himself thinking about that pegasus mare with the colorful mane. What was her name again? “Rainbow” something. He sort of hoped that that pink-maned pegasus at the arboretum got her bag to her. Forgetting one’s utensils was doubtful to be easy on ponies here.

When he arrived at the dorms, before he could head for the stairs to get to his room, a prismatic blur zoomed past him, stopping just a moment after. He pushed his mane back out of his eyes to see it was that cyan pegasus from earlier again.

“There you are!” She smirked at him as she touched down. “I’ve been looking for you. I wanted to thank you for making sure my saddlebags got back to me.”

Howl merely gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. “It’s not that big a deal. You said that you had a friend at the arboretum, and you were long gone by the time I noticed you’d left your bags behind. I only did what most anypony would’ve done.” He looked at her for a moment. “You said your name was Rainbow… Dash, right?”

The mare’s smirk widened. “Yep! The one and only!” She flared her wings proudly, as if to emphasize her point. “Hey, a couple friends of mine and I having a hoof race in about an hour. Another friend of mine spread the word to the whole school. You interested?”

“In racing?” Howling asked. “Not particularly.”

“You don’t have to race if you don’t want to,” Rainbow assured him. “It’s just me, Applejack, and Wanderer - those are my friends - going around the track to see who’s faster on hoof. Most ponies are just gonna be there to watch.”

He took her offer into silent consideration. On the one hoof, he would personally prefer to stay in his room and study up before hitting the hay. On the other, Rainbow Dash seemed rather insistent. That, and he’d been raised to appreciate simple friendly offers. There was nothing inherently wrong with watching a race, he supposed.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally said as he headed for the stairway.

“Don’t take too long, buddy,” he heard Rainbow say. “You don’t wanna miss it!”

‘I’m quaking with excitement.’ The thestral climbed up the stairs to his room. Personally, he admitted that the way Rainbow talked about it made the idea of a simple hoof race seem a little exciting. He could at least see what the fuss was about.

-o-

Just when Rainbow thought Pinkie Pie couldn’t surprise her anymore, the pink mare took her expectations and hit them with a freight train at full speed. Rainbow and her friends only made their challenge a few hours ago, and it seemed as if the whole school had shown up to watch. The bleachers were almost full with students and teachers who had gathered to watch their impromptu race. She even saw Coach Iron Will sitting in the stands, watching them with narrowed eyes.

For all her searching, she didn’t catch sight of Howling Wind.

“Ya know, Ah didn’t expect Pinkie to bring everypony out for this,” Applejack said as she stretched near the starting line of the track. “Ah thought she’d bring a few others from her classes, if anypony at all.”

Wanderer trotted in place. “So, how are we gonna do this? One lap doesn’t seem long enough, you know?”

Rainbow looked back at them. “Make it a full mile? Run four laps around the track, and winner gets bragging rights.”

Applejack gave her a flat stare. “You’d brag anyway, Rainbow.” Wanderer chuckled at her remark.

Rainbow flipped her mane with a confident toss of her head. “That’s ‘cause I’m awesome! And today, I’m gonna prove it!”

“Not if Ah have anythin’ to say about it!” Applejack challenged right back, tugging her hat tighter onto her head.

The two butted heads, their smiles giving away their playful banter.

Wanderer looked at the two with a mock look of self pity. “Why am I always the one being left out?” He sighed and shrugged grandly. “Oh, well. While you ladies battle it out, I’ll be waiting patiently at the finish line for you two to catch up.”

Rainbow scoffed. “Yeah, you’ll be waiting for Applejack. I’ll already be at the finish line by then!”

“Not leavin’ the startin’ line doesn’t count, Dash,” Applejack said with a smirk of amusement.

The cyan pegasus wanted to come up with a retort to that, but was unable to think of a good response. She huffed and turned to head for the starting line, where she took one last look at the crowd. She wasn’t about to admit this, but seeing so many ponies watching her all at once made her just the tiniest bit nervous. Still, she wasn’t about to lose a race to a pair of earth ponies, even if they were her friends. She had a reputation to uphold, after all.

Once Wanderer and Applejack joined her at the starting line, they heard the sound of a speaker blaring to life, much to a lot of ponies’ agitation. The sound of a hoof tapping a microphone was heard over the speakers before Pinkie Pie’s voice said, “Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. Is this thing working?”

“It’s working!” somepony in the crowd shouted angrily.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie chirped happily, completely unperturbed. She was sitting at a table that had a microphone resting on top of it, her excited grin wide as always. “Welcome, fillies, gentlecolts, and one gruff, but lovable, minotaur!” Rainbow could’ve sworn she heard Coach Iron Will snort at that. “We’re all here today to see three of the top athletes in Canterlot Academy’s freshman year go at it in a race to the finish to see who’s Number 1!”

Pinkie made a pretty good announcer, as her exuberance carried over to the crowd, who cheered loudly as the three racers prepared themselves.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Wanderer will be going for a full-speed, mile-long gallop around the track, upon which I have personally added a few obstacles to make things more exciting!”

Wanderer looked up with frightened look. “She what?”

Applejack blinked and looked around at the track. “Ah don’t see any obstacles.”

As if on cue, Pinkie pressed a button on the table. A low rumbling was heard from the ground as parts of the track opened up. From the ground rose several hurdles, a rope swing over a pool of water, hoops that were clearly meant to be jumped through, one of those barb wire things soldiers would crawl under in training, and what looked like a mud pit that smelled suspiciously like chocolate with wooden platforms floating in it.

