Twilight's latest spell goes haywire and ends up splitting Rainbow Dash into six distinct and emotionally driven ponies
After Rainbow Dash accidently crashes through the library window and interrupts Twilight's newest spell, she is split into six ponies, each representing a part of her personality. These ponies will be sure to have their fun, much to Ponyville and Rainbow's friends dismay.
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Twilight Sparkle sat in the library frowning down at a small pile of ash. “Dammit!” She screamed angrily at yet another failed attempt at the spell.
“Twilight, are you ok?” Spike asked as he came running in from the kitchen. Twilight pointed her hoof at the ash, still frowning at it.
“It happened again! I just don’t understand why I can’t get this!” Twilight yelled. Her horn lit up as she levitated an old tome in front of them. “I’ve read this passage a hundred times and practiced even more yet I still can’t get this spell to work!”
“Maybe something’s wrong with the spell”, Spike offered, “what’s it supposed to do anyway?”
“There’s nothing wrong with the spell, I’ve seen others doing it, I just can’t seem to get it right. Basically the spell is a form of fragmentation; using it correctly I should be able to break down any object into very specific parts.” Twilight explained. “For example, I’m trying to separate an apple into four parts, the stem, the skin, the solid inside and the juice.”
“Sounds like you’re just tearing it apart,” Spike said, with a small chuckle.
“It’s a little more complicated than that, Spike,” Twilight groaned, “and so far all I’ve done is completely incinerate the apples, I can’t seem to get the frequency of my magic right.”
Spike stepped over to Twilight’s side and rested his claw on her shoulder, “don’t worry Twilight you’ll get this, you can do anything you set your mind to.”
Twilight smiled down at her loving assistant and gave him a small hug, “thanks, Spike, I needed that. How about I give this one more try and then we’ll go down to Sugercube Corner for a snack break.”
“Sounds good to me” Spike said hugging back. “I do have one question though, why exactly do you need to be able to do this spell?”
“Oh it’s just for fun” Twilight giggled, turning back to her testing area and levitating a new apple into position.
“Right, fun, of course” Spike mumbled, rolling his eyes.
“Ok, here we go” Twilight said energetically as she lit her horn up once again.
In the air, just outside the library, Rainbow Dash was practicing her maneuverability. “Ok, gotta take these turns exactly right” she told herself as she shot through the air. She drew near her destination, “just another second”, she arrived at a group of clouds clustered close together and weaved through them at an incredible speed, avoiding even the smallest of contact with cloud. “Yes yes, almost got it” she narrowed her eyes and focused on the increasingly small gaps between the cloud. She was almost at the end, just a few more clouds.
“Hi Rainbow Dash” Pinkie screamed from her newest flying contraption that came out of a nearby cloud. Rainbow Dash, surprised by this, swerved to the side and went through the cloud. She lost her bearings and began to spiral out of control towards the building beneath them, “dammit Pinkie!” She yelled up to the giggling mare.
This is gonna hurt, she thought just as she was about to crash through the window.
Twilight crouched down, readying herself for one final test. She shot a rainbow coloured beam out at her target, however before it could make contact something came crashing through the window and into the beams path. From the sounds of the screams, it was Twilight’s friend Rainbow Dash.
“Oh Celestia, what the hay is happening!” Rainbow Dash screams barely audible over the sound of something being torn into several pieces. Smoke came from the end the end of the beam, covering the room in a thick fog.
Twilight quickly stopped the spell and called out into the fog, “Rainbow Dash! Are you ok?”
Twilight could hear what sounded like several ponies quickly moving throughout the fog. Each set of hoof steps sounded different, some were slow and soft, others were rough and heavy, one set sounded almost like pinkie pie’s bouncing. The library’s front door burst open, Twilight could just barely make out several pony shaped silhouettes leaving.
“Spike, are you ok?” Twilight called out.
“Yeah I think so, where’s Rainbow Dash?”
“I don’t know, but I saw a few ponies leaving.”
“A few?”
“Yes it’s strange… hold on a moment.” Spike could make out a small lavender glow amongst the fog, and suddenly it all started to clear up around him.
“Another one of your fun spells?” Spike asked sarcastically.
“Not now, Spike, Dash could be hurt,” Twilight barked at him.
The fog cleared and with Twilight now able to see around the room, she spotted Dash curled up on the ground next to the apple.
“Rainbow Dash, are you ok?” Twilight asked as she galloped to her friend’s side.
“Physically… I guess,” She moaned.
“What do you mean?” Spike asked, joining Twilight by Rainbow’s side.
“Oh you know,” she sighed “just thinking about how I’ll never achieve any of my dreams and I’ll probably just die some lonely old mare, wishing she was a wonderbolt while remembering all she did was clear clouds… just the usual stuff.”
“Rainbow Dash, this doesn’t sound like you at all, what happened to you?” Twilight asked, concerned she may have really done something terrible to Rainbow.
Rainbow Dash uncurled from her position and sat up, reveling her previously unseen mane and tail, which were no longer rainbow coloured, only cyan. Rainbow was slouched over and wore a sad look, giving off none of her usually bravado.
“Rainbow Dash! Your hair!” Twilight screamed, pointing a hoof at Rainbow’s head.
“I know it’s hideous,” Rainbow sniffled, tears starting to form in her eyes, “not even my hair can do anything right!” She cried, covering her face with one foreleg and mane with the other.
“No no no, I didn’t mean it like that,” Twilight said as she wrapped Rainbow Dash in a hug, resting Rainbow’s head on her shoulder.
“What happened to Dash, Twilight?” Spike asked from behind Rainbow.
“I don’t know, the spell must have done something awful.”
Spike scratch his chin in thought, “you said you saw a few ponies leaving right?”
“Well only silhouettes, but yes, they went through the door in a hurry,” Twilight gestured over to the library’s front door which was now almost off its hinges.
“Maybe the spell split Dash into multiple ponies” Spike offered “… would explain the tearing sound.”
“I don’t think it would do that… at least it shouldn’t,” Twilight looked down at the sobbing pony in her hooves then back up to Spike, “but your hypothesis does have some merit. Ok, I’ll grab the girls and we’ll take a quick look around town for any other Rainbow Dash’s.”
“Wait… what I’m supposed to do?” Spike asked.
“I need you to look through the book I was using and see if there’s a reversal spell, and take care of… uh… Sad Dash.”
“Sad Dash?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Just for easy reference, if needed,” Twilight said.
“I’ve never seen Dash this upset about anything, so why’s this Dash crying over everything?” Spike asked.
“Well assuming you’re right, this Dash can’t feel anything but sadness,” Twilight explained. “When normal ponies are sad they can be cheered up, since Sad Dash is nothing but sadness, she must be some kind of extreme form of that particular part of Rainbow… I’d hate to see what the others will be like…”
“Just talk about like I’m not even here… like everyone else” Sad Dash sobbed.
“Um Spike… would you mind?” Twilight asked, gesturing at the pony wrapped around her neck.
