Rainbow Dash had never bobbed for rocks before. Now she knew why.
It was only one of the myriad party activities that Pinkie had set up for tonight's party, and Rainbow could fully understand why such an activity had been chosen. It was, after all, a party for her big sister Maud, and if there was anything that Maud liked, it was rocks. In fact, Rainbow was pretty positive rocks were the only thing Maud liked, other than Pinkie. So it came as no surprise to Rainbow nor the rest of their friends to see multitudes of rock-themed decorations, games, and favors set up for the festivities.
That did not mean, however, that Rainbow had to enjoy it. She knew for a fact that her teeth and her jaw were not appreciative of Pinkie's attention to detail in using real rocks for bobbing.
Still, she put on a big, fake, aching smile, primarily for Pinkie's sake. Pinkie was no dummy; she knew full well from Maud's previous visit that she didn't exactly mesh well with her friends. As much as the five of them had tried to befriend Maud, they were simply unable to find any common ground other than how much they cared for Pinkie. Rainbow had no real qualm with rocks; she supposed they were alright. They didn't bother anypony of their own accord due to an utter lack of consciousness, and the only time they hurt anypony was if they were thrown at said pony or if said pony was thrown at them, and they couldn't be faulted for either indiscretion. Try as she might, though--and to be honest, she didn't try terribly hard--she just could not drum up a speck of enthusiasm for the little geological wonders.
"Ouh!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing excitedly in place. "You got a piece of schist!"
"Aw, c'mon Pinkie, that's kinda unnecessary," Rainbow said, placing the rock on the ground and relieving her poor jaw. "It might be just a rock, but there's no need to talk about it like that." She looked to the rock, feeling an odd little twinge of connection to it. She supposed it was a nice little rock, undeserving of Pinkie's uncharacteristic insult.
"Schist," Maud said, inspecting the rock. "It's a type of metamorphic rock. Schist is a medium-grade metamorphic rock with medium to large, flat, sheet-like grains in a preferred orientation."
Rainbow stared for a moment before realization struck, a strike which occurred right alongside a burst of laughter from Pinkie.
"Ohhhhh," Rainbow said. "I totally knew that."
Rainbow felt Maud's gaze on her as she rubbed the back of her mane awkwardly. She was pretty positive that Maud had been giving her looks throughout the entire party, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. She hadn't said anything to offend her, unless her lack of knowledge on types of rocks from just a moment ago fell under that banner. She'd been giving her these looks even before that, though, so that couldn't be the reason. Unless, of course, she had some kind of freaky rock sense that let her know when ponies around her didn't know about rocks. It sounded improbable, but considering she was related to Pinkie, it wasn't completely out of the question.
"Alright, Pinkie Pie," Twilight interjected. "I think we've bobbed for rocks enough now. Thank goodness we had a spare supply of healing potions, otherwise I think Rarity might still be inconsolable."
"Please do forgive me if I am not happy about accidentally maiming myself," Rarity said with a small scowl, her tongue running along her formerly-chipped tooth.
"It's okay Rarity!" Pinkie reassured her. "Lots of famous ponies have gaps in their teeth! Like Muhaymed Ali!"
"...The pugilist," Rarity said with a frown.
"Hmm...no, I think he's a boxer!" Pinkie replied cheerfully. Rarity rolled her eyes, then patted Pinkie on the head.
"You're delightful, darling," she said. If her tone was meant to be condescending, which it likely wasn't, then Pinkie's happy giggle made it evident that she didn't catch on.
"Alright, alright," Applejack piped in. "This has all been real fun, but ain't we forgetting something? I think Twilight had a little something she wanted to show us. Ain't that right, Twi?" All attention turned to Ponyville's local princess, and her cheeks colored.
"Oh, it's no big deal, really," Twilight said. "It's just a spell I worked together that I thought would be fun. No reason to interrupt our other activities just for that."
"Oh come now, Twilight," Fluttershy said. "I'm sure we'd all love to see your spell. Right, girls?" The others nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, c'mon Twilight!" Rainbow said. "Let's see it!" Her wings fluttered excitedly at the prospect. Ever since Twilight had managed to turn the lot of them into breezies, Rainbow had found herself becoming more and more interested whenever Twilight mentioned a new spell. She'd known that Twilight was powerful, but seeing that extent of it and realizing just how much power her friend had was amazing to her.
"Alright, fine," Twilight said, blushing slightly at being thrust into the spotlight. "I'll just need two volunteers."
"I'll volunteer!" Rainbow offered. She silently hoped to herself that this would finally be the griffon transformation spell that she'd been hoping for, though she wasn't sure why they'd need another volunteer for that. Perhaps Twilight hadn't narrowed it down to a single target yet?
"Woooo! Yeah! Go Dashie!" Pinkie cheered. Rainbow rolled her eyes and smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. Pinkie always managed to drum up excitement for anything Rainbow would do, no matter how mundane. Rainbow managed to catch a glance at her eyes and gave her a little smile, which made Pinkie giggle even more. Then her gaze turned to Maud, who'd been standing next to her. Her bland, almost uncaring expression was a staunch contrast to that of her sister, and for a moment, Rainbow almost felt unreasonably intimidated by her. It made no sense; she was never intimidated by anypony, and Maud was simply giving her the same look she always seemed to give everypony and everything. Something about this time, though...she couldn't quite explain it, but it felt different.
"Excellent!" Twilight said. "One more!"
"Ouh, ouh!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing in place. "How about Maud? It is her party after all!"
All eyes now turned towards Maud. As had become expected of Maud, her face was completely still and emotionless. If any nervousness or trepidation about the task that was requested of the mare lie within her, it was completely invisible to the ponies who waited on her answer.
"Sure," Maud replied nonchalantly.
"Wonderful!" Twilight exclaimed, clapping her front hooves together. "This is going to be great, you'll see!"
"Yaaaay Maud!" Pinkie cheered. "And yaaay Dashie! And yay Twilight! And yay Applejack!"
"But I didn't do-" Applejack began.
"Yay everypony as long as I'm at it!" Pinkie shouted. Before Rainbow knew what was going on, she was suddenly shoved by Pinkie, and found herself positioned next to Maud. Rainbow offered an awkward smile to Pinkie's sister, and was met with a set of eyes that seemed to stare into her very soul.
"Alright!" Twilight said, her voice bubbling with a level of excitement that threatened to rival Pinkie's. "Now, as my two lovely volunteers, I'll need you two to perform a very important task."
"Awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed. "What is it? Are we gonna have to do backflips? Or lift something heavy? Oh, maybe we have to wrestle each other! Whaddaya say, Maud?" She turned to Maud with a smirk, one which dropped away as soon as she remembered just how hard Maud had thrown that rock at the lake during her first visit. She let out a nervous little laugh and looked back towards Twilight.
"You two..." Twilight said. "Are going to have to...stand perfectly still and be silent until I say you can stop!"
Rainbow felt the excitement drain from her as if it were a physical force.
"Uh...wow," she said flatly. "That sounds...totally boring."
"I think it sounds fine," Maud said. "I like standing still and being quiet."