Silence. Complete and utter silence.

Rainbow Dash blinked and rubbed her eyes, which were wide with disbelief. “When did she have time to build all of this?”

Wanderer stared at the obstacles for several moments before he started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Rainbow demanded.

He grinned at her. “Remember, Rainbow: no wings.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember,” the pegasus grumbled in irritation. This likely wouldn’t be as much of a cakewalk as she thought.

“Runners! Are you ready?” Pinkie’s voiced echoed through the still stunned crowd.

“Would she listen if we told her no?” Wanderer joked before setting himself at the starting line.

“Doubt it,” came Applejack’s response.

“On your marks! Get set!”

Rainbow, Applejack, and Wanderer readied themselves, crouched low in their starting positions. Rainbow’s wings were flared out instinctively, but she managed to force them back into folded position.

“Oh, wait a minute!” Earning confused looks from everyone, Pinkie zoomed off in a pink blur, soon returning with a bucket of popcorn. “Okay, go!”

The three took off like shots. They kept pace with each other, clearing the hurdles without any trouble. When they came to the rope swing, Applejack lowered her head and burst ahead of the others and grabbed hold of the rope.

“Yeehaw!” she cried as she swung over and deftly landed on the other side.

Wanderer was next to the rope. “I’ve got this!” He swung across, but found his grip slipping. “Oh, cr—” he splashed into the pool. He emerged soon after, shaking his head and wiping his face of the water.

“What did ya have, Wanderer?” Applejack teased before running further along the track.

“Get back here!” he called and chased after her.

Rainbow grabbed the rope and swung across. Briefly, she felt her grip slip near the end, but she thankfully landed on the other side of the pool, her left hind leg only barely touching the water.

Applejack ran ahead, and grinned cockily. She jumped through the hoops, but found that they started to move up and down on her. She gasped and tried to adjust, but her right foreleg caught the edge of a hoop.

“Whoa!” She tripped and fell face first into the track’s surface.

She had only just shaken her head of the dizziness when Wanderer rushed past her. “Feeling loopy yet?” He laughed as he jumped through each hoop with ease. Soon enough, a smirking Rainbow Dash ran past her, moving through the hoops even more easily than Wanderer.

“Dagnabbit!” Applejack cursed and rushed after the two.

At the barbed wire crawl, Rainbow Dash struggled. Crawling wasn’t her style, but it was something she’d have to put up with if she was going to prove that she was the best. Wanderer was right ahead of her, barely slowing down, while Applejack was quickly gaining up behind her. She’d have to pick it up soon if she wanted to win this!

Once she made it out of the barbed wire, with Applejack right next to her, Rainbow galloped for the mud pit, where Wanderer had leaped for one of the platforms, but lost his balance as the wooden plank teetered uncontrollably, dropping him into the brown mess.

“Wait a minute…” He tasted the “mud,” smacking his lips for a moment. “This is chocolate!”

“Of course it’s chocolate, silly. It’s so much better than mud, right?” They heard Pinkie call over the microphone. “Not to mention it’s super-duper yummy!”

“Where did you even get all of this?” he yelled at her.

“Silly Wanderer! Don’t you still have a race to win?”

He blinked, then saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack already on the last couple of platforms, leaping for the track proper and galloping ahead of him.

“Pony-feathers!” He swam back for the platform and leapt across without another mishap.

The rest of the race was mostly neck-and-neck, with all three racers unwilling to give each other an edge. The second lap was smoother for all three of them than the first, and the third one smoother still. Halfway through the final lap, Rainbow Dash had claimed the lead, with Applejack in second and Wanderer lagging behind.

Rainbow’s grin was almost permanent as she crawled out from under the barbed wire for the fourth and final time and galloped for the chocolate pit. There was no way she was going to lose this, especially not in front of so many spectators. She was going to win this thing no matter what!

Feeling a bit more sure of herself than usual as she crossed the chocolate pit, she looked over at the crowd. They were cheering her name, as they rightfully should. She soon caught sight of someone she didn’t expect to see here at all.

Sitting in the shade of a tree was Howling Wind, who watched with those piercing yellow eyes of his. Something about the way he was looking at her captured her complete attention. Everything else seemed to slow down for just a split-second. And that split-second was all it took to screw her over.

Just as she landed on the last platform, her hooves slipped, flipping the plank and making her fall into the vat of chocolaty goodness. She sputtered as she shot her head back up for her, only to feel a hoof hit the back of her cranium. An orange form tripped over her, falling into the brown pool with her. Applejack shot out of the chocolate, spitting out a fair bit of it as Wanderer hopped over both of them.

“No!” Both mares cried as the stallion charged ahead for the finish line. They could only watch helplessly as he ran across the line to the loud cheering of the crowd.

“And Wanderer wins it all in a startling come-from-behind victory!” Pinkie cried over the microphone. The cheering grew louder as the stallion raised a foreleg up in victory.

Applejack swam to the side of the pool, spitting out the last of the chocolate from her mouth. “What was that about, Rainbow Dash? Why’d ya trip me up like that?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” the pegasus said, as she shook the goo from her mane. “I just…”

“You what?” the earth mare demanded.

“I slipped,” Rainbow said, looking away.

Before Applejack could say anything more, they felt someone walk up to the edge of the pool and offer their hooves to help them out of the chocolate.

Wanderer smiled down at them as he held his hooves out. “That was a good race. I thought for sure you guys had me.” He grunted as he pulled both mares from the pool.