Spike stretched his claws out wide, “ok, come here… Sad Dash,” he said before being tackled to the ground by the sobbing mare.
“Ok looks like you’ve got everything handled here, see you later” Twilight quickly galloped out the door.
“Twilight… help” Spike squeaked as he was being crushed by Sad Dash.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I didn’t suck? No? That’s ‘cause it never happened” She sobbed.
“Oh Celestia help me,” Spike sighed.
Twilight stepped out of the library and quickly scanned the area around her. “None here” Twilight said to herself, “guess I’ll go grab the others and-”
“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie yelled, jumping out from nowhere.
“Dammit Pinkie, stop doing that.”
“Sorry Twilight, I was just floating around on my flying bike then saw Rainbow flying around and I said ‘Pinkie you go surprise your friend’, so then I did and Rainbow was all like, ‘dammit Pinkie!’ Then she I fell I said ‘Pinkie you’ve really done it this time, go apologize to the girls. That’s when I saw you and I said ‘Hi Twilight!’ and you said-”
“Pinkie! I know what happened then, I was there” Twilight grumbled.
“Oh right” Pinkie giggled, “so is Rainbow Dash ok? I would feel awful if she was hurt.”
“She’s fine Pinkie, well… relatively speaking,” Twilight said, causing Pinkie to tilt her head in confusion. “I’ll explain on the way, right now we need to get the other girls, and keep your eyes out for Rainbow Dash.”
“Wait…” Pinkie began, even more confused than before, “but I thought Rainbow was-”
“Like I said I’ll explain on the way, come on,” Twilight began trotting off in the other direction, towards the center of town.
“… and now we need to get our friends and track down all the other Dash’s,” Twilight explained. “Hopefully Spike will be able to find the reversal spell.”
“I’m sure he will,” Pinkie affirmed, “it’s so sad to hear about a pony who can’t be happy at all, you sure there’s nothing I could do for Sad Dash?”
“the best thing we can do for any of the Dash’s is restore them to their original form,” Twilight replied.
“So where should we start?” Pinkie asked, bouncing at Twilight’s side, eager to help out her friend.
“I think the best place to try first would be around the market stalls,” Twilight answered. “Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy might be there buying and selling whatnot, and I’m sure at least one part of Rainbow Dash would be hanging around there, so it seems to be a good place to start… hopefully if there is a Dash there, it’s not a bad one.”
“A bad one?” Pinkie asked, a little perplexed, “I didn’t think any part of Dashie was particularly bad.”
“Like I said before, these Dash’s aren’t going to be just like our friend, they’re each the extreme form of that particular emotion because they’ve been separated from all other emotions,” Twilight explained, “so for example, if one of Rainbow’s negative attributes is out there, no matter how small it may have seemed in Rainbow Dash, it will be very sinister alone.”
“So does this mean we could see some kind of… super ego Dash?” Pinkie asked.
“Actually Pinkie an ego and superego are two different things, you see-”
“Twilight,” Pinkie cut Twilight off, “do we really have time for this?”
“Right, later. For now, let’s go save our friend.”
The ponies shared a quick nod and sped off towards the market district. They kept their eyes sharp for any of the ponies they needed to find, weaving through various ponies scattered through the street, making their way there.
I’m sure it’ll be fine, Twilight told herself, I mean, how much trouble could a hoof full of Dash’s get up to anyway…… oh dear Celestia, we’re doomed.
Five ponies huddled together behind Sugercube Corner, they shared almost identical appearance separated only by the colours of their manes and tails. The pony with green hair known to the other as ‘Mischief’, peeked round the corner looking out to the streets. She turned back round to the others and offered a cheeky grin, “lost ‘em, team dash for the win,” she giggled.
“Where the hay’s Sadness?” Anger asked, with a frown.
“Must of been a bit slow, can’t all be as fast as me,” Ego stated, puffing out her chest.
“Can we go now?” Lust asked, while checking herself out in the back window of the store. “I kind of have some plans with a certain cowpony,” she said, licking her lips.
Joy bounced around the others, wearing a huge grin, “oh my gosh she's right, we need find our friends and show them how super awesome this is. Can you imagine me and Pinkie? I’ll be all: ‘hi I’m Rainbow’s happiness’, and she’ll ‘hi I’m Pinkie Pie’, and I’ll say-”
“Will you shut up!?” Anger screamed in the mare’s face. The other ponies quickly tightened their lips and sat before Anger. She took a deep breath and calmly asked, “you girls remember the plan right?”
“Um... nope," Joy giggled
"Wait, you were talking? Couldn't hear over the screams I guess," Mischief shrugged.
"I'd be saying something similar if we could hurry this along," Lust said impatiently.
“Just listen to me... this town and her so called ‘friends’ have been holding Rainbow back far too long, and she’s not mare enough to admit it, even to herself. Since we’re free now, we need to take care of this place for her, and if I know that annoying, purple mare, we should do it quickly before they find a way to slam us together again,” Anger explained.
"What ever," Ego said as she waved a dismissive hoof, "no pony's gonna catch me, I'll be able to escape Twilight's traps in like-"
"Don't say it!" Anger interrupted.
A cheeky smirk spread across Ego's muzzle as she flared up her wings, "10 seconds flat!" She screamed before shooting away at a speed impressive even for Rainbow Dash herself to achieve.
"If she's leaving I'm leaving," Lust said, as she began to stand from her position.
"Wait we still need to-"
"See ya," Mischief called out as she left right behind Lust.
Anger eyed Joy who sat there patiently with a big, goofy grin. "Just go," she sighed. Joy squeed as quickly bounced her way more into the center of Ponyville.
"Rainbow's Loyalty couldn't have been manifested could it? No that would just be too convenient," Anger mumbled to herself.
Over on Sweet Apple Acres a certain cowpony was busy toiling away with her usual chores, completely unaware she was being watched. Applejack finished bucking the last tree in the line she was working on and wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead. “Should be ‘bout lunch time now,” She told herself, “maybe I’ll go check how Mac’s doing and see if he wants ta-” her train of thought was cut off by somepony clearing their throat rather loudly behind Applejack. She quickly spun around to find herself muzzle to muzzle with her friend Rainbow Dash.
“Howdy there, cowgirl” Lust whispered seductively. Applejack quickly jerked back in surprise and struggled to suppress a scream, she knew if Dash knew how much she scared her, the next few days would be filled with none stop teasing.
“Dash, what the hay are you doing?” Applejack yelled, still a little in shock.
Lust put on a hurt face Applejack could easily tell was fake, “is that anyway to greet a friend?” She teased.
Applejack sighed, “Hi Dash.”
“That’s better.”
It wasn’t until now that Applejack noticed something very different about her friend, perhaps she didn’t notice earlier because of the scare. It wasn’t just that half lidded gaze Dash was giving her, but her mane and tail had turned completely purple.
“Uh, Dash, hope ah’m not being rude in asking but… what happened to your hair?” Applejack asked.