Rainbow opened her mouth to reply, but as she saw the eager smile plastered on Pinkie's face, she decided that maybe some things didn't need to be said.
"Ready?" Twilight asked. As soon as she saw that her two subjects were quiet and still, she lit her horn up. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on getting the spell just right.
Rainbow felt an odd feeling all around her as she was lifted into the air without the use of her wings, the feeling of Twilight's magical aura surrounding her almost like a gentle massage. She very nearly flapped her wings out of instinct, but somehow felt wholly unable to move. She cast her gaze to her side and saw Maud hovering in the air as well, looking entirely unconcerned about what was happening at the moment. Rainbow then felt a thickly, tingly feeling in her throat. She opened her mouth, expecting a cough, but even though it felt like something had come out, she heard absolutely nothing.
The feeling continued for a good ten seconds, a feeling that Rainbow would have described as a bizarrely pleasant choking feeling, had she the voice to do so. Never before would she have expected to describe choking as pleasant, but, well, here she was. Her breathing was unobstructed and she was feeling none of the pain that was typical of a choking fit. Before Rainbow could mentally put better words to this feeling, it ended as quickly as it began. She felt the magical aura around her subside as her hooves once again touched down to the ground.
"Okay, you can move and speak now, " Twilight told them as her horn dimmed. "Let's see if this worked!"
Despite being told that she could speak, Rainbow found herself having a difficult time of finding what to say. Something certainly felt different, but she could not place it. She looked to Maud, and it came as no surprise that she had no visible reaction to what had just occurred.
"Okay, what's-" Rainbow began. Then she froze. That didn't sound right at all. Her usual energetic voice had been replaced with a drab monotone, almost like her voice box had been taken over by...
"Whoa," Maud said in Rainbow's voice. The two stared at each other in wonder as the rest of their friends cheered.
"That's amazing," Fluttershy said with a smile.
"Yes indeed," Rarity agreed. "Excellent job, Twilight!"
"Ouh!!" Pinkie shouted, grabbing Rainbow around the neck. "Dashie! Say something Maud would never say!"
Rainbow hesitated, not sure about all of this. She didn't want to insult Maud, after all. After a moment, though, she smirked. Surely Maud had to have a sense of humor underneath all that stoicism.
"I like clouds more than rocks," Rainbow said in Maud's deadpan tone, sending Pinkie into a bout of raucous laughter. She was soon joined by the others, with the sole exception of Maud. Maud seemed...well, it was hard to say. Given the way she reacted, her facial expression could have meant anything from mirth to hatred. One tap to Pinkie's shoulder from her hoof stopped the mares' laughter in its tracks.
"What is it, Maud?" Pinkie asked, trying her best not to snicker. There was a moment of silence, a tense moment that left Rainbow on edge. She hadn't meant to hurt Maud's feelings by imitating her; she was just having a bit of fun. She stared at Maud, ready to apologize.
"I like to take things slow and steady," Maud said in Rainbow's voice.
Pinkie erupted with laughter. The others joined in again, with the exceptions of Maud and now Rainbow Dash. She couldn't believe the nerve, after she was all ready to apologize and everything. This was exactly why she made it a point to rarely apologize for anything.
"Alright, alright," Rainbow said in Maud's voice. "That's enough. Change us back, Twilight." Hearing herself speaking in that voice frustrated her to no end. She was all about high octane energy, running on all cylinders and the like. This voice was the antithesis of that. She couldn't even imagine having to live with that voice normally, though she figured it suited Maud's behavior rather well. If there was anything that Maud wasn't, it was full of energy.
"Okay. Rainbow Dash," Twilight said with a smirk. She lit her horn up again, and Rainbow felt the soothing feeling followed by the silent coughing once more. This time, though, something felt different. She couldn't quite place exactly what the different feeling was, though she recognized that she was feeling it primarily in her head and down her spine. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It was just a feeling, one she couldn't manage to define. Before she could put too much thought into it, the feeling faded.
"Whoa," Rainbow said, now in her own voice. She never thought she would have been as happy to hear her own voice as she was at this moment, but then again, the events leading up to said happiness were also ones that she'd never expected to experience.
"Sheesh, Twi," Applejack said, giving her friend a pat on the back. "Every time I think I got a hoof on what kinda power you have, you toss out something new."
"Oh, it's just a little swap spell," Twilight said. "Nothing to praise me that much over."
Rainbow found herself zoning out as the others spoke. At some point she felt Pinkie put a hoof around her, but she barely paid attention. The odd feeling about her head and back had returned, a little stronger this time. Her friends talked around her, but she just stared off, utterly distracted by these feelings and barely cognizant of her surroundings as a result. She was aware of their voices, but not of what was being said. At one point, Maud had crossed her line of vision, and she managed to catch a glimpse at her. As hard as it was to read Maud's expression, something about it seemed off too. She considered speaking up, but as she did, the feeling got stronger, catching the words in her throat. She felt herself getting lost in her own head, and the sights around her became fuzzy as she found herself unable to concentrate on them.
"Dashie?" the pink blur next to her called.
Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, but all that came out was a low groan. Suddenly, she was being shaken.
"Equestria to Dashie!!" the pink blur screamed.
Rainbow blinked and shook her head out, snapping out of it. She looked up into the worried face of Pinkie Pie.
"Sorry..." Rainbow said. "I kinda zoned out for a bit there." She laughed awkwardly, but Pinkie clearly wasn't buying it.
"You were staring at nothing!" Pinkie said, her usual smile nowhere to be seen. "I mean I do that sometimes but I've never seen you do it before! Are you okay?"
Rainbow considered how to answer this question. She figured she was probably okay, but she wasn't entirely positive. She figured to herself that maybe she was reacting strangely to having Twilight's spell cast on her. She distinctly remembered feeling odd for a while after she had been turned back from being a breezie, though it was nothing like this. Maybe her body just reacted strangely to alicorn magic. She considered bringing this up to Twilight, but she knew that was out of the question. If she told Twilight that magic was making her react strangely, then she'd have to spend the next bunch of hours stuck in Twilight's lab while she performed tests on her. She would not let that happen again, not after last time. She was probably just tired.
"I'm probably just tired," Rainbow said. The others seemed unsure, but Pinkie seemed to buy it immediately.
"Maud just went to bed too!" Pinkie said. "Maybe you should get some sleep! I brought your faaaaavorite sleeping bag!"
"You did?" Rainbow asked, smiling. She still didn't know how Pinkie did it without pegasus magic, but she'd somehow managed, probably with Twilight's help, to corral a cloud from the sky and stuff it into a big pillowcase. It was the closest thing to sleeping on a real cloud that she could ask for and still stay with her grounded friends overnight.
"Anything for my Dashiepants~!" Pinkie said, pulling the cloud-infused duvet out from behind the couch.
"Heh...you're pretty great, Pinkie," Rainbow said. She watched Pinkie's face light up and grinned. Pinkie always seemed so appreciative of praise. Even the tiniest compliment from Rainbow always seemed to mean the world to her.