Applejack shook the chocolate from her coat, splattering the stallion with a covering of the sweet-tasting stuff. She flushed as he wiped his face clean. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

He chuckled despite himself. “It’s all right. I shouldn’t have been standing so close.”

She grinned as well, but it faded when she looked at Rainbow as she finished shaking the chocolate from her coat. “So, what was that about Rainbow? It ain’t like ya to pull a stunt like that.”

Her ears pinned back. “I told you, I slipped. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Wanderer furrowed his brow, but it was Applejack who spoke. “Dash, you’re lyin’ to me. What’s wrong?”

Rainbow turned away from them. “Nothing.” She spread her wings and took to the sky, away from the track.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Wanderer asked as he watched after the pegasus.

Applejack sighed but nodded. “She’ll be fine. She just hates losin’.”

Wanderer tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Kinda like someone else I know.” He winked at her playfully.

Applejack would later admit that pushing him into the vat of chocolate felt rather cathartic.

-o-

When Twilight returned to her and Rainbow’s room, she was surprised to find her roommate lying in bed apparently doing… nothing. The pegasus was staring up at the ceiling, as if deep in thought, and didn’t seem to notice Twilight’s entry. While this was indeed odd, the lavender mare decided to take the rare peace and quiet as an opportunity to study up tonight. She had just gotten a book about the varying forms of magic between each pony race that compared similarities and differences between them, and she was more than eager to get started on—

“Hey, Twi,” Rainbow spoke up once she realized she was no longer alone. Twilight sighed in resignation. ‘Hey, Twi’ usually turned into Rainbow Dash rambling on about one thing or another, usually something that boosted her ego. “Got anything there about thestrals?”

That question caught the unicorn off guard for a moment, and she blinked in brief confusion at the other mare. “I’m afraid not. Why?”

“Oh, uh… just curious.” That was an example of dodging the question if Twilight ever heard one. Rainbow refused to respond with any other answer when asked about it again. Soon enough, Twilight just rolled her eyes and gave up on getting an honest answer out of the prismatic pegasus.

Rainbow Dash’s mind was working its metaphorical butt off, however, to try and find an answer to Twilight’s question. She wasn’t completely sure why she had such a sudden interest in thestrals herself. She could really only reason that Howling Wind had something to do with it. It could simply be curiosity. She’d never even heard of thestrals until today, and meeting one seemed to have really thrown off her day… more so than it already had been, considering she slept in later than she would’ve liked.

She found her thoughts falling on Howling Wind again. Something about him was… different. Not just physically, but… she didn’t know a good word to describe it, but the difference from other ponies was there, plain as day.

What was the difference? Was it really just his appearance? That couldn’t be it. Rainbow didn’t normally care about appearances. Could it have been his weirdly aloof nature? His collectedness? His gorgeous, golden eyes?

‘Whoa, wait, where did that come from?’ Rainbow asked herself when her brain managed to process that last question.

She groaned in frustration and rolled towards the wall. Why was she so badly off her game today?

A slightly exasperated sigh sounded behind her. “What’s wrong, Rainbow?”

Rainbow turned enough to look at her friend. “Nothing’s wrong, why?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Dash, You’re a worse liar than me. Has anyone told you that?” The unicorn closed her book and set it on her table. “We both know that talking about it will help, so come on. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Rainbow turned away with a huff. “I’m fine, Twilight. Just… leave me alone.”

Twilight’s tone dropped. “Is it the race that’s bothering you?”

Rainbow was glad she wasn’t looking at her friend, or she would’ve known she was lying still. “Yeah, just… bummed about losing.”

Twilight nodded to herself. “Well, don’t let it get you so depressed. It was an unofficial and… different sort of race. Nopony’s going to blame you for losing.”

Rainbow’s ears leveled. “Yeah…”

“All right. I hope that made you feel better.” Twilight smiled to herself. “That book on friendship relations was right after all. I’ll have to read it again.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the egghead and climbed under her blankets. “I’m going to get some sleep, Twilight. Mind turning the lamp down?”

Twilight nodded. “I’ll read a bit more before I go to bed, too.” She used her magic to turn the lamp off before getting under the blankets herself. She propped herself up with her pillows, and used her horn to give a soft light to read by. “Goodnight, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow sighed. “Night, Twilight.”

An hour later, when Twilight had set aside her book, and was snoring softly in a content sleep, Rainbow still stared at the wall in front of her, her mind still not giving her the answers she wanted.

-o-

Ribbons, thread spools, and sewing needles all flew through the room that served as the Academy’s sewing club, all the supplies being carried by a periwinkle aura emanating from Rarity’s horn as she scrutinized the half-completed dress before her, carefully stitching fabric together, making absolutely sure that everything was perfect. She was planning on turning this dress in as both a project and a gift for her art teacher, who desperately needed a makeover (of course, she wasn’t about to bring that up in front of the older mare). Still, maybe a the dress would pass as a subtle hint for her instructor to seek a spa day.

She carefully pushed a threaded needle through the fabric, slowly running it along the dress’s skirt. She needed absolute focus for this. It needed to be completely, one hundred percent—

The door suddenly slammed open. “Hey, Rarity, you busy?”

The alabaster unicorn stared in horror at the huge tear in the fabric her being startled by Rainbow Dash’s abrupt entrance had caused. Her eye twitched in her dismay, but she managed to calm herself with a few deep breaths before facing the pegasus who had so rudely interrupted her.

