MLP: Rainbow Favoured. Part 1

It was Tuesday morning, and a relatively peaceful one, as most of Ponyville's populous had decided to remain indoors for a majority of the weekend. A decent excuse for this behaviour stemmed from the abominable weather they were currently experiencing, as the town was relentlessly bombarded from the boiling heat wave.

Anypony that wasn't forced to resort to remain in their homes for protection were roaming Ponyville, searching for any additional means to cool themselves off. Most were submerging and relaxing in the public swimming pool, while others would visit the café for chilled drinks and cold snacks to consume.

And incidentally, whether by coincidence or mutual intent, five of the customers within this abnormally crowded café were none other than Pinkie Pie and her friends. Whatever the case, they each had come to the café with similar intent, and as they sat at their favourite table, they sought to down their respective drinks.

While they spent time drowning their thirsts, they would find time to chat about the abysmal weather along with other concerning matters, including the unknown whereabouts of their missing comrade Rainbow Dash, who was supposed to attend a demonstration for the Wonderbolts.

Soon enough, as if by fate's will, the five table members took notice of a newcomer approaching the main entrance, sporting a distinct blue coat and a multi-coloured mane.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash's here" Pinkie Pie beamed cheerfully, and the rest turned to welcome her with a series of smiles. However, the moment Rainbow Dash pushed passed the doors and entered inside the complex, their smiles immediately vanished. Rainbow approached the counter and bought herself a milkshake, before she exhaled angrily and approached the five's table. Curiosity overwhelmed Twilight as she soon felt obligated to question this behaviour.

"What's the matter with you?" Twilight asked smugly, a smile creeping across her cheeks from Rainbow Dash's frustration. "Greaah! I almost had it! And I would've, if not for this stupid heat wave!" the pegasus complained, and then she hung her head in shame and sighed. "Long story short… the demonstration was a disaster" she groaned under her breath as she sat between Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

Despite the intended pity this confession was supposed to provide her from her consultants, Pinkie Pie and the others couldn't help but stifle their contained laughter from her rather unsophisticated outburst. The group finally couldn't withstand the sensation and all simultaneously burst out laughing, and even Rainbow Dash, as peeved as she was, couldn't help but join them in their laugh.

However, as she and her friends laughed heartily at this misfortune, Pinkie Pie abruptly fell silent as her attention was diverted. A light buzzing sound filled her ears and she felt her head begin to throb. She gently laid her temple against her hooves in an attempt to quell the pain, though such proved utterly futile. Was it a headache? Whatever it was, it was slowly getting worse.

Applejack was the first to notice Pinkie's behaviour and asked curiously "Hey… Is somethin' wrong, Pinkie Pie?" This question went unnoticed by her obviously pained colleague, as the irritating buzzing rapidly became the only sound she could hear.

She sat against the backrest of her seat in silence, pressing her hooves against her forehead as hard as she could. This agony she was in was so completely unbearable, it had begun impairing her connection to reality. Her chest began unleashing bombarding waves of pain and her forehead was drenched in flowing sweat, while the rest of her body felt numb and lifeless.

However, after a few moments, she could hear another faint sound amidst the onslaught of unbearable noise, resembling some mismatched hybrid between an echo and a whisper. This alienating sound seemed rather distant, as if the source of the noise was vocally restrained in some manner.

From within the random jumble of chittering and scraping that rang in her ears, the faint whisper of "Pinkie Pie… Hello… Pinkie Pie…" echoed in a repetitive fashion. Pinkie could think about nothing else but this foreign whisper as it began blaring within her head, growing louder and more excruciating by the second.

For what felt like a millennia, Pinkie Pie endured this audiological torment, and she was left powerless to stop it. Eventually, the horrendous throbbing thankfully began to fade, and Pinkie slowly began regaining her original composure. Her hearing was first to return in full, only to be bombarded by panicked screams and shouts from her long neglected observers.