"You just rest your little head, Dashie!" Pinkie cooed, tossing a blanket over the fatigued pegasus.
"Yeah...rest," Rainbow said wearily. "That's what I need." She watched Pinkie usher the rest of the girls out of the room and smiled as she dozed off. Pinkie always looked out for her.
Maud let out a quiet yawn as her eyes opened. The previous night's sleep was possibly the finest she'd had in a while, despite its inauspicious beginning.
She'd certainly felt many kinds of illness and discomfort in her time; it was improbable, if not utterly impossible, to avoid such things. Last night's malady, though, felt like something that she'd never experienced before. It wasn't particularly awful, but it certainly wasn't the least bit pleasant. She'd felt dizzy, but not nauseous. Things had gotten blurry at one point, but at least they weren't spinning or turning into other things like when she was young and accidentally got into her father's special drinks. All in all, while she certainly wouldn't want to experience that again, there were plenty of experiences she'd had that were far less preferable. Either way, she figured she was lucky to get up to Applejack's guest bedroom when she did.
Speaking of Applejack's guest bedroom, she was decidedly not there at the moment. She may have been just a bit out of it when she went to bed, but she was absolutely positive that she had not imagined going upstairs. She specifically remembered making her way up the stairs, nearly slipping once, and resting herself on the bed; a bed which she remembered as being comfortable, but nowhere near as comfortable as whatever she was lying on right now. Whatever this was, she wanted to lie on it forever.
Maud gave her surroundings a quick look over. She was back in the living room, where the other girls had also fallen asleep. Her first instinct was to look for Pinkie. She knew that Pinkie was a grown mare now, but she still felt a sense of protectiveness towards her. If her behavior from the last time she'd visited had been any indication, she did need protecting sometimes. She sighed with relief when she saw her little sister sleeping peacefully, only her face poking out of her favorite sleeping bag.
Maud's next instinct was to look for Rainbow Dash. This would serve two purposes. On one hoof, Rainbow Dash was clearly also feeling similarly to how she was feeling last night. She figured that if she was still around, that would be a good sign, and she'd maybe be able to talk to her about it. On the other hoof, she was also very intent on seeing if Pinkie had sidled her way up to Rainbow during the night, or if Rainbow had done the same to her.
Maud was well-aware of Pinkie's feelings for the rainbow-maned pegasus, and it wasn't sitting quite right with her. She knew that it was unfair to judge Rainbow; she was sure that she wasn't a bad pony. At the same time, though, something about her just didn't seem right, at least not as a potential special somepony for her little sister. She was too brash and headstrong, and she just didn't seem capable enough of displaying the genuine feelings that Pinkie would really need from a special somepony. Pinkie was a very needy mare, and Maud just didn't think Rainbow was capable enough of caring for her feelings to be up to the task. It relieved her to see that Pinkie had not acted on her urges, nor had Rainbow moved in to take advantage of her emotions. In fact, Rainbow didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. Maud figured that she must have gone to do...whatever it was that she did.
Maud figured that Pinkie must have brought her downstairs overnight; she was a rather heavy sleeper, after all, so such an occurrence was entirely possible. Getting up from her comfortable cushion, she yawned another big yawn and stretched herself out, as she would often do before heading out for a day of work. On the rock farm. She felt a rather odd itchy feeling at her sides as she stretched, and tried her best to relieve said feeling by rubbing one side against the side of the couch that Pinkie was sleeping on.
A sudden jolt of pain caused Maud to wince. She'd rubbed her side on things to relieve itching all the time, and never felt a feeling like this one. She turned to inspect her side, only to find that she'd somehow managed to hit her wing while scratching.
Maud stared at the wing. This was certainly not here last night.
It was blue. Oddly, ostensibly blue. She was no fashion-minded pony, but she knew for certain that it did not go with her gray coat. Thankfully for her--at least as far as matching was concerned--her coat matched the wing's hue exactly.
This was definitely not right.
Maud turned back to look at her other side. In doing so, she was further distracted by a red bang dropping down into her view. She raised a hoof to bat it out of the way, only to notice that the hoof was also blue, the same powdery blue as the wing and her side.
Maud rarely panicked. Doing so was a much larger expression of emotion than she was used to. In this instance, though, it just felt like the right response. She whirled around, watching a multicolored tail flip and follow her movements out of the corner of her eye.
Maud began to form a hypothesis, but it seemed too ridiculous to be true. Before she could think on it any further, a young filly entered the room. Maud had met her briefly yesterday and recognized her as Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister.
"G'mornin', Rainbow Dash," Bloom said with a yawn, staring straight at Maud as she headed to the kitchen. Maud looked around for said Rainbow Dash, and when she remembered that she wasn't here, her earlier hypothesis, as crazy as it was, was proven correct.
Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open, then squinted when met with the harsh sunlight that shone through the window. She was no egghead, but she had enough experience with the weather and with Applejack's house to know that the position she'd taken on the floor should have kept her from this fate. Something was definitely up.
Rainbow rolled over, expecting the cloud duvet to shift under her movements. The wonderful thing about sleeping on clouds was just how much they conformed to one's body atop them. No matter how the pony resting on a cloud moved, the fluffy cushion would hug every bit of pony that touched it. It didn't take Rainbow very long to realize that such a thing was not happening. She looked around, and was very confused to find herself in Applejack's guest room, lying on the bed. She had very specifically remembered falling asleep on the cloud duvet in the living room, and she had kicked her sleep-flying habit back when she was a filly. The only thing she could figure was that Pinkie had moved her overnight as a prank. With how out of it she was last night, it was entirely possible for Pinkie to have hoisted her bodily and brought her upstairs without rousing her from her slumber.
Rainbow rolled over, letting out a yawn. It would be just like Pinkie to pull a prank on her like that. She was a favorite target of Pinkie's pranks, and as long as they weren't harmful, she wouldn't have it any other way. She and Pinkie had taken a pact with each other to never prank anypony whom they weren't good friends with, lest their fun be taken the wrong way. Therefore, every prank Pinkie pulled on one of her friends was not only for fun, but also signified how much she cared about them. She smiled lightly to herself. Pinkie must have valued her as a really, really good friend if she was paying so much attention to her through her pranks,
It was then that Rainbow realized that she couldn't feel her wings. This was somewhat commonplace, for the most part; sometimes she'd wake up with no feeling in a wing if she'd slept in such a way as to cut off circulation to it. This time, though, she found herself unable to feel either wing. She figured that in her weary state, she must have flopped into some manner of position that cut the circulation off to both of them, although she couldn't fathom how she might have contorted herself to do so. She wasn't freaky flexible like that Blossomforth mare.
Rainbow reached one hoof back to give one wing a little wake-up rub. This usually did the trick, but today, it seemed to have no effect. Rainbow's arrival at the conclusion was primarily based on the fact that there seemed to be no wing present.
There was no wing present.
No wing.