“Can I help you, Rainbow Dash?” she asked in annoyance, though she tried not to sound too agitated.

“I’m looking for…” The prismatic pony hesitated just a little noticeably. “I’m looking for somepony, and I was wondering if you might’ve seen him.”

“You’ll have to be more specific than that,” Rarity informed her friend as she levitated her sewing glasses to a table. “Just because I’m a unicorn doesn’t mean I’m psychic.”

Once again, much to Rarity’s piqued curiosity, Rainbow hesitated. “You remember that guy I told you and the others about? Howling Wind? I, uh… I need to talk to him about something.”

If Rarity was curious before, now she had to know. Rainbow was never nervous about wanting to talk to other ponies. In fact, the pegasus relished attention almost as much as Trixie and Rarity herself. This wasn’t just a pony looking for somepony to ask something. By the look in Rainbow’s eyes, the unicorn could only make the assumption that…

Rarity covered her mouth to muffle a gasp of surprise. “Rainbow Dash… do you have a… a crush?”

The effect was instant: Rainbow’s face burned bright red, eyes wide and pupils like pinpricks. That was all the proof that Rarity needed, if she were to be completely honest.

“N-no! I don’t have a crush! That’s ridiculous! I’ve never had a crush on anypony before! Why would I start now?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. Her eyes then suddenly went wide, and she pointed past Rainbow. “Is that him over there?”

“What!? Where!?” Rainbow darted behind Rarity, as if to hide herself. She peeked from behind the other mare, who gave her smug, knowing smirk. Realizing what had just happened, Rainbow pushed away from Rarity, glaring at her indignantly. “Not cool.” She shook her head. “Besides, that doesn’t prove anything.”

Rarity rolled her eyes playfully. “Oh, yes, I’m so sure you hid behind me because you thought it would look cool. Tell me, why the sudden interest in this Howling Wind? Is he that handsome?”

Rainbow scrunched up her face. “I knew I should’ve asked Fluttershy,” she grumbled.

“Oh, come now, Rainbow Dash. What could it possibly hurt to tell me? Come now, we’re friends, are we not?”

Rainbow looked to the floor. “If I knew, I’d tell you, but…” She groaned, slumping to her haunches. “It doesn’t make sense.”

The alabaster mare chuckled, sitting next to her friend. “Love rarely does, darling.”

“Love?” Rainbow quirked a skeptical eyebrow. “I kinda doubt it’s love. I only met the guy yesterday. I know zip about him.”

“Love is a mysterious thing, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said sagely. “It can come from out of nowhere and take hold of a pony’s heart and clutch it so tight that it aches. All anypony can do is to follow that feeling, or forever live a life of wondering ‘what if’.”

Rainbow gave her a flat glare. “Did you read that out of some cheesy romance novel?”

Rarity turned up her nose. “It doesn’t matter the source. It’s simply the truth of the matter.”

The pegasus sighed and looked to her hooves. “What can I do? Anything you can tell me? I’m kinda clueless here.”

A sly grin spread across Rarity’s muzzle “So, you admit to having a crush?”

“NO!”

Rarity giggled. “Fine then. A mare must be honest with herself when she is talking to the opposite sex. She must also do what she can to attract his notice.” She gave Rainbow a sly look. “You do know how to shake your hips, right, darling?”

Rainbow’s answer was to turn a brighter shade of red.

“Thought so.” Rarity grinned before continuing. She then ran a hoof through the other mare’s mane. “We’ll have to give you a full makeover while we’re at it. A day at the spa, and I’m sure you will easily attract the attention of that dashing Howling Wind with ease.”

Dash couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “You’re hilarious. But seriously, a spa? No, thanks. Spas and me don’t mix well.”

“Come now, Rainbow Dash. There’s nothing anywhere that says a girl cannot be athletic and glamorous at the same time!” She gave an excited squeal. “Tomorrow afternoon, you and me. A trip to the spa. My treat!”

Dash slapped a hoof over her eyes. “Definitely should’ve asked Fluttershy…” She rubbed at her face. “Can it at least be just you and me? No followers going with us. The less ponies that see me even going into some froufrou spa, the better.”

Rarity patted her on the back. “Don’t you worry about a thing, darling. I’ll make sure that we are both discrete and successful in getting you your coltfriend. Just trust Rarity on this.”

Rainbow’s tail swished irritably. “He’s not my coltfriend!”

“Not yet, he isn’t, darling.” Giving her a sly smile.

Again, Rainbow facehoofed. “I know I’m going to regret this…”

-o-

The prismatic pegasus took a nervous gulp as she and Rarity made their way down the street, past the numerous, well-off ponies of Canterlot. Rainbow hovered just a few feet off the ground, but lower than usual. The last thing she wanted was for anypony to see her enter a spa of all places. She continuously glanced from side to side, silently praying that no one they knew would see her.

“How much further is the spa, Rarity?” she asked for the umpteenth time.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “We’re almost there, Rainbow. Just a block or two more.” She turned down another street, returning a friendly greetings to another pony.

Rainbow looked around in confusion. The road she was following stepped off the main path, and was rather shoddy-looking.

“You sure you know where you’re going?” She looked around as she heard a trashcan over turn down another alleyway. “This doesn’t seem the right way to some girly spa.”

“To the untrained eye, perhaps. But for a pony who has certain… connections, they know just where to look.”

Rainbow shuddered at the sound of a cat screeching not far away. “If you say so.”

