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Chapter 1: First Impressions

Rainbow dashed away with a cheerful grin spread across her face. In only a couple minutes, she had met a new friend, by crashing into her, hilariously ruined her new friend’s mane, and cleared out the skies in an outstanding record time.

While her first record for sky clearing was 11 seconds, she had claimed she could clear it in "ten seconds flat" as an exaggeration. But she was dealing with an uptight unicorn from Canterlot so she figured that this Twilight Sparkle girl would be exact about it. So the pegasus challenged herself to clear it in ten seconds. She succeeded, giving her a lasting smile from the experience.

After such a great triumph of beating her record, she decided to celebrate at her favorite place to eat. She sped toward Sugarcube Corner with a quickly fading rainbow trail following behind her. She was sure she heard people trying to say "Hi" to her, but she was going too fast for her to respond.

She quickly arrived at the frosting-covered Sugarcube Corner. She was attacked all at once by the smell of chocolate and coffee and soda and strawberry candies and bubble gum and cupcakes and countless other sweets to give her nose a sensation that made her feel like she was getting cavities.

Rainbow Dash proudly trotted to the counter surprised but pleased that there wasn't a line. She was greeted cheerily by the pony behind the counter. "Oh, hello there Rainbow Dash. How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing great Mrs. Cake. Have you seen Pinkie Pie around?" Rainbow Dash loved a celebration snack, but it was even better with a friend.

Mrs. Cake responded, "Actually, I heard her zoom in here rambling about some sort of weird surge and then a surprise party at the library in a couple hours. Typical Pinkie Pie."

Rainbow chuckled. "Yep. Typical Pinkie, alright. Wait a minute. Why would you throw a party at the library? And why would she do that on such short notice? She can't expect me to make it to her awesome parties if she doesn’t have me time to be ready."

"It has something to do with somepony from Canterlot. Apparently she's come over to check on the preparations for tomorrow." The next day was the Summer Sun Celebration. It was a huge honor to Ponyville that the celebration was going to take place there.

"Oh yeah, Twilight. Just saw her. Sort of an uptight purple unicorn. Needs to relax."

Mrs. Cake let out a light giggle. "Well we can't all be as laid-back as you, Dash. Did you want something?"

"Just the usual 2 pieces of Rainbow Taffy," the pegasus said as she put two bits on the table. Mrs. Cake was quick to deliver Rainbow her taffy on a Sugarcube Corner tray. Dash stomped the tray, launching the taffies skyward. As the candies fell downward into her mouth, Dash kicked the tray back onto the counter with style. "Thanks Mrs. Cake," she said as she trotted off chewing on sweet taffies.

Lucky for her, she didn't have any plans for the rest of the day, so she figured a Pinkie Pie party would be a blast. So she sped off to the library with the sweet taste in her mouth. Knowing Pinkie it would be a surprise party, so she kept her eyes open for the unicorn as she made her beeline. Nopony wanted a spoiled surprise.

Surprisingly, she could see a lot of Ponyville clearly despite her speed. She managed to catch a glimpse of most of Ponyville. She saw the fountain, Fluttershy's cottage, and Rarity's boutique. WHAM! She didn't see Rarity walk out into her path.

The world was spinning from the collision, but when she regained consciousness, she saw her friend laying on the ground seemingly untouched, but still freaking out. "Oh wonderful Rainbow Dash, I JUST got my mane cleaned, but now I have to fix it up all over again. Ugh, I can NOT go out into public like this."

Rainbow was annoyed at the pickiness of the unicorn, and partially withheld it. "It looks just fine Rarity. I'm sure Pinkie wouldn't mind a messy mane at a party. After all, after what I did to her guest, I’m sure she'll hardly notice a speck of dirt." She laughed at the memory of Twilight's hair.

Rarity sighed. "I should have guessed it was you who messed up her mane. It took me near forever to fix that up. And besides, even at a party, a fashionista must look her best. Especially when showing off her new designs."

The pegasus hit her face with her hoof. "Rarity, this is a party for the new girl, not a fashion show. Go easy on the clothes for once. Please."

The fashionista was about to make a statement when a thought caught her mid-sentence. She let out a sigh. "You're right." She quickly returned to her royal attitude. "But, I'm still going to wash my hair. I still have a reputation to uphold, you know."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Suit yourself," she said as she sped away, returning to the high-speed rush she was experiencing before her meeting with Rarity.

She quickly arrived at the library. It seemed as if Pinkie had invited all of Ponyville. There were at least 50 ponies, pegasi, or unicorns in the previously ignored library.

One voice from the crowd stood out. Most likely because its source seemed to teleport right next to her. "Hey Rainbow Dash! I’m so glad you could make it!" Pinkie Pie made her jump for surprise, but she quickly returned to a chilled composition.

"Of course! A party by Pinkie Pie is instantly awesome." The party was indeed awesome. It had everything: balloons, streamers, confetti, punch, a cake, and to top it all off, it takes place in a library, the most unexpected venue for a surprise party. This was a textbook example of a good party. But something bugged Rainbow Dash. Something seemed fishy.

"So why throw a special surprise party for the new girl if you hardly know her?"

Pinkie laughed. "Silly filly. Why wouldn't I throw a surprise party? You know I love to party!" She followed up with an adorable little grin that would make a grown colt squeal.