Rainbow fell off of the bed with a loud thud, managing to tangle herself in the bedsheets in the process. She was not at all used to having no wings; it wasn't really something that came up very often. Or at all, really, save for her first encounter with Discord. She fought valiantly to free herself from the oppressive bedsheets, finally managing to wrest her head from its fluffy grasp. She shoved one foreleg through the same gap that had allowed her head passage, and was more than a bit confused to watch a gray hoof emerge in place of her own. Rainbow attempted to push this foreign hoof away with her own, only to watch the gray hoof react in exactly the way she had moved her own. A sense of dread filled Rainbow, and she tried to move her hoof to her face. The gray hoof did just that, and Rainbow found herself very confused as she felt the sensations of touching her face not only through her face, but through her hoof.
The flailing began a moment later, and did not stop until Rainbow was fully freed from the bedsheets. She whirled around to get a look at herself. Not only were her wings gone, but her body was covered in gray just like her forelegs had been. Her awesome rainbow tail had been replaced with a pale purple one, and in place of her super-cool cutie mark was that of a plain old rock.
It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.
The door opened all of a sudden, and Rainbow was met with the sight of a worried Apple Bloom.
"You okay there, Maud?" Bloom asked, shifting uncomfortably. "I heard a loud thud."
Rainbow couldn't say a word. She just nodded.
"Phew...thought you mighta hurt yourself," Bloom said. "The others're awake if you wanna go downstairs. Granny Smith's makin' breakfast!" The little filly turned tail and exited, shutting the door and leaving Rainbow absolutely perplexed.
Maud had to alert Pinkie about what had happened. As ridiculous as it was, she knew her sister well. Just because something sounded ridiculous and implausible didn't remove it from the realm of possibility as far as Pinkie was concerned. In fact, something told her that the sheer impossibility of the situation might actually make Pinkie more likely to believe it.
She tried to make her way over to her snugly-wrapped sister, but everything about her movements felt odd. Rainbow Dash's frame was much lighter and more streamlined than Maud's more solid musculature, and it was something that certainly took some getting used to. Plus, her lack of knowledge of how to properly control a set of wings was not helping matters. It only took two steps before she completely lost balance, tripping over the sleeping form of Rarity. She heard her sister's friend wake with a start and a yelp, but she had no time to apologize as she found herself tumbling forward. Another hoof stumbled into Fluttershy and an errant wing brushed across Applejack's face, rendering the entire group, save for Pinkie, awake. Had she had the wear withal to take a survey of who was in the room, she might have noticed a lack of Twilight in the living room, but she was too busy tumbling over her borrowed limbs to notice. With one final crash, she slammed right into the now-formerly sleeping Pinkie.
"Good morning Dashie!" the delighted Pinkie said. "Aww, thanks for the personal wake-up!" Pinkie's hooves suddenly burst from the sleeping bag and wrapped themselves around Maud, locking her in a tight hug. As Pinkie's sister, Maud was used to energetic Pinkiehugs, but this felt different, though she couldn't place exactly how. She knew why, of course, and considered struggling a bit, but she knew Pinkie well enough to know that she wouldn't just up and try something romantic like that. She opened her eyes in time to see Pinkie's face approaching hers and went into a mental panic, but was relieved when all Pinkie was looking for was a nuzzle. Out of instinct, forgetting she was in Rainbow's body for just a moment, she nuzzled back.
"Dashieee~!" Pinkie squeed. "I knew you secretly liked nuzzlies!" Maud frowned a bit as Pinkie resumed nuzzles. Rainbow Dash clearly wasn't good enough for her sister if returning little bits of affection was typically beyond her. She shook her head and nudged Pinkie away. She had to tell her what happened right now, before any harm could be done.
"Pinkie Pie," Maud said, hearing it in Rainbow's voice. If it weren't for Twilight's spell yesterday, that would have been a shock to her. Suddenly, it came to her, and she was fairly surprised with herself for not having realized it earlier. That had to be why these things were going on. Something had to have happened with that voice-swapping spell that Twilight had cast. She wasn't accustomed to regular unicorn magic, let alone alicorn magic, but perhaps that particular spell, if not regulated, could have side-effects like this. It was a little much for her to assume, but-
"Odash!" Pinkie shouted. Maud stared at her. What was odash? She'd never heard that in her life.
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie shouted, directly into Maud's ear. Maud winced. Her ear hurt, but at least she figured out what Pinkie was saying. She sighed. It was now or never.
"Pinkie," Maud said. "I'm not actually Rainbow Dash. I'm your sister Maud in Rainbow Dash's body. I think Twilight's spell yesterday must have made us switch bodies overnight, and Rainbow must be in my body, so we have to get her and Twilight and get us swapped back."
Maud knew full well how ridiculous her statement was. Had she said it to anypony else, they would have laughed in her face. Pinkie, though, was used to weird things like this. Surely, she would believe her. Sure enough, Pinkie's face showed that she was clearly thinking it over. Just as Maud was about to continue, she watched Pinkie burst into laughter.
"Eeeheehee! That's a great one, Dashie!" Pinkie giggled. "What a great prank! Is Maud in on it too? I never took her as much of a prankster but if anypony could talk her into it it'd be you!"
Maud sighed to herself as Pinkie came in for another nuzzle. In reality, she shouldn't have been too surprised. Trying to predict Pinkie's behavior was a futile task. Of course she would go the logical path when she was counting on her to think illogically. She felt Pinkie's cheek make contact with hers and fought the instinct to nuzzle back. If Pinkie was still going to believe that she was Rainbow Dash, then she wasn't going to add fuel to her little crush by returning her affections. Besides, it was already fairly obvious from Pinkie's reaction to the first nuzzle that Rainbow wasn't exactly an affectionate mare. Pinkie deserved somepony better, she thought as she pushed her way free from Pinkie's hug.
"Ouh, you should try to trick Twilight with that when she comes back!" Pinkie said, giving Maud a poke. It was only then that Maud noticed the distinct lack of Twilight in the room.
"Comes back?" Maud asked, still getting used to this voice coming from her. Even though it was Rainbow's voice, it had taken on a slightly more monotone timbre under Maud's influence.
"Yup!" Pinkie replied. "You know, like when you go somewhere from somewhere else but then you go back to the first place?"
"I know what coming back means, Pinkie," Maud said. "I mean where did she go?" Pinkie's silliness was entertaining, but she didn't have time for it right now.
"Oh!" Pinkie said with a giggle. "Princess Celestia called her and Spike to Canterlot this morning for some sort of princess-y thing! She'll be back tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow...?" Maud asked, Rainbow's voice faltering. Just then, her attention was drawn to loud hoof steps coming from the direction of the stairs.
"Twilight!" Rainbow called out in Maud's voice. She intended to sound far more frantic than she had, but something about being Maud seemed to stop her from emoting as much as she'd have liked. To her credit, she'd certainly put more emotion into it than she'd ever heard from Maud before.
"Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Twilight's a popular pony princess this morning!"
Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, but then her eyes met Maud's. For a moment, they shared an unspoken bond over just how odd it was to be staring at themselves without the aid of a mirror or other reflective surface. It only lasted a moment, though, before Rainbow turned her attention to Pinkie.