Rarity walked up to a rough-looking doorway, and Rainbow was reminded of the dungeons she’d often read about in R.A. Stalliontor’s many novels. It did nothing to make her feel any more at ease. Rarity lifted a hoof to knock on the door three times. After a brief pause, a spy door slid open, and a deep voice spoke to them.

“What’s the password?”

Without skipping a beat, Rarity answered, “Hooficure.”

There was a brief silence, and Rainbow felt herself ready to bolt in an instant, but the door opened, and a pony gestured the two in.

While Rarity trotted in confidently, Rainbow followed with much more reluctance. Once inside, her jaw would’ve hit the ground if it were possible.

“Rarity?” She pointed a hoof to a pure white pony reclining in a chair while a mare washed the larger mare’s mane, while another pony cleaned and massaged a pair of wide wings. A long horn stood out from the soap bubbles around the white mare’s hair. “Isn’t that…?”

“Princess Celestia?” Rarity replied with impossible calmness. “Why, of course. I said anypony with good connections knows about this place, and who has more connections than the princess herself?”

“But… I… you… the princess… what?” Rainbow’s brain struggled and scrambled to piece together what was left of her blown mind. How did Rarity know the princess? What is this place?

Rarity giggled at her friend’s flummoxed expression. “I said not to worry about a thing, darling, and I meant it.” She turned as a pair of earth pony mares approached them. “Good afternoon, Aloe, Lotus.”

The blue-furred, and pink-maned mare smiled to her. “Miss Belle! It’s so good to see you again.” She looked to Rainbow with a curious tilt of her head. “And who is your friend?”

Before Rainbow could speak, Rarity interrupted. “This is Rainbow Dash, a good friend of mine who is need of your caring hooves, Lotus Blossom.”

“Well,” the pink-furred, blue-maned one spoke. “She’s come to the right place. What are you looking for in particular, honey? Hooficure? Mud bath?”

“Uh—”

Again, Rarity spoke, in a low conspiracy tone. “She’s got her eyes set upon a stallion.”

Both mares gasped simultaneously, hooves over their mouths, and gave Rainbow the widest, shiniest eyes she’d ever seen. She didn’t like those looks they were giving her one bit.

Before she could react, both spa mares grabbed her and threw her into a chair, which spun around rapidly before the pony Rarity had called Lotus Blossom stopped it. “Aloe, get the conditioner ready, and bring me our very best hoof files, stat!” The other mare saluted as if she were a soldier and darted off to another corner of the room, gathering up the requested items before quickly returning and setting everything upon a vanity in front of Rainbow’s seat.

“No! Wait! That’s not—” Rainbow coughed as Lotus started smacking her face with a pad, some powder making its way down her throat as the two ponies worked in a frenzy. “Help!”

Rarity giggled again and turned to another attendant as they lead her to a waiting message table.

Soon enough, Princess Celestia made her way to the massage tables and laid herself down on the table beside Rarity. “Good afternoon, Rarity. It’s been some time since I saw you here last. How are your parents and little sister?”

“They’re doing quite well, Princess,” Rarity said as her masseuse pressed down on her withers. “My parents are still traveling, and Sweetie Belle sends me all sorts of letters from wherever they are.” She moaned softly as the masseuse’s hooves relieved a tense spot in her back. “I’m hoping to join them when summer break starts.”

The Princess of the Sun nodded as her own masseuse began working his magic. “That’s good. I’m glad to hear they’re still travelling about.” She shivered as he ran his hooves along her spine. “Where do they intend to go this summer?”

Rarity’s voice trembled in tempo with the thumps to her back. “T-They’re t-thinking of g-going t-to H-Horseshoe B-Bay f-for the s-summer.”

Celestia muffled her own moan into a pillow. “Horseshoe Bay is—oohhh—lovely during the summer. I think you’ll—aaah—love it.”

Rarity turned a curious gaze to the Princess. “Are you well, Princess Celestia? You must have a lot of stress from what I can tell.”

“Just the typical day-to-day of ruling a kingdom.” She sighed in content pleasure as her stress was massaged out of her. “What news of the Academy?” She glanced towards the vanity where Aloe and Lotus were still hard at work in cleaning up a dejected-looking Rainbow Dash. “What’s the occasion for your friend?”

Rarity looked over as Rainbow grunted something unkind to the two, and chuckled. “She has her eye on a stallion at the Academy. He’s even a thestral, from what I’ve heard of him.”

The princess gave the young mare a surprised look. “A thestral? I haven’t seen a thestral in over forty years. And he’s attending the Academy?” Rarity nodded, and Celestia put on a distant, thoughtful look. “Interesting…” She climbed off her massage table, startling her masseuse as she stood. “Thank you very much for a wonderful time. Just put today’s service on my tab.” The masseuse bowed as the princess made her way out of the spa, draping a cloak over her form before exiting the building.

Rarity blinked in surprise as she watched the princess leave. She had only enjoyed the alicorn’s company on two other occasions in this very place, but she believed she picked up enough from the princess to know that she wouldn’t just leave right in the middle of a spa treatment. Did it have something to do with Howling Wind? Or maybe just thestrals in general?

She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and turned to face a very distraught-looking Aloe. “Miss Rarity, so sorry to interrupt, but Lotus and I may need your help with your friend.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Her hooves,” Aloe said simply, visibly shuddering as if she had just tasted something foul. “I’ve never seen anything so… borderline hopeless. Her hooves have more cracks than her body has hairs. It’s a Faust-given miracle that they’re still in one piece.”

“I see. What can I do to help?”