"Pinkie Pie?! Hello?! Pinkie Pie!?", "Pinkie Pie, Wake Up!" and "Pinkie Pie, are you okay?!" all rang deeply into her eardrums, almost as painfully as the prior sound that had done so. Nevertheless, she had to end this auditory onslaught.

"Ugh… I'm…" she managed to force from her strained lungs, before she lost her voice from exhaustion. She soon regained her sense of touch, and soon realised she was still seated in the café. She leaned back against the backrest and groaned in discomfort, attempting to find the most comfortable position to aid in regaining her prior status.

"Oh my- Are you alright, Pinkie Pie!?" yelled an agitated Rainbow Dash frantically. Pinkie slowly leaned forward, soon feeling two pairs of arms supporting her form from both sides. "Yeah, uh… I… don't know. What happened?" she muttered breathlessly.

"Uh, well… You kinda went weird on us. Twilight thought you were having a fit" Fluttershy explained. "Ack! Don't tell her that!" Twilight shouted, slapping Fluttershy's mouth shut to keep her from continuing this explanation.

This reaction was quickly forgotten by all and redirected towards subject material, her eyes opening slightly to regain her vision. "I dunno what happened… I just had a headache, and then all I could hear was a buzzing noise" Pinkie explained, "Uh… Well, it's fine now. I think I'm just feeling a bit tired. I haven't been getting a lot of sl-".

Everything instantly went black.

Blackness had consumed. Her mind was clouded. She couldn't think properly. She couldn't move, she couldn't hear or see anything. This purgatory she was engulfed in had taken her from the real world for what felt like an eternity.

"…ie…"

A sound; at long last, a sound.

"…ake u…"

Again, the sound of a voice filled her ears; but unfortunately, she couldn't recognise it.

"…re you awa…"

By this time, she felt her body begin regaining its former strength, and her eyes slowly opened, only to be met with bright, blinding light. On instinct, she shut them immediately.

"WAKE UP!"

"Ughhh…" she grunted breathlessly, opening her eyes a second time and scanning her gaze over her surroundings, and immediately recognised the room by its plain white walls and the sound of beeping monitors.

She struggled to lean up from her ward bed and looked around the hospital ward, finding nopony in her line of sight, and prepared to step out of the ward bed. Suddenly she was stopped when grabbed by the arm from behind, before a familiar voice whispered "Wait! Stay in bed, Pinkie Pie". Pinkie Pie turned to smile at the purple unicorn, who called out "Hey, girls! Pinkie Pie's awake again!"

"She is?!" cried multiple different, yet recognisable voices from across the room. Pinkie Pie turned to face the source as she lay her head against the pillow again. Twilight gave a loving smile to her bedbound colleague as she placed a hoof in her mane and stroked it gently.

Pinkie Pie returned the smile as she looked ahead towards the doorway, finding Fluttershy entering and approaching her bedside. Soon enough Applejack and Rarity followed afterwards and had surrounded Pinkie Pie, who was mentally preparing herself to any their oncoming questions.

"Pinkie Pie, are ya alright?" Applejack asked with genuine concern. "Ugh… What… happened to me this time?" Pinkie Pie asked weakly, barely able to turn her head to face them. "We don't know! You fainted in the café and you wouldn't wake up!" Fluttershy answered, "Twilight said we should take you here".

Pinkie Pie fixed her single open eye on Twilight and smiled weakly at her, who blushed from this unforeseen attention. "W-well it seemed like the best idea" Twilight stammered nervously. Pinkie Pie laid her head on the pillow and sighed comfortably.

"I just wonder what the heck happened" Rarity stated with her arms raised, "At first you looked like you were about to pass out, and then you went back to normal, and then passed out anyway!"

"Pinkie Pie probably had a stroke" Twilight explained to the group, "Probably from how hot it is outside". Pinkie Pie thought for a moment, her knowledge of pony biology being fairly limited.

She began saying "That… makes sense" before losing her voice, coughing harshly as she couldn't gather enough strength to sit up from the bed. "Don't say anything, Pinkie Pie" Twilight instructed as she held her hoof against Pinkie's chest, "We'll help you get home". With Applejack and Fluttershy on either side of her, Pinkie Pie stepped out from her bed and staggered wearily towards the door.