"Pinkie," Rainbow said with as much urgency as she could muster. "I'm not actually Maud. I'm Rainbow Dash in Maud's body. I think Twilight's spell yesterday must have made us switch bodies overnight..."
"...And Maud must be in your body, so we have to get her and Twilight and get you swapped back!" Pinkie finished, barely able to contain her laughter. "You two organized this good! I never pictured you as a prankster!"
Rainbow looked to Maud, at a loss. Maud just sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Well, you're gonna have to wait till tomorrow to get switched back," Pinkie said, adding a big wink for emphasis. "Because Twilight's out of town till then!"
Rainbow deflated. There was no way she could be stuck as Maud for a whole day! She didn't even have wings! Before she could raise a protest, the others, who had been sitting and patiently looking on, chimed in.
"Now girls," Rarity said. "We could sit and repeat ourselves all day about how impressive it is that Maud aided Rainbow Dash with a prank or how Twilight is not here, but I do believe that Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and myself have a very important engagement to attend. Isn't that right, girls?" The others mentioned nodded, save for Maud.
"Engagement?" Maud asked. She looked to Rainbow, who looked as confused as she did.
"Oh, um, yes," Fluttershy said. "The four of us are going out for breakfast."
"And Pinkie and Maud are staying here!" Applejack added. "Cause they're...uh..."
"...Making rock candy necklaces!" Rarity interjected. Now Maud was even more confused. She and Pinkie weren't supposed to be making their necklaces until a few days from now.
"No we're not!" Pinkie said, head tilted at practically a 90 degree angle. "We're...ohhhhh! Yeah, necklaces! Right!"
Now both swapped ponies' eyes were on Pinkie. Neither was foolish; it was more than obvious that something fishy was going on. Unfortunately, the opportunity to question further was soon lost as Maud found herself grabbed and tossed onto Applejack's back.
"What the..." Maud uttered.
"We must leave immediately!" Rarity exclaimed, giving a wave to Pinkie and Rainbow. "Ta ta!"
Rainbow and Maud were too distracted to say a word as they watched the distance between their own bodies grow, their sight of each other finally cut off by the closing of Applejack's front door.
"What's the matter, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked as she poked at her salad. "You've barely touched your breakfast."
Maud sighed as she stared at the plate of eggs and hay bacon in front of her. This was not her usual breakfast. She felt much more at home with a nice bowl of porridge, but apparently the choice of meals wasn't hers to make. Pinkie's friends had been oddly insistent on treating her to this breakfast, and her parents had always taught her that it was rude to turn down such acts of generosity. She figured she should have realized when Rarity mentioned ordering "her usual" that she and the pony whose body she currently inhabited would likely not share the same proclivities.
"Yes, Rainbow Dash," Rarity added. "This isn't like you. Especially with such high stakes on the line."
Maud glanced across the table at Applejack, who was eating at a pace that would put pigs to shame. Thankfully, her table manners did not reflect that same analogy. At least not entirely. She found it hard to care much about the "stakes" that Rarity had referred to. Her general lack of interest in competition already kept her from being interested in winning the impromptu eating contest that Applejack had challenged her to, and even though she would never admit it, the idea of Rainbow losing and having to spend a week doing some of Applejack's chores around the farm gave her a bit of perverse joy.
Maud didn't dislike Rainbow Dash. She thought she was an okay pony in general, and figured that if she got to know her better, she could probably consider her a friend. Her value as a pony, though, was far different than her value in the role that Pinkie wanted her to play in her life. Rainbow certainly had her merits as far as Maud could see, but as far as she was concerned, they were outweighed by her flaws. Pinkie was a sweet, sensitive mare who needed lots of care and affection from a potential special somepony. She needed somepony who would be patient with her random outbursts and spontaneous musical numbers, and who would be willing to not only withstand the showering of affection that Pinkie would give them, but return it in kind. While she had to admit that she didn't know Rainbow as well as Pinkie did, Maud was pretty positive that she didn't fit the bill.
"C'mon, Rainbow!" Applejack called, mouth full of food. "Ya gonna try and catch up, or are you givin' up?"
Maud looked again at her food. Something about it just wasn't appealing to her. It looked too intensely flavorful to fit her interests.
"Yeah, you win," Maud said. "I don't really want this."
All three other ponies stared at her in disbelief. Even Applejack's mouth was agape, a single strip of hay bacon hanging from it.
"Well...I thought I would never see the day," Rarity said. "Rainbow Dash giving up on a challenge and not wanting to finish her typical breakfast? I must be dreaming."
"I'm not Rainbow Dash," Maud said, even though she knew it would be fruitless. She'd told them this twice on the way over, but they were utterly convinced that it was a prank.
"Okay, Rainbow," Applejack said, finishing off the last of her eggs. "You've been carrying this prank on for long enough. You ain't gonna fool us."
"Oh!" Fluttershy interjected. "Um, you know who else loves pranks? Pinkie Pie!"
"Oh...oh!" Rarity exclaimed. "Why yes she does indeed! Such a prankster, that Pinkie Pie!"
"Now c'mon, she knows that already," Applejack said. "But I guess it's worth saying again anyway! Both of y'all sure do love your pranks! Right, Rainbow?"
Maud stared across the table at the three ponies, who were now smiling eagerly in her direction.
"...Sure," Maud said. There was no chance they would believe her at this point, and throwing her off even more was this sudden bizarre behavior by the three.
"Maybe you two could go out pranking later?" Fluttershy said with a smile. "I'm sure Pinkie would love that." Applejack and Rarity nodded in unison.
"Yeah, maybe," Maud said, noncommittal. She watched as Fluttershy gave the other two a little smile; a smile which faded when Applejack and Rarity did not return it.
"Ya know, Rainbow," Applejack said, leaning forward. "Since you lost and you gotta do what I say now, how about I make your first chore be going out pranking with Pinkie!"
"Applejack!" Rarity hissed. "Going pranking with Pinkie is not a chore! It is a privilege!"
"Um, yes, I agree with Rarity," Fluttershy said. "...Sorry, Applejack."
"I didn't mean to say it was!" Applejack said quickly. "Of course it's not! Going out pranking with Pinkie is...an honor!"
Maud blinked slowly. Something was definitely up.
"Then why don't you all go pranking with her?" Maud asked.
All three other ponies went quiet for about five seconds.
"...I have a spa engagement!" Rarity exclaimed.
"M-me too..." Fluttershy whispered.
"Uh, me too!" Applejack said. Once she saw Rarity's eyes sparkle, she quickly changed her tone. "I mean...something else!"
"Hm, yes, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said with a nod. "It does appear like you are he only one available to prank with Pinkie. Not that you would be her last choice though! Because...erm..."
"You would probably be her first choice," Fluttershy said.
"On account of how much you both like pranking!" Applejack affirmed.
"As we alluded to earlier," Rarity finished.
Maud sighed. It didn't look like she was getting out of this.
"...Alright," she finally conceded.
"Oh, how wonderful!" Fluttershy said.
"Yup!" Applejack agreed.
Maud just nodded. She barely had any idea what was going on with these three, but she had bigger problems to worry about as the bill arrived.