“Well… you could hold her down while Lotus and I file and fix her hooves.” Aloe sighed, as if in shame. “Ruined as her hooves are, she’ll shriek loud enough to wake the dead. Poor thing doesn’t even know what we’re going to have to do.”

Rarity looked worriedly over to Rainbow Dash, who was struggling with a spa employee who was trying to put a mud mask over the pegasus’ face. “Oh, my, this could get messy.” She stood straighter, looking similar to a soldier on her way to battle. “Rainbow Dash, you need to calm down.”

The pegasus gave her a fearful look. “Rarity, they’re trying to touch my hooves! I don’t like other ponies touching my hooves!” She squirmed, trying to weasel her way loose.

The unicorn sighed and approached the prismatic mare. She took a close look at Rainbow’s hooves, and immediately wanted to vomit at their condition. It was no wonder Rainbow flew around most of the time! Just walking on these things that just barely qualified as hooves must be excruciating!

“Darling, you have a serious problem here!” she chided her friend, who winced under the fashionista’s tone. “If you’re going to woo Howling Wind—”

“I’m not trying to woo him!”

“—you’re going to have to trust the experts.” She turned to Lotus and Aloe and nodded, holding Rainbow down in her bright blue magic aura. “Go on, girls. Do it.”

The two mares nodded and took one hoof file each, and chose to start with Rainbow’s hind hooves. The pegasus squirmed and struggled as the two earth ponies set the file against the first hoof.

-o-

The ponies walking in the streets suddenly stopped and flicked their ears about as the sound of a long, drawn-out scream of denial and pain that was carried on the winds. Without anyone knowing what the source could have possibly been, everypony carried on with their daily routine, unaware of the torture that a certain blue pegasus was currently undergoing.

-o-

Rainbow stood scowling in front of a full-body mirror, hating the fact that she did, in fact, look much better than she had when she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror this morning. Rarity stood next to her, grinning as she awaited the pegasus’ response to her cleaner appearance.

The rainbow-maned mare turned to her friend with a glare. “I hate you so much right now.”

Rarity scoffed. “Please, darling, you’re just at the cusp of looking fabulous!”

Rainbow flattened her ears. “Fabulous plus Rainbow Dash equals angry Rainbow Dash.”

Ignoring Rainbow’s comment, the alabaster unicorn looked the other mare over for a moment, her hoof on her chin, as if pondering something. Something seemed to click, as Rarity suddenly gave a smiling gasp and hurried over to Aloe and Lotus, asking them something that Rainbow couldn’t make out.

The pegasus looked at her reflection again. Some part of her deep inside was screaming at her to just leave right now, but another part her begged her to stay put and see this thing through. Whether she obeyed the latter voice out of some form of self-pity or sheer stubbornness wasn’t clear to her. She turned her head both ways, giving herself a better look over. Would this be what she needed to draw Howling Wind’s eye?

She shook her head. ‘I am not trying to attract him!’

‘Baka.’

Her ears perked at the sudden voice. She looked around to find the source, but nopony was apparently talking to her. Everypony who was in the room was too focused on their spa treatments or talking with each other. Rarity was still speaking with Aloe and Lotus, so none of those three could’ve been the one who’d spoken to her.

‘You are being a selfish foal, and you do not even know it.’

Rainbow lowered her gaze. Was she being selfish? What was she trying to accomplish right now? She wasn’t exactly living up to her personal standards at the moment. Maybe—

“Here we go!” Rainbow started at Rarity’s voice. The unicorn was holding what looked like a red hair tie in her magic. “I was thinking we could do something with you mane. Perhaps a lovely braid? I rarely have the opportunity to work with such vibrantly colored hair!”

“Uh… sure, I guess,” Rainbow muttered reluctantly. “Just… nothing too girly, all right?” Rarity nodded with a smile and took hold of some of Rainbow’s mane in her magic, starting work on a braid with the purple, green, and blue parts of her mane.

While Rarity worked with her hair, Rainbow grimaced when the unicorn tugged on her mane. All this work, all this torture, what was it really for? While she privately wished it was done and over with, she realized that Rarity had gone through a lot to do all this for her. She’d feel terrible if she denied her friend’s kindness and generosity.

Her eyes again looked to her reflection in the mirror and saw all they had done for her, but there was something that… she didn’t quite like. It wasn’t—

‘It is not you.’

That voice again. Where had it come from? Who did it belong to?

“And there we go! You look simply wonderful with a braid, darling.” Rarity motioned to the mirror, letting Rainbow see the end result.

The braid hung over her left shoulder, with the unbraided half of her mane remaining in its usual place, giving her something of a… what was that big word Twilight used once? That one word about uneven things? A… asymmetrical? Yeah, that was it. The braid on one side and loose hair on the other gave her an asymmetrical look that… worked oddly well, actually. She hated to admit it, but…

“You know,” she said with much hesitance, “that… doesn’t look too bad.”

Rarity clapped her hooves and made a sound that reminded Rainbow of that tiny squeal Fluttershy would make whenever she was excited about something. “I knew you’d like it, Rainbow Dash!” She pulled the pegasus along as she hurried over to another vanity. “Now for the rest of your makeover!”

“Wait, what!? I never agreed to-!” She was silenced as a powder sponge was smacked against her face.

-o-

She felt them. All the stares, pressing down on her heavier than any weight she’d ever lifted. The shocked and flabbergasted expressions were a lot more embarrassing than she’d thought they’d be.

“Is that Rainbow Dash?” she heard one stallion utter in total disbelief.