"Where's Rainbow Dash?" she asked, curious of the missing member of their group. Twilight and Applejack looked to eachother and frowned sternly, before Twilight answered "She had a meltdown and stormed off after we brought you here". "What? She must be pretty angry, then" Pinkie Pie stated, Applejack replying "Well, she has had a lot of stress building up in her today".

The group of four carefully approached the main entrance with their fatigued friend following not far behind. As they left the building, they were pleased to find that the intense heat had relented, leaving a comfortable temperature to compensate.

While the rest of the group felt relieved from this revelation, Pinkie Pie was all but invigorated by the cooler temperature. She felt her strength returning as she managed to maintain a fluent motion while she walked. She relieved a blissful sigh as she exclaimed "Wow! I feel better already!", Twilight smiling to her and replying "That should make it easier to get back to Sugarcube Corner".

Eventually, Sugarcube Corner loomed into the group's line of sight, and Pinkie Pie ecstatic to return home. However, as she made her way with her friends to the front door, she suddenly lost all strength in her body and she collapsed forward.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash gasped as she quickly caught her, all while Twilight helped to stand her up and keep her steady. "Pinkie Pie, tell me! Are you okay?!" Rainbow Dash asked fearfully, Pinkie Pie opening her eyes and answering "No… don't feel… good…" before swooning unsteadily.

"I'll carry you, Pinkie Pie. Get ready" Twilight offered as her horn glowed a light shade of orange. Before Pinkie Pie could respond, had she been capable of doing so, she felt her body's mass decrease instantly as she levitated into the air. Pinkie Pie knew not to do anything while in this state and remained unmoving, allowing Twilight to concentrate as they approached the front door.

Applejack opened the door for the rest of the group and Twilight entered first, carrying Pinkie Pie upstairs and into her bedroom. Finally, she placed Pinkie Pie on her bed as the latter squirmed and fidgeted weakly from her physical state.

"How are you feeling?" Twilight asked as the rest of the group entered the room. Pinkie Pie grunted feebly before opening her eyes, answering "Feeling better now… relaxed". Twilight smiled as she answered "By the way, can I just mention how hard it was for me to carry you?" with a smug grin.

Pinkie Pie lifted her head and tilted it in confusion, "Why? Couldn't you concentrate or something?" she asked before suddenly realising her meaning. From it, she pulled a stern glare towards Twilight, who was giggling alongside the others.

Pinkie Pie lay her head back against the pillow and relieved an irritated sigh, "Very funny…".

Pinkie Pie spent the rest of her morning and much of her afternoon in her home, slowly recuperating from her experience and remaining wary of overtaxing actions. She spent the morning remaining in her bedroom, but she eventually believed herself capable during the course of the afternoon.

She steadily returned to her energetic lifestyle, delightfully bounding throughout the household and preparing pastries and snacks for her store. Since her return home, she hadn't any sudden fits of fatigue and felt much closer to how she did earlier this morning, and the decreasing outside temperature acted as her reassurance for this fact.

Soon enough, the doorbell rang, but Pinkie Pie didn't need to speculate who was visiting. Her friends decided to leave her to recuperate for the day, and promised to return and check on her at a later time. She stood before the front door and opened it for her guests, smiling as she counted them off.

Twilight stepped inside first and greeted "Hey, Pinkie Pie! It's good to see you're looking better" before Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack followed after her. Pinkie Pie's smiled faltered at the absence of Rainbow Dash, but simply shrugged and shut the door. "Is there anything I can get you girls?" Pinkie Pie offered, Twilight and the others each pausing to consider their requests.

"Have ya got any cider?" Applejack asked with a hopeful smile, "They didn't have any in the café". Pinkie Pie shook her head, replying "No. But I do have Milkshakes and Sundaes". Applejack's smile disappeared as she sighed "Aw… But in that case, I'll have a chocolate sundae". "I'll have the same" Twilight intervened, Pinkie Pie smiling as she shouted "Coming right up!" before rushing of into the kitchen.

