Whoosh.

The white and gossamer clouds dissipated as a streak of irradiant rainbow shot through them. The figure controlling the prismatic stream  abruptly made a 90-degree turn, heading directly for another cluster of clouds. It, too, exploded as soon as it made contact with the colorful line. Another dispersion followed after another until the sky was completely cleared. No clouds remained in Ponyville.

The pegasus pony that had created the multicolored streaks of light dove downwards, but she swiftly tilted up just before she landed. A cheer rang out nearby. A jubilant pink pony bounced toward the smug mare.

"That was amazing, Dashie!" squealed Pinkie Pie. She had been keeping track of the time it took Rainbow Dash to fully clear the sky. Rainbow had always claimed that she could clear the sky easily in ten seconds flat. Pinkie had volunteered to verify if this was true.

"Aw, that was nothing," said Rainbow Dash, broadening her chest at the compliment. "What was my time? I'll bet you it was ten seconds flat!"

"Even better!" Pinkie rushed next to Rainbow, showing her the stopwatch. "You got nine seconds and 420 milliseconds! That's really fast, Dash!" Pinkie grinned at her friend, but she was startled when she saw Rainbow's face fall.

"Oh," Rainbow remarked dejectedly. Pinkie, who thought that her friend would be glad to hear that she had been faster than she had claimed, suddenly became worried.

"Is there a problem, Dashie?" asked Pinkie.

"Well... It's just that then I won't be able to brag to other ponies that I can clear the sky in ten seconds flat without lying."

Pinkie, who thought that the issue had been dire, regained her jubilance quickly. "Oh! Well, that doesn't matter, Rainbow! You could always say that you can clear the sky in 9.42 seconds!" She puffed up her chest and imitated her friend. "I can clear the sky in 9.42. Seconds. Flat."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "That doesn't have quite a ring to it."

"You can always try later, Dashie!"

"But how long will it take for the clouds to come back? Probably a few hours, maybe."

Pinkie thought for a moment. "Well, then, are you busy for the afternoon? We could go to Sugarcube Corner! We made a fresh new batch of cupcakes this morning!" She made puppy-eyed faces as Rainbow Dash contemplated the offer.

"Well, I don't have anything else to do for the rest of the afternoon, so I guess I could -" Rainbow said before she was cut off. The pink mare grabbed her companion, carrying her off of her hooves, and galloped toward the bakery at lightning speed.

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random," chuckled Rainbow Dash.

On the other side of Town Square, two ponies trudged along the pavement. They were both stallions; one of them was yellow with a brilliantly golden mane, and the other was blue with a strikingly purple mane. They conversed quietly with each other as if somepony was following them, eavesdropping on them.

"So what do you think of my plan?" queried the yellow earth pony named Flash Light.

His pegasus roommate, Aerial Spark, who preferred to go by the name "Spark," stared at him as if he had absolutely lost his mind.

"Run into the bank, ask for the money, take the money, say thanks, then run back out?" he repeated what Flash had said, hoping that his ears had betrayed him.

Flash nodded idiotically.

"That's... that's bullshit," began Spark. "How the hell can you even call that a plan? We're not gonna ask for money. We have to take it. Besides, what if they shoot us? We'd be dead meat in seconds."

The golden stallion cowered in shame. Spark continued to stride forward with a furiously determined expression. "We really need the money. You know how it feels like to live a mediocre life in a cramped apartment, right? Well, as I've said millions of times before, I'm not taking it anymore. We're gonna open a big business and make a shitload of money."

Flash nodded timidly in agreement.

Spark continued with his monologue. "Whatever we do, whether it be legal or not, we're gonna need a lot of money to start a business. Soon. All we need is a Celestia-damned plan on how the hell we're gonna pull that off."

His roommate trotted up from behind. His head lifted up as if an ingenious idea popped into his head and grinned. "I know! We should go to Sugarcube Corner! I always go there whenever I'm depressed or don't have any ideas!"

Spark tried, with difficulty, not to blow his temper in the middle of the crowded streets of Ponyville. He attempted to contain his fury in several comical but cathartic ways, such as slamming his head on a nearby wall. In the end, he managed to cool down. He gave in.

"Okay, fine. We'll just take a short break. But only for -" said Spark before being interrupted. Flash picked him off of his hooves and carried him to Sugarcube Corner in an instant. Spark sighed in frustration.

"May the goddesses damn this confounded pony to a thousand years to the moon."

"C'mon, we need to think of a plan." Flash looked up. "A good one." finished Spark. Hearing this, Flash looked back down and continued to devour his cupcake. Spark exasperatedly sighed and turned away, repulsed by the way his roommate ravenously consumed the treat.

"You know, you would think that a pony named 'Flash Light' would actually be somewhat bright."

Flash looked up from his cupcake and smirked. "Well, at least I'm not named 'Aeri-'"

Spark rose from his seat aggressively and leaned forward, his snout pressing onto his companion's. "Don't. Talk. About. My. Motherfucking. Name. Ever."

Flash cowered in fear, dropping his cupcake on the table.

"Well... we could force somepony else to do the job. We could just stay back and watch as they take the money and give it to us," he said, their snouts still touching.

Spark thought about this suggestion for a moment and leaned back into his seat. Flash sighed in relief.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," said the blue stallion.

Surprised by his reaction, his roommate struggled for a follow-up. "Um... Oh! I know! We could strap a bomb to the pony and threaten to detonate it if he doesn't do what we tell 'im to do! Everypony's afraid of bombs, right? And since nopony uses bombs here, they won't be able to get it off! I know a guy that works with bombs. I can change it up a little and strap it onto our pony!"

Spark's eyes glimmered as gears started turning in his mind. "Interesting... But there's just one problem: Where the hell do we get our pony? We need somepony fast, somepony who's clueless enough to trick so that we can use him to our advantage."

As if on cue, Rainbow Dash walked right past their table. "Well, I'll go on ahead, Pinkie. Let's keep practicing after you take care of your customers."

A muffled "okay" emanated from behind the counter. Rainbow sped out the door fast, sending a powerful breeze throughout the shop. Flash and Spark looked at each other.

Spark turned back to the wide-open door in awe. "Sometimes fate pulls out his big ol' cock and slaps you right in the face." Next Chapter: Chapter 2 Estimated time remaining: 14 Minutes