“I’ve never seen her like that.” a mare muttered to her friends. “What happened?”

“Did she lose a bet?”

‘Sweet Celestia, I hate this...’ she thought to herself, lowering her head down further as Rarity walked alongside her proudly. Normally, she’d bask in all the attention she was receiving, but this kind of attention wasn’t what she was used to. Stallions (and even one or two mares) eyed her as if they were thinking about asking her out, while most of the mare gave her petty, jealous glares, further pushing her into uncomfortableness. Rarity kept assuring her that she’d get used to these looks eventually, and maybe even learn to soak it up like she normally did with praise.

‘Then why go on with it? Baka.’

Rainbow groaned, chalking that ‘voice’ up as just her imagination. Or maybe it was that part of her that was screaming at her to stop this whole day. She was beginning to wish she’d listened to it sooner, but there was nothing that could be done about it at this point. She just hoped that swallowing her pride just this once would be worth it, whatever may happen.

“Really, Rainbow Dash, you must stop walking like a pariah,” Rarity chided, earning a slightly spiteful look from the pegasus.

“I don’t even know what a pariah is,” she grumbled as she lifted her head a little higher, though not nearly as high as Rarity carried hers. “You didn’t have to go through that whole process at the spa, you know.”

Rarity chuckled lightly. “Nonsense, darling. Just look at the results! You look absolutely fabulous.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes in irritation, but said nothing more. What would be the point? Rarity would just counter with some argument about how a mare should take pride in her appearance.

“Your athleticism gives you a great figure,” Rarity had said back at the spa, “but you’ll need some extra pizzazz in your look if you want to court a stallion.” The word ‘court’ turned Rainbow’s face redder than a ripe tomato. She’d protested, of course, shouting that she didn’t want to court Howling Wind, while Rarity only gave a light laugh and continued with the makeover.

While Rainbow was thinking back to the spa trip that she had so loathed, Rarity stopped suddenly, holding a hoof out in front of the pegasus, who bumped into the limb with start.

“Is that him?” Rarity asked, nodding her head to one pony in particular. Rainbow looked over at the thestral who was currently lying in the shade of a tree, reading a book whose title she couldn’t make out from here. Black mane, navy blue coat, yellow eyes, cutie mark being a spear through a tornado.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Rainbow answered in an uncharacteristically sheepish manner. She silently prayed that the stallion wouldn’t take notice of her in her current state.

Rarity, however, took a good look at the thestral and said, “Well, he’s definitely handsome. And those wings are simply exotic.” She gave Rainbow a wink. “You certainly pick your crushes well. I approve.”

Rainbow’s tail swished in annoyance for the uptempth time that day. “He is not my crush, Rarity! How many times do I have to say it?”

The unicorn gave her a sly smile. “As often as you have to, darling. You and I both know the truth.”

The pegasus was about to grumble further when Rarity gave her a nudge. “Well, go on. Go talk to him.”

Rainbow planted her hooves firmly to the ground. “About what?” A sickening feeling of dread rising in her gut.

“You’re resourceful, aren’t you? Think of something. You’re good at thinking on your hooves.” With that, Rarity gave Rainbow one last shove with her magic, pushing Rainbow across half the distance from Howling Wind, who had yet to notice her arrival.

-o-

Howl flipped through the pages of the book he was reading, a volume about Old Equestrian religions that were considered obsolete by their modern equivalents. He stopped on a page that was detailing the mythical story of how pegasi came into being. Ridiculous as most of these old tales were - apparently, ancient pegasi believed that a god gave earth ponies wings - he couldn’t help but read as deeply into them as he could. He particularly enjoyed the story of the earth pony Icarus. Arrogance had its comeuppance, even to the ignorant.

“Uh… hi.”

His ears quirked at a familiar voice. He looked up from his book, and had to do a double-take just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “Rainbow Dash?” The mare nodded meekly. “You look… different.”

That was putting it mildly, and he knew it. The darker colors of her mane had been done up in an elaborate braid, while the brighter colors had been given a curling flair. Her fur had been brushed out to where it almost shone in the light. The feathers of her wings had been preened to perfection—as far as he knew, anyway. Her hooves had been hooficured to a gleaming edge, and… was that eyeliner she was wearing?

“You… ah…” He stumbled for the right words.

“H-How are you doing?” she squeaked out. For the faintest of moments, he was reminded of his classmate Fluttershy.

“I’m…” He shook his head to clear the shock. His eyes traced to an alabaster unicorn who was standing nearby, trying to look inconspicuous, though obviously failing at it. “Are you trying a new look?” he asked as he looked to Rainbow.

“I… guess you could say that.” She rubbed at the back of her head, a blush creeping over the blush she was wearing.

An awkward silence fell over the pair. Howl cleared his throat, as if that would make things somehow less awkward. “I, uh… I didn’t think you were… well, you kind of struck me as a major tomboy. No offense.”

“None taken,” Rainbow said hastily. “This new look wasn’t my initial plan.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I… I kinda wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What’s that?”

She hesitated. Very obviously. Howling Wind didn’t know Rainbow that well, honestly, but she didn’t seem like the type to hesitate.

“What were you doing at the race my friends and I were having?” she asked, finally.

He blinked at her in brief confusion. “You invited me, didn’t you?”

“W-well, yeah, but…” She scowled to herself for just a second. “Look, you just… remember when I fell into that chocolate vat?” He nodded. “Well, you distracted me, and I fell in as a result.”