Lust grinned proudly and began running her hoof through her hair, “you like?”
“Well we'll have ta call ya 'Purple Dash" from now on, but uh... I think ya look real good Rainbow,” she replied, a small blush creeping up her freckly cheeks.
“Looks like I’m not the only pony changing her colours,” Lust teased.
“Don’t know what yer talking ‘bout,” Applejack said as she tugged the front of her hat down to hide behind.
Lust wrapped one of her hooves around the back of Applejack’s neck, and used the other to lift Applejack muzzle so they could look into each other’s eyes. “Come on AJ, there’s no need to hide from me.”
Applejack gulped, unable to move her head away as Lust held it in place with her hoof, “w-what exactly were ya here for again?” She stammered.
“Well apparently you have a little free time on your hooves, maybe you’d like to have some fun?”
“What were ya thinking?” Applejack asked as Lust brought her muzzle forward making the ponies noses touched.
“You know me AJ… always looking for a bit of action, but for you I think we can start things a little slower.”
Applejack used one hoof to reach up to her hat and began to fan herself with it, “hoo nelly.”
Over on the other side of town at the Carousel Boutique, a certain unicorn was having a very different day to her farmer friend.
“Cancelled? How can the order be cancelled?!” Rarity Screamed.
Derpy scrunched up her nose and shifted uncomfortably on her spot just outside the enraged unicorns home, “sorry Rarity, I just deliver the mail, not control it.”
Rarity took a deep, calming breath and turned back to the mailpony, “no I’m sorry dear, I shouldn’t have gone off like that, certainly not to you.”
“It’s fine,” Derpy said, waving a dismissive hoof. “I have to deal with upset ponies all the time on the job, guess the phase ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ isn’t common knowledge in Ponyville,” She laughed. “Now if you’ll excuse me Rarity, I really should be going.”
“Oh of course, dear, let me know if there’s anything I can do to make up for my little… outburst,” Rarity said as she began to wave Derpy off. “and be careful out there.”
Derpy gave a small shrug as she gently flew away from the boutique, “when am I no-” she began before she was cut off by another pony flying into her. “I’m ok,” she called out as she got back up off the ground.
Rarity cringed a little at the crash but let out a melodramatic gasp when she noticed something off about the pony Derpy collided with. “Dash…” She began.
“Hey Rarity,” Joy yelled as she enthusiastically bounced over to Rarity.
“I hope I’m not being rude dear but… what happened to your hair?” Rarity asked, unable to take her eyes off her friends, now yellow, mane.
“Just a thing that happened earlier, isn’t it great?” Joy squeed as she bobbed her head in every direction to wave her hair around.
“This doesn’t have to do with your little crush, does it?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No no no no no no no,” Joy affirmed in quick succession, as she waved her hooves back and forth, “the other dash can take care of that,” she said with a smile.
“Uh huh” Rarity said, trying to figure out what Dash meant. “Anywho, would like to come in for some tea? I just received a letter stating my client cancelled her order so I guess I have some free time on my hooves.”
“Oh yeah, that would be awesome Rarity,” Joy relied as her smile grew even wider.
Rarity quickly looked Dash up and down thinking maybe she’d find something to explain her strange behavior, then she figured she should ask, “Twilight didn’t accidently fuse you with Pinkie Pie again did she?”
“Nope,” she said emphatically, “just me here, in fact you could say there’s a little less Rainbow Dash then usual” she giggled.
“Wait, what do you-” Rarity was cut off by Joy quickly dashing past her and slamming the door shut. “What the-? Rainbow Dash open the door this instant, this is my house!”
After a series of loud crashes and bangs the door swung open and Joy skipped out the door and stood before Rarity, “took care of the t for ya, also made some of that fancy mare’s coffee you like, gotta go,” Joy then quickly bounced off, heading toward the market district.
Rarity watched her strange behaving friend bounce down the road as she tried to gather her thought, “took care of the 't'? Fancy mare’s coffee?” Rarity sheepishly stepped up to her door, fearing what atrocity Dash could have left in her wake. She opened the door and gasped at what lay inside. Joy Dash had somehow attached all of Rarity furniture and machinery together to form a large ‘T’ in the middle of the room; at the bottom of it layed a small cup of what Rarity presumed was tea or ‘fancy mare’s coffee’ and a note. She picked up the note with her magic, it was written in the most hayness way Rarity had seen, but being longtime friends with Rainbow Dash, Rarity was used to the rather uncouth writing style. The message read:
Enjoy the t tea, Rarity! P.S. tee hee, titty -JD
Rarity let go of the note, letting it gently falling to the ground, “it really is going to be one of those days isn’t it?” She sighed. “wait a second…” she began, with a sudden realization she levitated the note once again and looked at the initials scribbled at the bottom, “JD… who’s JD?”
“I think I’ve found it,” Spike exclaimed, “it was under R for restore in Twilight’s book… probably should’ve started there in hindsight.”
“Whoopee,” Sad Dash, “I get to go back to psyche prison.”
“What’s it like in Rainbow Dash’s head anyway?” Spike asked.
“Roomy.” She relied, which caused Spike to break out in a small laughing fit.
“Hey shut up!” A voice yelled over Spike’s laugh. He immediately ceased his laughter and found himself face to face with another Dash, this one had red hair, and gave Spike a sour look, “like to laugh at Rainbow, huh?”
“Not… regularly,” Spike said as he twiddled his claws.
Anger grabbed Spike with one of her front hooves, and reared back her other one.
“Wait,” Sad Dash called out, “please don’t hurt him, he stayed and talked to me when everyone else left, he’s been nice.”
Anger eyes flicked back and forth between Sad Dash and Spike. Ultimately, She lamented and let Spike go, “fine whatever, I came to get you anyway.”
“I told you when the great dividing was happening that I didn’t want to go with you girls,” Sad said in a quiet voice.
Anger grabbed Sad by the hoof and started dragging her along, “and I told you I didn’t care. I would just let you stay here and wallow in self-pity but if they have you already it’s easier to put the rest of us together, and that’s not happening till we right some wrongs.”
“What wrongs?” Spike asked, finding himself unable to do anything else about the scene before him.
“Twilight, Applejack, all those who held Rainbow back, they’re all gonna pay,” She replied darkly.
“But they never-”
“Shut up ya overgrown lizard, before change my mind about what to do with you.”
Spike kept quiet and held tightly onto the book, feeling helpless as he watched one Dash drag another away. I’ve got to find Twilight, he thought, before something really bad happens.
“There’s got to be somepony here,” Twilight insisted. She scanned across the market one last time, seeing many ponies busily going about their day, but no Dashs or the other girls.
“Guess none of the girls needed to shop today.” Pinkie shrugged.
“Shouldn’t Applejack be working her stall by now?” Twilight asked.
“She probably still bucking on the farm,” Pinkie offered.
“I guess…” Twilight said worryingly, “I just hope she doesn’t overwork herself again.”