"Oh, I've got this, darling," Rarity said, grabbing the check before Maud could touch it. "After all, you are being terribly wonderful by agreeing to go pranking with Pinkie."
Maud just stared at Rarity as she sifted through her bag for the bits necessary. Was it really so unbelievable to these three that Rainbow would agree to do something with Pinkie? This was doing nothing to improve Rainbow's image in Maud's eyes.
Rainbow Dash watched silently as Pinkie whizzed about the room, covering every inch of it in party decorations. She flexed her back muscles often, as if she thought that doing so would will wings onto this unfortunate wingless body. As strong as her will was, though, it had its limits, and this was certainly one of them.
Rainbow had to admit that Pinkie's behavior was confusing her. This was nothing new; Pinkie somehow managed to confuse her with the most mundane of activities. This particular situation, though, had her extra-confused. Pinkie had said that she and Maud were going to be making candy necklaces, but nothing of the sort was going on. There was candy set out, but not rock candy like they'd used the first time Maud came to visit.
"Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, causing Pinkie to look up from her current task of setting up a make-your-own-sundae stand.
"Yes, Maud?" Pinkie replied, shaking an ice cream cone off of her face. Rainbow rolled her eyes; it frustrated her to no end that Pinkie didn't believe her about not being Maud. Nothing was too crazy for Pinkie to believe. Well, except for this, apparently. Heaven knew she'd spent the better part of their breakfast together trying to convince her. Speaking of breakfast, she gave herself a quiet reminder to never ask Maud to make her breakfast if the situation ever came up. The plain gruel that she apparently enjoyed (and that Rainbow had to stomach down) was not exactly to her liking.
"What are we doing? I thought we were going to make rock candy necklaces."
"Nope!"Pinkie answered, tossing some streamers about. "That's not till the day before you leave, silly! We're getting ready for a party!"
Rainbow opened her mouth to ask what the party was for, but was interrupted by Pinkie draping a flower necklace over her head. Truthfully, it probably wasn't worth asking, anyway. She knew Pinkie well enough at this point to know that she didn't always need a reason for a party.
"By the way," Pinkie said, "I'm really glad you and Dashie worked on that prank together. I wasn't sure how you felt about her, but now I know!" Pinkie gave Rainbow a hug and a nuzzle. Rainbow found herself wondering why Pinkie was so worried about how Maud felt about her, but let it slide for the moment and returned the hug and nuzzle. Despite her oddities, Pinkie really was a great friend, and probably one of the only ones that she could stand to be a little sappy with.
"No problem," Rainbow answered. Then she smirked. "That Rainbow Dash is a pretty awesome pony." She stifled a giggle as she watched Pinkie gasp at hearing this.
"That's great!" Pinkie shouted. "Because I-"
Then Pinkie did the one thing Rainbow never expected her to do; she fell silent.
The pink mare's mouth hung open, but she didn't make a sound. Rainbow stared at her, concerned. A Pinkie that wasn't speaking a mile a minute (and wasn't sleeping) was a bit disconcerting.
"Uh...Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, waving a hoof in her face. Pinkie suddenly shook her head out and smiled as if the events of the last few seconds hadn't even happened.
"Hey!" Pinkie exclaimed. "While I set up, you should read me some of your rock poetry!"
Now it was Rainbow's turn to freeze up. She knew what an igneous rock was, but that was about as far as her rock knowledge went.
"Uh..." Rainbow began.
"Pleeeeeeease?" Pinkie asked, fluttering her eyelashes. Rainbow sighed lightly. She couldn't say no to such a request. She took a deep breath, racking her brain for whatever rock information it would give her.
"Rocks," Rainbow began, clearly off to a good start. "You are...rocky." She looked to Pinkie, who was smiling and nodding along. She started to suspect that the quality of whatever rock poem she came up with wouldn't concern Pinkie terribly.
"Rocky rocks, among rocks that rock," Rainbow continued. "We walk a rocky road to find you, but you were there all along. On the road. That was...rocky," she finished lamely.
"That was great!" Pinkie shouted as she hung a brightly-colored piñata. "I really liked the part about the rocky rocks!"
"Me too," Rainbow said, fighting back a grin. This was much easier than she'd expected. "Do you want to hear another?"
"Do I?!" Pinkie replied. Rainbow nodded and went into another improvised poem. The words barely mattered; Pinkie was going to smile either way.
"...You want me to do some tricks?"
Maud stared awkwardly at the ponies in front of her, knowing full well that none of them knew just how crazy a request this was.
"Did we stutter?" Applejack asked with a smirk.
"I-I might have stuttered," Fluttershy said, letting her mane fall over part of her face.
"Yes, darling," Rarity said, nudging Maud slightly. "We would simply love to watch you perform an aerial display!" Maud coughed, trying to find a way out of this.
"Didn't you have appointments to get to?" she asked the three.
"Y-yes, well..." Rarity said, clearing her throat. "We actually finished breakfast earlier than we'd expected. Fluttershy and I do not have to be at the spa just yet."
"And whatever I'm doing doesn't start till later either!" Applejack insisted. All three other ponies looked at Applejack, who was now smiling awkwardly.
"Yes..." Rarity spoke through gritted teeth. "We are all still available for a short period of time, and we would very much enjoy seeing our good friend Rainbow Dash entertain us with her impressive athletic feats. Now, what say you, Rainbow Dash?"
"I'd really rather not," Maud answered, keeping her wings tightly folded. She'd moved them before, and while a bit awkward, it had felt much more natural than she'd expected. Perhaps the ability came with the pegasus magic inherent in the body, and it was just the talent that was specific to the pony themselves. Either way, she had no desire to try any tricks. Just like she'd never expect an amateur rock farmer to manage a massive rock slide, she would never expect an amateur flyer to try stunts.
"Oh Rainbow Dash, don't be so modest," Rarity sang.
"Now that's a sentence I never thought I'd hear," Applejack added.
"I'm sorry," Maud said.
"And so is that!" Applejack laughed. Even Fluttershy couldn't help a little giggle. Maud just shook her head. So Rainbow Dash was a braggart who didn't apologize. All the more reason to keep her away from Pinkie, at least in a romantic sense.
"Yes, well," a flustered Rarity said. "I still think that--oh!" A look of realization struck the fashionista, and her smile grew wider than any non-Pinkie smile Maud had ever seen. "I see what's going on here."
"You do?" Maud asked, almost excited over seeing that someone might finally believe her about what had happened.
"Indeed!" Rarity said. "You do not wish to hurt yourself before you go pranking with Pinkie Pie! How thoughtful of you, Rainbow Dash!"
"...Sure," Maud replied. At this point, it was easier to just go along with the things they said. Other than the suggestion of stunts, of course.
"That's wonderful news!"Fluttershy said with a little squee.
"Darn tootin'!" Applejack agreed. "Reckon Pinkie didn't need to surprise you after all!" She instantly felt the eyes of the other three fall on her once again, and she let out an exasperated groan, partially out of embarrassment and partially from frustration. "Well land's sakes, why are you trusting the bearer of the Element of Honesty to be good at lying?"