Within an astounding ten seconds, both ponies suddenly found themselves enjoying their ordered sundaes. "So how are you feeling so far?" Fluttershy asked curiously, Pinkie Pie simply shrugging and replying "A ton better than I did this morning! That rest really did make a huge difference".

"I thought it would" Twilight answered confidently, before she added "And besides, I thought it would be better than spending the day in that hospital bed". Pinkie cringed playfully as she exclaimed, "Tell me about it! I felt like I was sleeping on a pile of sandbags".

Twilight chuckled and concluded "In any case, I'm glad to see you've recovered. I had a feeling if anypony could recover from a stroke so quickly, you certainly could".

As Pinkie Pie heard this, her smile descended as she held her arm sheepishly, "Girls. I hope you realise how grateful I am for all of this". "Gal, please! That's what we do for friends!" Applejack replied, but Pinkie Pie shook her head and continued "No, I'm serious! I really appreciate all of this!"

Twilight tilted her head and asked "Why? We just did what we do all the time" before Pinkie answered "But you girls would always help me when I needed it… but you girls". Pinkie Pie fell silent for a moment, "… never usually need my help with anything".

"Well, what did you expect? You're useless to us".

Pinkie Pie's eyes immediate gaped open in astonishment as she turned to Twilight. What? What did she just say to her? That was possibly the rudest thing she had ever heard said about her. Why would Twilight say something so hurtful right in front of her?

"No kiddin'" Applejack began, "How come Pinkie Pie is allowed to do nothing useful while we do all the work?!" Pinkie Pie opened her mouth to speak, but found herself speechless from this banter. "And then Pinkamena! Pinkie Pie's just allowed to hurt us whenever she gets a little angry?! What the heck is wrong with you, Pinkie Pie?!"

"What?" Pinkie muttered in a mere whisper, incapable of comprehending what she was hearing from her own friends. Rarity stepped forward and demanded "Shut up, Pinkie Pie! You don't have a say in this… or anything for that matter. You don't do enough to deserve any recognition".

Pinkie stepped back and trembled fearfully, "Y-you… don't actually mean that… do you, girls?" Twilight stared down upon the cowering Pinkie Pie, "Don't you dare believe otherwise, Pinkie Pie. I know it's the truth, and you know it too!" Pinkie Pie could no longer handle this, and finally fell to the floor and curled up in a fit of dismay.

Pinkie Pie knew that she couldn't escape this, and that she wasn't even hiding, but she refused to face her friends after what they had said about her. She knew that her four friends were still standing above her, possibly watching her in expectation of a change in activity.

She knew that no matter how hurtful their words were, there was a sense of validation to them. And above all, she knew that deep down, in the deepest pit of her heart, she really was just useless. Suddenly, upon contemplating these thought, Pinkie Pie no longer felt the need to hide from her friends.

Pinkie Pie stood up from the floor, her head lowered and a plain expression on her face. Her eyes were shut and her breath was fluent. Pinkie Pie felt calm and relaxed from this sensation she felt, as if she was being embraced by a warm blanket and given to option to sleep.

The world around her seemed to fade into a mere memory as she allowed herself to succumb to this state of slumber. However, her body was still functioning, despite what Pinkie Pie was aware of. Her body opened its eyes to reveal a sinister glare, and her teeth clenched tightly with rage.

"The April Fool's prank…" Pinkie Pie's mouth spoke through her clenched teeth, "Rainbow Dash's apology… Everything that you all did for her…". Twilight and Applejack tilted their heads in a synchronised fashion as Pinkie Pie lowered into a crouched position. "All of it! It was all just one big joke!" Pinkie Pie shouted, before releasing a bestial growl as she leapt at her four observers.

Before she could react, Applejack felt herself stumble backwards and collapse against the floor. Dazed from the impact, she wearily stared upwards towards her attacker, who returned a cold stare to her victim.

"You've all really crossed the line".

To be continued…