“Don’t worry so much, Twilight, Applejack will be fine,” Pinkie reassured, “she learned her lesson from applebucking season, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s doing something nice and relaxing right now…”
Applejack collapsed in a sweaty heap, taking long deep breaths and trying to speak between them, “Dash… that… was-”
She was interrupted by Lust placing a hoof over her muzzle as she lay by her side, “believe me, AJ, I know,” Lust said with a cheeky grin. Lust lifted one of her fore hooves up to Applejack face, she brushed a few loose strands of Applejack’s mane to the side. They stared deeply into each other eyes before Lust spoke, “hey, Applejack…”
“Yeah sugarcube?”
“Wanna go again?” she asked, excited.
Applejack rolled over in a fit a controlled laughter, “yer such a pig,” she managed to say between laughs. Shaking her head loose of her giggling fit, Applejack stood up and tried to stretch out her legs, which now felt as weak and wobbly as jelly, “how’s about this…” she began, as she heard distinctive cracks, “I’ll go grab us a quick drink from inside, and I’ll think about it… ‘sides, my muzzle’s still a sore from the last time.”
“Yeah I’d bet.” Lust giggled. “Ok, you grab some drinks I’ll be here.”
Applejack gave Lust one last kiss on the cheek before gently trotting off to the farmhouse. As she began to trot she noticed a few figures by the farmhouse, a smile graced her lips, “heh, the girls seemed ta arrive round about the time we… arrived,” Applejack said with a small chuckle.
“They’re still a fair bit away, I’m sure they won’t bother us if we continue our fun.” Lust giggled.
“Knowing them… I’d doubt it,” Applejack said, shaking her head slightly. She resumed her course, leaving Lust to entertain herself.
What to do, what to do… Lust thought as let her eyes wander around the acres that lay around her. Eventually her gaze landed on the group of small figures by the farmhouse. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo seemed to be cheerfully playing around with a small ball.
Lust licked her lips as many dirty thoughts entered her mind, “targets acquired,” she muttered to herself as she began approaching the fillies.
Whoa wait, what am I doing? Dash came to a halt but her eyes stayed fixed on the three fillies playing, I can’t really do this can I? I mean yeah I can and it would super easy, but I shouldn’t… I may be Lust, but I’m still Dash, and I’m loyal to Applejack. With that, she turned and began to head back to her initial spot, until another thought caused her to stop again, but then again… I am really horny.
Rarity galloped at full speed yet still found herself unable to catch up to her cheerfully bouncing target. “Rainbow Dash, you get back here this instant and clean up your mess.”
“Well I’m not Rainbow Dash so I don’t have to clean anything,” Joy said as she blew a raspberry back at Rarity. “Dash, I don’t know what game you’re playing at here, but I am in no mood for it!”
Rarity came to a sudden stop as a blue and orange blur zipped by her, before she could find the blur she heard a voice by her side, it spoke quickly and energetically, not unlike an excited Rainbow Dash, “Hey, Rarity, what are you doing? Chasing Joy? Bet I can get her first.”
She turned around and found herself muzzle to muzzle with another Rainbow Dash, but where the first’s hair seemed to have mysteriously changed to yellow, this one’s was orange. Rarity flicked her eyes back and forth between the two almost identical mares, worried that something even worse than the pinkiedash incident may be taking place. “I… wha-” was all Rarity managed to get out before the orange haired Dash flared her wings and excitedly screamed, “Onetwothree GO!”
Ego took off at an amazing speed, quickly closing the gap between her and Joy. Ego tackled her, bringing her down to the ground. Ego sat on the dazed Joy, puffing out chest and running a hoof through her mane. She called out to all the ponies who had started gathering around them since first hearing the commotion, “please everypony, don’t crowd, there’s enough of me to go around. Autographs are twenty bits, pictures with me are thirty, and picture of just me are thirty-five, because they make for better pictures.”
Lyra, one of the many ponies watching the spectacle, gave Rarity a gently nudge and asked, “Hey, Rarity, you know what going on? Is this another friendship lesson thing you six are doing?”
“Sorry to disappoint, dear, but I have no idea what is happening, there appears to be multiple Rainbow Dashs… as if one wasn’t enough. They also seem to be behaving rather odd.”
“Ok everypony, line starts here, let’s keep this moving, I got a lot of stuff to sign.” Ego cheerily called out to the crowd once again.
“Seems the same to me.” Lyra shrugged. “Except for the hair, I mean, what weirdo pony has orange hair?”
Lyra turned around after hearing somepony clear their throat, there she found Big Mac and Carrot Top standing behind her, both looking rather upset. “Well that’s just terrible timing,” she muttered to herself.
“Out of the way! Everypony out of the way!” A voice called from beyond the crowd. It was Twilight Sparkle. She and Pinkie began squeezing their way through the crowd to the center.
“Uh oh, Twilight…” Ego muttered, “later, Joy!” she said as she took off.
“Dammit, she got away,” Twilight moaned.
“Can’t you go after her?” Pinkie inquired.
“She’s going too fast for me to get her now.” Twilight lowered her gaze to the Dash that still sat on the ground staring back at them. “At least there’s this one.”
When Joy Dash’s eyes landed on Pinkie Pie, her smile grew to abnormal proportions, Twilight would swear she even heard a small squeaking sound at the smiles climax. Joy quickly rushed over Pinkie and began bouncing all around her, “Oh my gosh it’s you! I’m super-duper ultrarific excited to meet you! I’m Joy Dash, friends call me Joy, will you be my friend? Can we have a ‘I just become friends with part of the personality of a pony who was already my friend’ party? Huh? Huh? Huh? Can We? Can We? Can-”
Joy Dash was cut off by a spell Twilight had cast around her. It was a small, soundproof, containment bubble, that gently lifted Joy into the air. Despite now being trapped and nopony able to hear her, Joy seemed to still be rambling away inside the confines of her bubble.
“Thank Celestia,” Pinkie groaned. “She was sooooo annoying, I mean, can you imagine hanging out with somepony like that all the time? Huh, Twilight? Huh? Can ya? Can ya? Can ya?”
Twilight let out an exhausted sigh. “No, Pinkie, I don’t think I can possibly imagine that.”
“Excuse me, Twilight,” Rarity said as trotted towards the girls from her place in the crowd. “I believe you have some explaining to do.”
Twilight’s ears fell flat and she gave a sheepish smile as she looked around at the crowd still staring at them. “Right… guess so.”
Applejack gently strolled up the slight incline to take her place by her lover’s side. She carried a small tray in her mouth, with two glasses of apple juice carefully placed on top. Applejack threw a quick glance back to the farmhouse where the girls were playing, huh, guess the girls must of moved on, swear they were there just a minute ago.
Lust sat perfectly still by the tree Applejack had left her by, a glazed, vacant look in Lust’s eyes told Applejack she was clearly deep in thought about something.
Applejack placed the tray on the ground and waved a hoof in front of Lust’s eyes. “Hey, Sugarcube, got the drinks for us.”