The pegasus was still suspicious. "Sorry, but I've known you long enough to know when you're hiding something," Rainbow Dash said accusingly.

The partying pony's grin turned into a more awkward one and deteriorated to a sigh. "Fine. But it's a huge secret. I can't have you telling ANYPONY."

“Um...I-”

“ANYPONY!”

"I promise," the pony with rainbow hair said as she leaned next to Pinkie Pie. The earth pony leaned into Rainbow Dash's face even closer to deliver the quietest sentence she had ever delivered.

"I think that new unicorn-"

Suddenly, the pink pony disappeared. It took a second for Rainbow Dash to realize she was gone since she thought Pinkie was just hesitant to respond. She looked up to realize her friend was gone.

Her head swung from left to right at a rapid pace, trying to find her friend in the huge crowd. Did she run off since she was too afraid to say anything? No. It couldn't be that. She didn't hear her galloping away, and Pinkie Pie wasn't exactly quiet.

Only seconds passed before the door swung open to reveal Pinkie Pie trotting into the party that she had just left. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped in shock. "How did...but...how..."

Pinkie sighed, "Sorry, I was about to say that the unicorn that came into town today put some kinda curse on me! I mean at least 6 times today I've been minding my own business when suddenly POOF! I’m somewhere else. I mean teleportation's cool and all, but I mean wouldn't it-"

"Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. Interrupting was sometimes the only way to keep a conversation with Pinkie Pie not one-sided. "So you're teleporting all of a sudden?"

The pink pony nodded. "Uh-huh. I can't control it."

Rainbow Dash was dazed by all of this, but still kept her head straight. "And what makes you think that Twilight Sparkle cursed you?"

"Well when we first met, she said 'Hi'. When she said 'Hi' I felt this weird tingling in my forehead, then I started to see weird colors like blue and olive and magenta and crimson and cerulean and lime green and-"

"Pinkie!"

"Sorry, so anyway, I saw the creepy colors and then a couple minutes later I teleported. I didn't even know why, but it happened."

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath trying to take it all in. "So...if Twilight laid a curse on you, then why are you throwing her a party?" She looked around at all of the decor set up for a unicorn that had cursed the hostess.

"Well when I had the curse laid on me, I sorta gasped and ran away. If she ever sees me again, which she will in a town this small, she'll ask me why I gasped, and then I’ll have to tell her that she cursed me, and then she’ll put ANOTHER curse on me. So when I throw this party, I'll tell her I gasped because I haven't seen her before even though I know everypony in Ponyville and I gasped so I could go throw this party."

This was a good alibi, Rainbow Dash thought. Pinkie Pie did know everypony in Ponyville so a party for the new pony made sense. And somepony like Pinkie would throw a party at any opportunity. "Why don't you tell her about your problem?"

The party pony let out another exasperated sigh. "I can't tell her that. That would make my first impression even worse than bad. And it's already bad. I mean, how would you like it if somepony walked up to you and said, 'Hey Rainbow! Sorry about gasping in your face then running earlier today. You accidentally laid a curse on me upon first meeting me. Want some punch?'"

Rainbow Dash understood. First impressions were super important, especially if you want to be friends with somepony for a long time. Pinkie Pie wanted to be friends with everypony, so that made first impressions even more important.

"So do you promise to keep it a secret?" The earth pony stared at her friend with puppy dog eyes.

It was Rainbow Dash's turn to sigh; she gave one so strong her eyes were shut. She was still trying to process it all. She opened her eyes to see she wasn't there, but across the room next to the window.

"Alright, here they come! Places everypony! Rainbow Dash! Hit the lights!"

Rainbow Dash took a second to respond, and then she laughed and turned off the lights.

------

Twilight Sparkle was upstairs apparently trying to get some sleep, while downstairs the party was at full momentum. Everypony was either dancing on the floor, drinking some punch, socializing with other ponies, or more than one of the above. Even Spike, the baby dragon assistant of the new unicorn, was dancing around with a lampshade on his head.

Rainbow Dash was talking with Pinkie Pie completely dismissing the curse madness up until this point. Rainbow Dash brought up the topic again. "Well, think about it, if you just keep teleporting without control she's bound to find out sooner or later."

"You're right. Either way, Twilight Sparkle doesn't seem like a bad pony, so I don't think she cursed me on purpose. It was probably just an accident."

"So, are we gonna tell her?"

Pinkie Pie paused for a second to think. Then she gave a happy smile. "I know! Maybe if I can control the teleportation thing, maybe I can use it as like a superpower. Maybe I could be SuperPinkie!"

"Hey! That’s a good idea! Twilight seems to be really smart with magic so maybe she can teach you when you tell her tomorrow."

Pinkie responded with a stare interrupted by a couple of blinks, as if she were thinking about it. "No way. She seems real nice and all, and she’d still be able to help me out, but if I work so hard to be friends with her, then I ask for help, then she’ll think I’m only her friend so she can help me."

"Well I guess that makes sense. So long as you can at least try to not teleport at a bad time." Rainbow Dash laughed. "Like when Celestia is presented tomorrow. What if you teleported behind the curtain and then when the curtain was pulled up..."

Pinkie Pie cut in, "Helllooooooo Equestria!"

The two friends laughed together at the hilarity of any possible outcome of Pinkie Pie's new ability, or disability.

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