"Pinkie's surprising me?" Maud asked. The other three wore looks of panic before Rarity finally stepped up to the plate.
"I do apologize, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said. "We have not been completely forthright with you. But you must promise us that you will pretend to be surprised. Pinkie Pie has worked ever so hard on this, after all."
"Worked hard on what?" Maud asked. "What's going on?" If whatever was going on was so urgent, she figured Pinkie would have told her about it...unless she planned to tell her during this time that Rainbow and the others were away. Yes, things were starting to make a little more sense now. Only a little, but every little bit helped.
"Well," Rarity said. "You see, Pinkie Pie has held a bit of a torch for you for quite some time now."
Maud tried her best to act surprised, but the combination of her prior knowledge of this information, her disapproval of the idea, and her general lack of emotion were a bit of a hindrance.
"Huh," she responded. The other three shared a look before Applejack spoke up.
"That's it? Huh?" Applejack said, frowning.
"What do you mean?" Maud asked. Applejack furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to respond with what was likely to have been a shout, but Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder to calm her down.
"We just thought you might have been a bit more...excited," Fluttershy told her.
"We actually believed you might return her feelings, darling," Rarity explained. "I mean, you two are always rather close."
Maud considered her options. With the girls still not believing that she was not actually Rainbow Dash, throwing a wrench in the plans to set the two up was so easy it was laughable. Then she thought of her poor sister and how devastated she would be if she'd made all these plans just to be rejected. Maybe she didn't trust Rainbow, but she wasn't about to purposely make Pinkie miserable for her own peace of mind. She could simply tell Pinkie when they arrived back at the farmhouse that she needed a day to think about it, and then leave things up to the real Rainbow Dash once they were swapped back. She would most likely mess it up herself, and then she would be there to comfort Pinkie.
"And you're always helping each other out," Fluttershy added. Maud's ears perked up at this. The idea of Pinkie helping Rainbow made sense, but the other way around?
"Like that time when you were at Wonderbolt Academy, and you sent letters specifically to Pinkie every day to let her know you were okay?" Applejack said. "I figured that was a dead giveaway."
Maud blinked. That certainly didn't sound like the Rainbow Dash she thought she knew.
"And don't forget that time when Pinkie hurt her leg during a stroll," Fluttershy said, more talking to Applejack and Rarity than Maud. "And even though she was fine to get home, Rainbow Dash wouldn't leave her side until she knew she was safe at home."
Maud was surprised, to say the least. She hadn't expected any level of compassion from Rainbow Dash.
"Oh!" Rarity exclaimed. "Or when Rainbow Dash won that sweepstakes from the candy bar promotion, but she knew how badly Pinkie wanted to win, so she ever-so-carefully wrapped it back up and gave it to Pinkie as if she'd never opened it! Oh, Pinkie was delighted!"
Maud reflected upon all of this. She had thought herself to be a semi-decent judge of character, but perhaps she had been wrong about Rainbow Dash. If she was that sweet and caring about Pinkie's needs...
"Oh, but it's such a shame that you don't feel the same for her," Rarity lamented. "Please just let her down easy, alright?"
Maud thought for a moment , then shook her head. With how much Pinkie liked Rainbow and this new information she'd found out about the pony whose body she currently inhabited, she just couldn't ruin this for the two.
"I never said I didn't..." Maud began. She never got the chance to finish as Rarity hugged her tightly.
"I knew it!" Rarity shouted. "Come then! Let us get back to the farm! The party must be ready by now!"
"Okay, Pinkie," Rainbow said. "I think that's enough poetry for now."
Rainbow was pretty positive that she'd exhausted every single bit of rock knowledge she had; not a difficult feat in the least. Plus, if she heard the word "rock" one more time, she was liable to scream.
"But I wanna hear more about rocks!" Pinkie said.
Rainbow did not scream. The temptation to do so was certainly there, but she fought it.
"I'll read more tomorrow," Rainbow told her instead. With any hope, she would be back in her own body by tomorrow, and the task of continuing with the poetry would be left in the hooves of the expert.
"Prooooomise~?" Pinkie asked, fluttering her eyelashes. Rainbow rolled her eyes a bit, holding back a smile. That Pinkie Pie could be awfully persuasive, especially when she did that.
"I promise," Rainbow told her. She would have felt bad for making a promise for another pony to keep, but with how innocuous the promise was, she was sure that it wouldn't be a problem.
Now that she wasn't stuck ruminating over rocks, Rainbow took a moment to look over the room. Pinkie had really outdone herself for this mysterious party, so much so that it barely seemed possible to do as much as she did in the amount of time she'd done it. Streamers of every color of the rainbow hung from the walls, balloons dangled from the furniture, and there was even a giant heart-shaped piñata suspended above the center of the living room. If it was anypony else that she was dealing with, Rainbow would have deemed this impossible. Being that it was Pinkie, though, she simply settled for improbable.
Rainbow walked her way up to Pinkie. This body was still a bit heavy and clunky for her, but walking was walking no matter which way one looked at it. She certainly would have preferred to fly, but obviously that wasn't in the cards. She couldn't wait to get out of Maud's body and back into her own. Things weren't particularly awful as Maud, but they weren't at all optimal. The only real plus was spending extra time with Pinkie, but she probably could have done so as herself anyway.
"So Pinkie," Rainbow said. "You never told me what this party was for."
Rainbow watched Pinkie's smile change from completely genuine to slightly nervous.
"Oh! Right!" Pinkie said, looking rather uncomfortable. "Buuuuut are you sure you don't wanna do something else? Maybe play some camouflage?"
Rainbow nearly grumbled at the idea of playing camouflage again, having received a bad taste in her mouth from the first time.
"No, Pinkie," Rainbow said, as calmly as she could manage. "I'd like to know what this party is for." She'd never seen Pinkie get this defensive about the nature of one of her parties. Usually she'd be shouting her partying intents to the rooftops. She watched Pinkie's expression change to one of desperation.
"I've been wanting to tell you, Maud!" Pinkie told her. "I know sisters are supposed to tell each other everything and I've wanted to tell you but I'm really nervous about how you'll react!"
Rainbow looked at the poor nervous pony with pity. Pinkie really looked upset about this, whatever it was, and seeing her this upset made Rainbow upset as well. Pinkie was a wonderful friend and such a happy pony. She didn't deserve to be this worried, and Rainbow made a vow to herself to do whatever it took to turn that frown upside-down. She gently placed a gray hoof on Pinkie's back.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Pinkie," Rainbow said in the most reassuring tone possible. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
"You promise?" Pinkie asked. Rainbow sighed, knowing exactly what was called for.
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she said, with as much enthusiasm as a box of hair. Pinkie looked a mix of satisfied and entertained by this; something she would likely have referred to as "satistained," or maybe "enterfied." Probably the former, since it sounded a bit sillier.
"Alright," Pinkie said, a little more at ease but still clearly nervous. "Well..."
In retrospect, Rainbow should have anticipated the giant wall of words that would pour from Pinkie's mouth. If she'd thought about it, she probably would have.