Lust snapped backed to reality, but they she looked at Applejack told her something was still taking her mind elsewhere.
“So ah was thinking maybe we could go inta town and get somethin’ ta eat, just the two of us, how’s that sound?”
Lust’s eyes traveled from spot to spot, first on Applejack, then where the girls used to be, and finally settling on the ground. Lust bit her lip, finding it hard to say anything. When she finally managed to speak, she spoke in a small, soft voice, not the kind she used earlier when she was trying to be alluring, but the kind that showed she was very uncomfortable with something, “AJ, this was a mistake… I… gotta go.”
Applejack’s smile faded, replaced by a look of anxiety, “g-go, where are ya goin’?”
Lust gave no answer; she merely started a slow trot towards the path that lead out of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Rainbow, ya can’t just go, not after we… Ah…” Applejack found herself unable to finish a sentence. Lust knew what was coming, she couldn’t hear Applejack say it because what right did she have to hear those words before the one they’re meant for. Lust flared up her wings, preparing for a quick getaway… but she was too late.
“Ah love you, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack called out to her rather loudly, she didn’t care who heard, Applejack was always one for speaking the truth and her love for Rainbow Dash was never a question, it was a fact of life.
Lust remained still, her breathing deepened as she tried to hold back the strange feelings surging through her, Can I cry? Lust wondered, I may not want to hurt Applejack, but how do I feel about leaving her like this? I can’t say I love her because… Rainbow loves her, I’m just a libido with body. I lust for her, but there’s only one who can show love.
Lust turned her head round to see Applejack, her eyes were red and puffy, her legs were wobbly, she seemed ready to collapse under her emotional strain. Lust said the one thing that came to mind, the one thing a mere piece of the puzzle that is Rainbow Dash could say to a declaration of love, “I know.”
With that, Lust flapped her wings and took to the air, she may have turned her head forward, but her gaze remained on Applejack until she just a distant dot in Lust’s sight.
If Anger can calm herself down long enough to get something done, maybe I can too… maybe.
Anger descended upon the small cottage just on the outskirts of Ponyville, she carried a sniveling pony in a hooves, one who, despite her namesake, couldn’t bear to be in the air.
“H-Hey, Anger, could you put me down,” Sadness pleaded, “I’m not very g-good at flying.”
“Dear Celestia.” Anger sighed. “How are you part of Rainbow Dash?”
Anger hovered just above the ground and tossed Sadness into a bush just short of the bridge leading to Anger’s next target. “Look, Sadness, the only reason you’re here is because you’re too weak to even run and hide. So just shut up and let me take care of business.”
Sadness peeked out of the bush towards the cottage, she remembered from Rainbow’s memories that this was Fluttershy’s home, probably the mare least equipped to handle somepony like Anger. “W-what business exactly?”
Anger threw Sadness a dark grin. “It’s like I said, Rainbow’s friends have held her back far too long, so… it’s time to dispose of them… starting with the one who’s held her back the longest.” Anger trotted up the door and gave it three gently taps. After sometime and a series of muffled noises, Fluttershy came to the door and upon opening it, gave Anger a gentle smile.
“Hello, Rainbow Dash, did you get your mane and tail done today?” she asked.
“Yeah yeah, a lot’s happened today, look I just need to talk to you about few things regarding our friendship.”
“Oh that sounds nice; I’m always up for a nice friendship discussion.”
“Well… ‘nice’ is kind of a relative term here, actually I suppose ‘discussion’ is too considering you won’t really be saying anything,” Anger explained.
“I’m… confused.”
“Well here, it’s like this,” Anger began, “I don’t need you anymore, so don’t try to talk to me, ever again.”
Fluttershy felt a pain in her heart, she took a step back and drew a sharp breath, “Rainbow, if this is some kind of prank please don’t do this, you know I don’t like these things.”
“Oh it’s no joke, Fluttershy.” Anger laughed, “after I’m done here I’m gonna tell the others the same. I’m done with all of you. The unbearable chatter, all the time you ponies wasting time doing things I could take care of in half the time without you, I’m sick of it. It’s time for change, so let’s start with you.”
Fluttershy sniffled, trying to hold back the inevitable tears. “I guess I… I…”
“See, this is what I’m talking about, you can’t even speak properly.” Anger groaned. “Do us all a favour and shut up altogether!” she yelled.
Fluttershy abruptly slammed the door closed and ran upstairs to her room. Anger let out a small chuckle and trotted back over to the bush Sadness hid in. “Ha, did you see that?” Anger laughed. “Priceless.”
Sadness crawled out from the bush and stood by Anger’s side. “You don’t think you were uh… a little harsh?”
“If anything I was going easy on her,” Anger snapped. “Now… on to the next one.”
Spike ran as fast as his little legs could take him through the streets of Ponyville, ducking and weaving through various ponies going about their day as if nothing was wrong. Spike thought he was almost there, wherever there was, he still wasn’t sure exactly where Twilight was, but he had to find her. A sneaky blue hoof stuck out just as Spike neared a corner of a shop, causing him to fall to ground and drop his precious cargo, the book with the reversal spell.
“Have a nice trip, Spike?” a recognizably raspy voice asked cheekily.
Spike gulped, still staring down at the ground. Please don’t be her, please don’t be her. Spike lifted his head to face his mocker, thankfully it wasn’t Anger again, but it was still a Dash, one with green hair.
“I take it you’re not ‘helpful dash’.” Spike joked.
Mischief gave Spike a friendly smile and reached out a hoof to help him up. After accepting the kind gesture, Mischief pulled spike part way off the ground, but then suddenly yanked her hoof away! Spike crashed back down to the ground with a surprised yelp.
“Nope.” Mischief snickered. “They call me Mischief, Rainbow’s uh… mischievous side, I guess; Wanna have some fun round Ponyville?”
Spike picked himself up, dusting some dirt off his scales he turned to Mischief. “Something tells me you and I might have a different sense of humor.”
“Why, whatever do you mean, Spike?” Mischief inquired, still holding a cheeky grin.
As if on cue, a loud boom erupted from the nearby store, causing ponies to scatter in the streets and cake frosting to spill out, completely covering Mischief and Spike.
“I mean like that,” Spike said as he wiped a few clumps of the sticky substance off his face.
“Well if you don’t like that…” Mischief began, her grin growing wider, “I’ve got another game we can play.”
With the situation explained, the crowd was just starting to clear out, when a large boom rang through the air.
“What the hay was that?!” Twilight screamed.
Pinkie rolled her eyes, “An explosion, Twilight, duh.”
“It’s going to be something for us to handle, isn’t it?” Rarity asked.
Lust slumped down on a cloud hovering just outside Sweet Apples Acres, she didn’t want to stay, but she knew if she went somewhere else things would only worsen. She thought to earlier, back with the cutie mark crusaders…
Lust clung to a tree, her own body fighting her, willing her to go to the fillies despite her own wishes.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” A voice called from behind her, “What are you doing with the tree? And also… what’s with the hair? It’s still awesome, I was just curious.”