Once again, he blinked, baffled. “How did I distract you? All I was doing was sitting and watching.”

“I don’t know! You’re just… distracting!”

Her tone was a bit more aggressive than it really should’ve been. “Well, excuse me for existing, then. If you have a problem, then just say it.”

“You’re my problem!” she shouted angrily. “Ever since I met you, everything’s been complete crap! You’re just so… so…”

“Different?” he suggested with some venom in his voice.

“Yes!” She gave him a look between gratitude and agitation. Howling gave her vehement glare in return. “I mean, no, I…” She groaned in frustration while Howling Wind rolled his eyes, doing his best to contain his anger.

Deciding now was as good a time as any to leave, he grabbed his book, marking his place before stowing it away in his bag, and turned away from Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” the pegasus asked, fuming.

He turned to her with a stare so poisonous, it would’ve made Celestia think twice. “I couldn’t care less if you have a problem with me, but if you have an issue with thestrals, then we have nothing to discuss.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “W-Wait! That’s not it at all!” But her pleas went ignored as the navy blue stallion took flight for the stallions’ dorm. She moaned out in a fit of self-loathing, bopping herself in the head with a hoof. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

Rainbow slumped to her haunches, and she felt somepony’s presence next to her. “Oh, dear, that didn’t turn out well at all.”

“He thinks I hate thestrals now,” Rainbow muttered.

Rarity stifled a gasp, bringing a hoof up to her mouth. “Oh, no, that simply isn’t true.” She lowered her hoof again. “Did you try to tell him?”

Rainbow slumped a bit lower. “I tried, but… he wasn’t going to listen to me.”

A white foreleg draped over her shoulder and Rainbow looked up to see Rarity giving her an understanding look. “Listen, Rainbow, you can still fix this. Just put on that Rainbow charm, and I’m sure you have him eating out of your hoof in no time.”

“My Rainbow charm…” she echoed softly, staring at her hooves.

“Now, we might have to try something different with your mane. Perhaps a style with a little more flair, and maybe a jeweled accent to further—”

Rainbow groaned inwardly. Another spa visit? She didn’t think she could survive another pampering.

‘Why do you hesitate? Speak.’

Her imagination was right; it was time to stop this.

Rainbow held up a hoof to stop her friend. “Rarity, thanks for all you’ve done for me, but…” She stood up and undid the braid, letting her mane fall back to its usual, mostly unkempt position with a toss of her head. “This just… it’s just not me.”

Rarity’s expression turned tragic. “B-b-b-but the braid! It looked so gorgeous on you! Rainbow, what are you doing!?”

She then went to wipe away the eyeliner and blush, smearing it across her fur more than ridding herself of the make-up. “This just isn’t me. I’m grateful and all, but I think I’ll stick with my own style from now on.”

Rarity’s bottom lip quivered. “But… but…” She sighed in defeat. “Rainbow Dash, you really are hopeless.”

She glowered at her friend. “Hey!”

The unicorn gave her a teasing smile. “But that is who you are, darling, and I respect your integrity.” She levitated the hair tie that had held Rainbow’s braid in place. “But you could at least keep the braid. You looked simply wonderful with it.”

With a sigh, the pegasus took the tie. “I’ll think about it. But don’t expect me to where that braid again anytime soon.”

“That’s all I ask.” Rarity offered her friend a grin. “Now, how about you and I go and get some ice cream? It’s great for heartbreak, you know.”

“I’m not heartbroken,” Dash muttered, but she followed the unicorn anyway. Ice cream did sound good right about now.

As she followed Rarity, Rainbow mused to herself quietly. Despite how things turned out, with Howling Wind thinking she was racist against thestrals, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride. She managed to stand up and defend her personal beliefs before compromising who she was. How many other ponies had given up less for the sake of gaining something they really didn’t need? She was proud to say that she wasn’t one of them. Staying true to herself felt great; she was just awesome that way.

‘Well done, baka.’

That reminded her. She needed to ask Twilight if she knew what a ‘baka’ was.

-o-

Howling Wind fumed as he tossed his belongings onto his bed, taking out the book he’d been reading earlier and setting at his desk, opening up to the page he was on before Rainbow Dash had spoken to him. He thought she might’ve been different from most ponies he’d met in his life, but it turned out that she was just like everyone else. He was just the “scary bat pony” who no one seemed to like.

‘Fine by me,’ he told himself. He’d been a loner for most of his life anyway. One more pony hating him for no good reason was no skin off his wings.

He focused on his book, trying to forget about the cerulean pegasus mare. For some reason, he couldn’t get her out of his head. She didn’t even look that good anyway, with her overly perfect mane and coat, and her beautiful cerise eyes, and—

‘Wait… where did that come from?’

Author's Note:

Wow... that was certainly long.
...
Giggity.

Comments

[fireflutterpony]

Oh no!

Rainbow's Alicorn of Harmony was a weeaboo!

[LordLycaon]

6246863 I hope you're joking.

[Zodiacspear]

6246863 *looks up the term*

Ha! No, not quite.

Would be hilarious, but no.

[Twilight978]

Oh wow this was a nice side if Rainbow!

[Zodiacspear]

6249737 To be fair. Twilight knew the beam she used on the pickpocket, it was the same one she used on Sunset in earlier chapters.

And yeah, honor and tradition are still a thing. Though, if it did come to it, I am sure no one could actually be forced to leave because of such an old tradition that had fallen out of style, though Sunset used it to her advantage.

Either way, enjoy the new spin on things.