"I've been thinking about this for a really really long time but never done anything about it so I figured I would now and the easiest way was to get the others to distract Dashie so I could get all of this prepared for her because I've been wanting to tell her for the longest time that I really like her and not just like but like like because she's so nice and pretty and wonderful so I'm setting this all up and when she gets here I'm gonna surprise her by telling her how I feel and I'm nervous about it because I dunno what she'll say and because I didn't think you really liked her very much so I've got all these nervous tummy rumblies!"
Pinkie took a deep breath right at the same time as Rainbow. Rainbow could hardly believe her ears. Why wouldn't Maud like her?! She was awesome!
Then the more important part hit her. Pinkie...liked her? Like, like liked her? She felt like she was a schoolfilly again as those words permeated her thought process. All of a sudden, things started to make sense. How much Pinkie liked to spend time with her. How she went out of her way to make her smile. Rainbow would have been upset with herself for being too dense to notice these things earlier, but she was too busy being ecstatic over this news. Pinkie wanted to go out with her! The more she thought about the idea, the more it appealed to her. Sure, she might not have considered it before, but it was certainly an enjoyable enough idea to give it a shot. Pinkie was such a fun pony to be around, and was easy on the eyes to boot. She nearly opened her mouth to tell Pinkie this, only remembering at the last moment that she was still Maud.
And Maud...didn't like her very much? This was definitely something that she'd have to talk over with her.
"Are you okay, Maud?" Pinkie asked. "You haven't said a word since I told you that! And you don't normally talk a lot to begin with, but no talking is even less than not a lot of it!"
Rainbow blinked, not having realized how long she'd been silent for. She nodded, wondering how she would handle this. As it would turn out, though, she wouldn't have to wait long, as the front door suddenly opened. The two ponies turned to the door to see Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack pushing a rainbow-maned pegasus into the house.
"Dashie!" Pinkie shouted. "Surprise! I've got something I need to tell you and I need to tell you right now because I'm all nervous and jittery and if I don't say it now I might explode! I mean not literally but-"
Pinkie was quieted by Rainbow putting a hoof over her mouth.
"Just tell her, Pinkie," Rainbow said, turning her gaze to the pony inhabiting her body. Then she came to a terrible realization: if Maud was her, and if Maud supposedly didn't like her, then she could easily just reject Pinkie. Her temper got a hold of her before she could restrain it, and she leapt towards Maud.
"Aw, Maud's happy to see you!" Pinkie bubbled.
Maud had different thoughts. With a nimbleness that she didn't know Rainbow's body had, she hopped out of the way. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself hovering clumsily above the ground.
"Mayyyybe she isn't?" Pinkie offered.
"What was that for?" Maud shouted. She landed next to Rainbow and tried to hold her back , but wasn't prepared to be combating her own strength. Rainbow looked surprised herself as she easily shrugged Maud off. She was no weakling, but the amount of strength behind Maud's body was like nothing she'd experienced.
"Don't you ruin this for Pinkie!" Rainbow said sternly, the amount of emotion behind her words shocking the others.
"I'm not ruining anything!" Maud shot back. "You haven't even given me a chance to talk!"
"That's cause I know what you're going to say to Pinkie!" Rainbow said. "She told me you didn't like me!"
"I never said Dashie didn't like you, Maud," Pinkie said, looking very confused.
"Well, maybe I changed my mind!" Maud told her.
"Wait, Rainbow Dash didn't like Maud?" Rarity asked. "Oh, this is so chaotic!"
"No, I-" Rainbow began. Then she stopped. "Wait. You...changed your mind?"
Before another word could be said, the farmhouse door flew open once more.
"Girls! Thank goodness you're all still here!"
The ponies watched in surprise as Twilight burst into the farmhouse, followed closely by Spike. The looks of relief on Rainbow and Maud's faces went entirely unnoticed by the other ponies.
"Twilight! Spike!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I thought you two wouldn't be back until tomorrow!"
"We...weren't supposed to be," Spike said, catching his breath.
"We were midway to Canterlot," Twilight explained. "And I was thinking about the spell I used last night. And then I realized that I cast it wrong, and with the mistake I made, there had to be side effects."
"There were!" Rainbow and Maud said together.
"I knew it!" Twilight said. "I'm so sorry, girls! I sent a letter to the Princess to tell her I'd be late so I could come fix this! Now just hold still..."
Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack watched, confused, as Twilight lit her horn up. Rainbow and Maud found themselves surrounded in Twilight's magical aura, unable to move or speak. They watched, unable to react, as magic poured out of their mouths, blue out of Maud's and gray out of Rainbow's. Their senses dulled as these essences drained from them, but soon returned as the trails of colored magic swirled around each other in the air, then each surged into the pony they hadn't left. As Twilight's aura dissipated from around the two, they both took sharp breaths, shaking their heads out.
"There," Twilight said, looking a bit exhausted. "You're fixed."
"Fixed?" Rarity asked. "What was even wrong, darling?"
"Well," Twilight said, looking sheepish. "I put a bit too much power into the casting of the spell. Instead of just swapping their voices, I accidentally caused them to switch bodies, albeit on a bit of a time release. That was why the two of them got so woozy after the spell. The swap must have taken place after they both went to sleep as a fail-safe, considering how problematic it could have been if it happened while one or the other was doing something."
"So...that wasn't a prank?" Applejack asked.
"We tried to tell you!" Rainbow coughed, finally finding her voice again. She flapped her wings happily, having missed them terribly.
"And you thought we were pranking you," Maud said, her look of indifference betraying her disappointment. The other ponies dropped their heads in shame.
"We're terribly sorry, you two," Rarity said. "I suppose with all the extraordinary goings-on we've dealt with, believing such a story should not have been so inconceivable."
"We just got so caught up in the idea of it being a prank," Fluttershy said.
"You gotta admit, Rainbow Dash pulling a prank ain't exactly out of the question," Applejack added. "And Pinkie seemed so sure of it."
All eyes turned to Pinkie. By this point, her look of guilt had faded, replaced with one of shock. She approached Rainbow slowly.
"So..." she said, much more quiet than usual. "When I thought I was telling Maud how I felt about you..."
Rainbow smiled lightly, putting a hoof under her chin and looking into her soft blue eyes.
"And I'm totally cool with it," she told her. Then she glanced over to Maud. "That is, if your sister's cool with it."
All eyes now turned to Maud. She looked back at the group, face unchanging. The silence lasted long enough to start Pinkie worrying. Finally, she gave a slight nod.
"Just don't hurt her," Maud said.
"I'd never dream of it," Rainbow responded, smile growing larger. Pinkie grabbed Rainbow in one of her patented Pinkie hugs, and Rainbow sighed a satisfied sigh. There were indeed interesting times ahead. She held her hoof out towards Maud for a hoof bump, an offer which went unrequited.
"Oh come on," Rainbow said to Maud, grinning a playful little grin. "Why won't you bump my hoof?"
Maud was quiet for a moment, before the corners of her mouth turned into a tiny smile.
"I know where that hoof's been."