Lust recognized the voice from Rainbow’s memories, it was Scootaloo, a cute, little filly who hung on Rainbow’s every word. Possibly the pony Lust least wanted to be around right now.
“You… you need to get outta here, squirt. Like right now,” Lust said without turning around to face her.
“Rainbow Dash, w-what do ya me-”
“Man, where’s Anger when ya need her,” Lust muttered, “just trust me, Scootaloo, you and the girls need to go… now!”
“Oh, ok…” Scootaloo said, her ears falling flat against her head, “guess I’ll see ya later.”
Lust waited as she listened to sound of hooves clopping away from her, when thought they were far enough away, she opened her eyes and watched the three small figures slowly trotting away. Lust continued to stare blankly at the path the girls took, even after they were completely out of sight.
What am I gonna do? What did I almost do? Rainbow would never do that. She would never hurt Applejack or the girls by even thinking about. Why would I-
“Hey, Sugarcube, got the drinks for us.”
Lust racked her brain trying to find a solution, when a thought occurred to her. Twilight! She’ll know a way to… no, she won’t help… she’ll just trap me and stick me with the others… but maybe … maybe that is the only way to help me… help Appleja-
Lust’s thoughts were interrupted by some kind of distant explosion coming from the middle of Ponyville.
If I know the girls, they’ll be there… except AJ, she was pretty upset… and Fluttershy’s iffy as is, let alone if a Dash got to her, but Twilight will be there! It may be my only choice.
Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity quickly galloped to Sugarcube Corner, closely followed by Joy in her floating bubble. When they arrived they found the store and nearby street, completely covered in what appeared to be frosting.
Pinkie licked her lips and began to eat some of mess splattered around the ground, “what a… delicious… tragedy,” she said between mouthfuls.
“Um… you two can take it from here,” Rarity said, slowly backing off from what she would consider an extremely hazardous area.
Twilight quickly swung a hoof round Rarity’s back, preventing her from leaving. “Sorry, Rarity, but we need your help. We may need to get a little dirty… especially considering what happened here, but we have to work together if we want Rainbow back.”
Rarity gave Twilight a small smile, “you’re right, Twilight, I’d do anything for a friend, so if I need to get a little dirty to help Rainbow, then by Celestia I shall be dirty… I still think we should let Pinkie take care of the frosting though.”
“No argument here.” Twilight nodded, “Pinkie…?”
Pinkie head shot out from a nearby pile of frost, “mmblefl theth frethinrth,” She said with mouth full of frost, half of it shoot out as she spoke and covering Rarity.
“Twilight… please tell me you know a cleaning spell,” Rarity said, wiping off a few clumps of frosting.
“It was actually on today’s to-do list to learn one, but uh… something happened with the first spell I was trying.” Twilight explained.
“What happened with the first spell, Twilight?” Pinkie asked obliviously.
“You know, the accident, the Dashs, the reason we’re out here in with this pile of frosting!”
“Oooooh yeahhhh.” Pinkie said, scooping up another hoofful of frosting. “I have but one question…”
“What’s that, Pinkie?” Twilight sighed.
“How much is hoofful?” Pinkie asked, staring down at her hoof covered in the creamy treat.
“You’re a hoofful, Pinkie.” Twilight deadpanned.
“Can we please get back to the important things here?” Rarity interrupted, “namely, my coat and hair… they’re still dirty.”
“TWILIGHT!” a voice called out to them, “HELP!”
Twilight gasped, “that sounds like Spike!”
Spike coming running down the street, he came to Twilight’s side and wrapped his claws around her foreleg, “Twilight, one the Dashs has chasing me all over the place, she’s crazy.”
“Well that’s not a very nice thing to say,” Mischief said, hovering just above the other ponies.
“Well it’s not very nice to pick on Spiky Wiky, you brute!” Rarity snapped back.
Mischief shrugged, “I like an easy target, and since Fluttershy was already crying, might as well be Spike.”
Pinkie shot to attention, “Fluttershy’s crying? My baby!” She shot off at an incredible speed, leaving nothing behind but hoofprints in the frosting.
“Well… that happened,” Mischief said as she watched her disappear into a small, distant pink dot.
Twilight horn started a purple glow, “so did this!” she shouted, shooting an sleep spell at Mischief.
Mischief bended backwards in mid-air, narrowly avoid the beam. “HA! I may not be Ego, but even I’ll say it takes a lot more than that to take a Dash down.” She laughed.
“I’m really getting tired of these Dashs today,” Twilight groaned.
“Them how ‘bout you go home, Twilight,” Mischief suggested, “I’m not doing anything wrong anyway, just haven’t a little fun with Ponyville.”
“A lot can go wrong with a little bit of fun, Mischief,” a voice called from behind Mischief.
Mischief turned round to face the new pony, a smirk spread across her face as found herself face to face with an assumed comrade. “Lust, nice to see you again, shouldn’t you be getting your fields plowed by a farmpony right about now?”
Lust grumbled, “come on, Mischief, we’ve had our fun. It’s time to go back.”
“Huh? Go back? She literally screw your brains out or something?” Mischief asked.
“Mischief, let’s not make this difficult…”
“Look, Lust, I am not going back, and there isn’t anything you or anypony else can do to stop m-” Mischief was suddenly cut off by a magical barrier completely surrounding her.
“Yes!” Twilight cried in triumph, “another Dash down.”
Lust slowly lowered herself to the ground just in front of Twilight, “make that two, I’m giving myself up.”
Twilight gave her a skeptical look, “not that I’m objecting to you making this day a lot easier but… why?”
Lust’s ears drooped back, “I just realized it’s for the best. You let your emotions and desires out of control and end up hurting those you care about most.”
“That Mischief Dash… she said your name is Lust right?” Twilight asked.
Lust gave a small nod, still staring down at the ground. She may not technically be her, but Twilight could still see Rainbow in her, more than just the physical appearance, but a certain depth of character the others had not expressed.
“Are you ok, Dash? Did something happen?”
Lust raised her head to meet Twilight’s gaze, “you have other ponies to worry about… just put me in one of those bubbles and move on, and… check on AJ.”
“Right…ok” Twilight’s horn glowed with a small red shimmer, a sphere of the same colour formed around Lust as she was pulled into the air by the other Dashs’ side. “I wonder what could have happened…”
“She seemed particularly concerned about Applejack, and Rainbow did tell me she… Twilight, I suggest we get to Applejack quickly.”
“Wait, Twilight, I've got something to you, kind of a good news, bad news deal,” Spike said.
“What’s the good news?” Twilight asked.
“I found the reverse spell you needed,” Spike said, as he presented the page to her.
“Excellent job, Spike, this will be a big help,” Twilight said, quickly scanning the page before her “… and the bad news?”
“One of the Dashs came back to library, a really mean one… she took Sad Dash and well… I’m sorry for letting you down.” Spike eyes shifted to ground, and he began fiddle with claws in shame.
Twilight wrapped a fetlock around Spike, bringing him into a hug, “Spike, there is no need to apologize, I know you would have tried, and that’s all I can ask; besides, we have no idea what Dash it was, I’m just glad you’re ok.”
“Thanks, Twilight,” Spike said, returning the hug.
“Now, Spike, I have something I need you to do,” Twilight said in a serious tone, breaking the hug.
“I won’t let you down, Twilight,” Spike said confidently.
“I need you to go to Fluttershy’s cottage, get her and Pinkie Pie, and tell them to meet us at Sweet Apple Acres,” Twilight ordered.
“I’m on it.” Spike gave a quick salute, then ran off in the direction Pinkie had previously disappeared in.
“I guess it’s just you and me, darling… and the Dashs I suppose,” Rarity said as she eyed the three Dashs floating above them.
“Right, we need to find Applejack so she can help us round up the other Dashs.”
“Lust suggested we check on her, that is certainly not a good sign… especially considering what Rainbow Dash has already told me.”
“You said something like that before… is there something you know that I don’t?”
“Well… it seems Applejack may already know, so I suppose it doesn’t matter if you know too…”
“Know what?” Twilight asked impatiently.
“Rainbow Dash… likes Applejack.”
“Well of course she does, they’re like best friends,” Twilight said cheerfully.
“Not like that dear, Rainbow Dash has… developed feelings for Applejack,” Rarity explained.
“Oh… oh my,” Twilight said, finally catching on, “so if Lust went to Applejack, do you think they-”
Rarity quickly placed a hoof on Twilight’s muzzle, cutting her off mid-speech, “perhaps we shouldn’t speculate on what may or may not have happened between a friend and part of a friend, and instead make sure said friends are alright, hmmm?”
Rarity began to trot towards Sweet Apple Acres with Twilight quickly following suit. With the book grasped in her magic, Twilight held the spell book in front her, studying the spells technique and use, but something still plagued her mind.
“Hey, Rarity, what do you think it would be like to uh… be with another mare?” She asked.
“Oh, ok.” Twilight returned to her reading until another thought entered her mind. She narrowed her eyes at Rarity and said “wait a second… what did you mean by that?”
“Oh nothing darling,” Rarity said with a cheeky grin, “nothing at all…”
Twilight and Rarity galloped to Sweet Apple Acres as fast as their hooves would take them. They stormed onto the farmland searching for anypony to point them in the right direction.
Big Mac sat solemnly outside the farmhouse, his ears drooped down and eyes fixed to the ground. He couldn’t stand to see his sister like that, the Apples were always known to be strong, especially Applejack, if something caused her to break down like that, it would have to be big.
He was snapped from thought by a voice calling out to him, “Big Mac! Big Mac!” He looked up just in time to see Twilight and Rarity coming to a sudden stop in front of him. “Big Mac, have you seen Applejack?” Twilight asked.
“Eeyup.” He sighed, Big Mac looked up to the second story of the house and pointed to a nearby window.
“Is she ok?” Twilight asked.
Big Mac gently shook his head from side to side. “Nope,” he muttered.
Twilight and Rarity shared a quick glance before galloping upstairs and heading for Applejack’s room. Rarity rapped softly on the door.
“Go away, Big Mac!” Applejack yelled from the other side of the door, her voice breaking slightly, “I told ya Ah’m fine.”
“Applejack, it’s Rarity and Twilight,” Rarity said through the door.
“Oh, heya girls, mind if we talk later? Ah’m uh… not dressed to receive company,” Applejack said nervously.
“Applejack, dear, I believe it was you who once told me how we ponies ‘don’t normally wear cloths’.”
“Oh… right… well Ah’m just a bit busy at the moment so if y'all don’t mind Ah-”
“Applejack.” Twilight interrupted, “we know what happened, or at least we have an idea… but you need to open this door now so we can-”
The door swung open, Applejack stood there, her hair disheveled, bloodshot eyes and tears staining the fur on her cheeks, “you think you have an idea, Twilight? You have NO idea what this feels like! To want something so desperately for so long, and just as soon as ya get it, it’s torn from ya in the worse possible way.”
“Applejack dear, what happened?” Rarity attempted to place a comforting hoof on Applejack’s shoulder, only to have it shrugged off. Applejack walked back inside her room, closely followed by Twilight and Rarity.
“Ah suppose Ah oughta be honest with y'all,” Applejack sighed.
“It is what you do best.” Twilight added, trotting over to Applejack’s side.
Applejack gave a sad smile before to turning her gaze to the window, looking out at the orchard below. “Ever since Rainbow Dash first came to Ponyville there’s always been something ‘bout her. At first Ah thought it was just friendship, we had a fair few things in common so it was easy ta bond. I don’t know when it happened exactly, but somewhere down the line things changed, guess ya spend enough time with somepony and ya start ta look at ‘em differently. The things that made ya smile, make ya grin that silly way ya do when yer smitten, next thing ya know yer doin’ what ya can just ta get ‘em to look yer way…”
“Applejack, there’s been a mistake…” Twilight began.
“Twilight’s right,” Rarity concurred, “no matter what happened earlier I can assure you Rainbow Dash feels the same way.”
Applejack sighed and laid her head on the windowsill, “there was a mistake alright… but Rainbow Dash doesn’t care for me… at least, not like that.”
“Applejack you don’t understand, earlier today there was an accident,” Twilight explained, “Rainbow Dash was caught in a spell I was experimenting with, it split her into multiple ponies. The pony you encountered before was not Rainbow Dash, but her lust… perhaps it’s better if I show you.”
Twilight came to the window and gestured to a nearby tree, it was decorated with several pony sized balls, each containing one of the dashs. Applejack stared in disbelief at the tree, even going so far as to wipe her eyes incase that would clear up an object she assumed couldn’t really be there.
"Wha- how can there be all those dashs down there?" Applejack asked in disbelief.
"Like I said... accident, magic, bunch of dashs... those are just the ones we've managed to catch, and that's why we need your help... to catch the rest." Twilight explained.
"Ah see..." Applejack said, still trying to wrap her head around the situation.
“It’s a bit of a strain containing the ones we have, I’m just lucky they’re not resisting too much… anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is the Dash before wasn’t really her, just a small part.”
“This don’t make no difference, Twi!” Applejack exclaimed.
“That’s a double negative.” Twilight pointed out, much to Applejack’s irritation, “and it does make a difference.”
“Either way ya look at it, the only Dash that came for me was just Lust, nothin’ more.”
“Darling you can’t think like that,” Rarity interjected, “we can’t be sure that that they are truly acting with Rainbow’s real feeling and thoughts.”
“Course we can, Rarity,” Applejack snapped “there’s a reason that Dash came here instead of just hopping on some other pony… and there’s a reason she left right after… just leave me be, Ah really don’t want to see Dash right now, much less several.”
“Applejack, I may not know what it feels to be in your position, but I do know one thing…” Twilight said firmly, “you’d never be able to just sit around when one of your friends is in trouble, and right now Rainbow Dash needs your help.”
Applejack could be a stubborn pony at times, but she could admit when a pony had her, and right now, she knew there was no way to argue with Twilight. If they didn’t help Rainbow she could be gone forever, and not having her at all was worse than having her as just a friend.
“You’re right, Twilight,” Applejack said, “Rainbow’s one of the most important ponies in my life, and nothin’ is gonna stop me from getting her back.”
“Thank you, Applejack, I know Rainbow would appreciate that,” Twilight said, placing a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder.
“And I’m sure everything will work out for you and Rainbow once all of this is cleared up,” Rarity added in a comforting tone.
“Ah don’t know ‘bout all that, Rarity,” Applejack replied, shaking her head, “but no matter what, Rainbow’s my friend, and it’s time to get that friend back.”
Anger and Sadness, having recently discussed their plans, decided it time to set off from their spot behind Quills and Sofas, and head to towards their objective, however it seemed to have slipped Anger’s mind how much her partner in crime was weighing her down.
“Come on, Sadness, we need to move!” Anger groaned, hovering a few feet off the ground, “the girls are already together so we need to move on to stage 2."
“I told you, I’m not very good at flying,” Sadness cried, lowering her head.
“Could you at least give it a try?” Anger asked impatiently.
Sadness sighed and raised her head, “…ok, I’ll try,” she said weakly. She flapped her wings repeatedly, giving herself a little distance from the ground.
“There, you’re up… now can we-” Anger stopped mid-sentence as Sadness crashed back down on the ground. Anger facehoofed so hard her face went almost as red as her hair, “Forget it, I’m carrying you.”
“But you’re always so rough,” Sadness moaned.
Anger wrapped hooves around Sadness and squeezed her unnecessarily tightly, “deal with it”. She began flapping her wings harder, lifting them both in the air and carrying them outside of town, “now we just have to hope no pony sees us leave, or the girls might find out what we’re up to.”
A few buildings down, two ponies were sitting down for lunch. Bon Bon had recently fallen asleep, leaving Lyra to her rambling. “…So then I turned to Vinyl and said ‘how can you say they’re not a couple? Look at them playing the piano together, making googly eyes and getting lovey dovey, it’s so obvious!’ Then she’s all ‘well me and Octavia-” Lyra cut herself off as she saw two nearly identical ponies flying out of town together, that’s when she remembered what Twilight had said earlier in the town centre.
“Bon Bon look, Dashs! Dashs!” Lyra yelled, waving her hoof wildly at the pegasi.
Bon Bon, now awoken by Lyra’s yelling, began to wipe the sleep from her eyes. “Are they friends of those human things you go on about?”
“No no no, the Rainbow dashs,” Lyra explained, “we better go find Twilight.” Lyra hooked her hoof around Bon Bon’s, and began dragging her off to find the purple alicorn.
“Remind me why I put up with you again?” Bon Bon sighed.
“I think it’s probably the flank,” Lyra giggled, “but dare I say it… my flank may not be the most important thing right now.”
Pinkie Pie galloped as quickly as she could to Fluttershy’s cottage, she leapt right over the small bridge and sudden stop at the front door. Probably shouldn’t go barging in, Fluttershy’s probably had enough scary stuff for one day, she reasoned.
Pinkie gently rapped on the door a few times and spoke in a loud whisper, “Fluttershy? You in there? It’s Pinkie.” After a minute of nothing Pinkie was about to knock again until the door creaked open slightly and Angel Bunny came hopping out.
“Angel, have you seen Fluttershy? Is she ok?” Pinkie asked.
Angel cautiously looked all around them, making sure there was nopony else nearby. He then swung the door completely open and gestured Pinkie inside. Pinkie, already being familiar with Fluttershy’s house, quickly went from room to room in a frenzied search to find her. Pinkie eventually came to a stop in Fluttershy’s bedroom upon finding a small bump under her bed sheets.
Pinkie laid herself down next to the bump, and gently placed a hoof on top of it, causing a small ‘eep’ to escape from the sheets occupant. “Hey, Fluttershy, it’s Pinkie… you ok in there?”
Fluttershy pulled the sheet off of herself just enough to reveal her muzzle and tear stained eyes, the two ponies maintained eye contact for a brief moment before Fluttershy buried her face into Pinkie’s shoulder.
Pinkie wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy’s neck and embraced her, should probably take that as a no… poor Fluttershy… Pinkie tightened her grip around Fluttershy … I’ll get whoever did this, nopony makes my Fluttershy cry.
“Fluttershy, do you think you could tell me what happened?” Pinkie asked, “A lot’s been going on today, so I could help explain something you might not understand.”
“I understand it perfectly, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said through sniffles and tears, “Rainbow Dash… hates me.”
“Hates you?” Pinkie asked, completely dumbfounded, “Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash could never hate you.”
“She does, Pinkie!” Fluttershy whimpered, “she told me she’s sick of me, that I just slow everyone else down… maybe I should just take her advice and shut up altogether…”
“Don’t do that, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, very alarmed, “I don’t think I could go on if I thought I could never hear your beautiful voice again.”
“You’re just saying that, Pinkie,” Fluttershy sighed, “I must have the most annoying, shrill voice ever.”
“No way, Fluttershy, your voice is angelic. When you speak, it’s like music to ears, don’t even get me started on how I feel when sing.”
Fluttershy gazed into Pinkie’s eyes, in them she saw nothing but sincerity and love, this brought a small smile to Fluttershy’s lips. “Oh, Pinkie…” she whispered, before giving Pinkie a gentle kiss on the lips.
The sound of someone clearing their throat brought Fluttershy and Pinkie’s attention to the door, there stood Spike, who looked very uncomfortable. “Um… should I come back…”
“N-no it’s ok, Spike,” Fluttershy stammered with embarrassment, “please come in.”
Spike turned his attention to Pinkie, “Have you explained what’s going on yet?” he asked.
“Uh… not yet,” Pinkie said, scratching the back of her neck, “I was just getting to it.”
“Just figured you’d kiss her first huh?” Spike asked with smirk.
“Wait, explain what? What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked in concern.
“It’s about Rainbow Dash, see she kind of got into an accident and split off into several ponies, some were nice, some were sad, and I think the one that you talked to earlier was a meanie Dash.”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “Pinkie, how much candy have you had today?”
“It’s true, Fluttershy,” Spike said, “Twilight was experimenting with a new spell when Rainbow accidently got caught in her magic. We’ve been spending the day trying to round them all up but I think we’re still missing a few.”
“So the Rainbow Dash that I talked to earlier… wasn’t really Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy concluded.
“Exactly, like I said, Rainbow Dash could never hate you,” Pinkie said reassuringly.
“I think we should get going, Twilight would probably want us to be as quick as possible.”
“Right… are you gonna be ok, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked.
“I guess so… but I think I’ll be better once I’m sure Rainbow Dash is herself again.”
