I’m flying through the air! The wind is flowing through my feathers and my mane as I fly across the blue, cloudless sky. It feels amazing!
Looking around, above, and below me, I see nothing but sky.
“...”
I want to go faster.
“...”
I flap my wings really hard and fast, and the wind blows harder on my face.
“...”
Tilting my wings, I try to turn fast the way Daddy does when I watch him. Except, he makes it look easy. Angling my wings seems to work, so I make a couple of little circles and stuff.
“D…”
I do loopy-loops like the Wonderbolts until I get dizzy. Loopy-loops are really fun!
“Da…”
Suddenly, I am closing in on a big, poofy cloud. The wind blows on my face as I angle myself toward the cloud.
“...sh…”
I smash through the cloud like… a cookie! The cloud breaks into more pieces than I can count before it disappears.
“...ie…”
I see a huge crowd far below me! Their cheers reach my ears.
“Dashie!” they yell.
I do some more loopy-loops and circles, and then I do zig-zags and anything else I can think of.
“Dashie!” they chant. “Dashie!”
Looking down, I see the ponies jumping up and down excitedly. I smile and wave to the crowd.
“Dashie!” they yell.
I like flying!
“Dashie?”
Wait… that doesn’t sound like a crowd of ponies…
“Time to wake up, Dashie…”
Opening my eyes, I see nothing but blurry-ness. I rub my eyes and blink them. Slowly my Mommy’s face forms in my view, except she’s sideways. Silly Mommy, she always does that in the morning.
“Good morning, Dashie,” says Mommy softly, nudging me carefully.
Mommy always wakes me up in the morning, except when she doesn’t, then she doesn’t.
“Morn…ing, Mommy,” I yawn.
“Did you sleep well?” she asks, giving my mane a stroke.
Nodding slowly, I yawn again.
“Are you excited for today?” Mommy asks, giving my head another soft pet.
“Yes! Yes! Yes...” I say. “So sited! Uhhh… why, Mommy?”
“Don’t you remember what day it is?” she asks, grinning like she always does when she is hiding a secret from me.
“No,” I reply, rubbing my eyes again. For some reason I know that today is special, but I can’t remember why.
“Well… today just happens to be a very special day, Dashie,” she whispers.
“What day?” I ask.
“Are you sure you don’t remember?” Mommy asks, still smiling.
“Uhhhh… no? Wait... yes… don’t remember,” I mumble. “Tell me,” I demand.
“Well…” says Mommy really slowly. “Today… is… a… very… special… day… that… you… enjo-”
“Tell me,” I say, stomping my hoof on the bed. I’m trying to remember why today is special, but I still can’t! Mommy says my brain is soup in the morning sometimes.
“You’ve been looking forward to it all year–”
“Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” I demand again, frowning. Sometimes my parents like to tease me. This is one of those times, and I don’t like it. I hate it more than losing a game of Monopoly.
I freeze. “Today… Hearth’s Warming?”
“Yup,” says Mommy, her smile getting even bigger. “That’s right, Dashie.”
My smile starts off small but gets so big it hurts my cheeks. “Hearth’s Warming?!” I yell excitedly, standing up in my bed. “With the presents, and the family, and the friends!?”
Mommy nods, still smiling.
A buzzing sound fills the room, it takes me a second to realize that it is the sound of my wings flapping with excitement. Wait a second… my wings slow down as I remember something from last night. “Mommy? Where’s Daddy?” I ask. He told me that he was going wake me up in the morning, so I’m starting to wonder where he is.
Mommy hesitated, her ears wilted and her smiled faded. “Your Daddy had to go into work today. His boss stopped by early this morning and said that one of the workers who was scheduled for today had a… boo-boo and couldn’t make it,”
I sit down on my rump and widen my eyes. “Daddy not here?” I ask.
“No, Dashie, he’s not here,” says Mommy putting a few of my toys back in my toy box.
“Where Daddy?” I ask sadly.
“He’s at work, Dash.” Mommy frowns and picks up an old toothbrush with her teeth.
“But why?” I ask as she throws it in the garbage can. I’m a big filly now and don’t even complain when Mommy throws away my toothbrush.
“Dash…” Mommy sighs, “I told you, his boss came for him.”
“But why Daddy gone?” I ask, watching her put another of my toys away.
“I already told you, he’s at work because a pony had a boo boo,” says Mommy.
“But, Daddy said—”
“Yes, I know what he said, he told me that too,” says Mommy quickly.
“But Daddy never lies,” I protest.
“Just—” starts Mommy.
“So why Daddy not here?” I ask again.
“Can you be quiet for just one second?” yells Mommy, throwing a sock at my hamper.
Tears start leaking down my face, and I start to cry. I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong! Why did Mommy yell?
Mommy quickly walks forward and jumps on the bed. She wraps me in her warm forelegs and her soft wings. “I’m so so sorry, Dashie,” coos Mommy, gently rocking me back and fourth.
“Mommy?” I sob.
“I’m so very sorry. I just –” Mommy sighs softly and nuzzles me with her wet face “– really miss Storm, and I took it out on you. Can you forgive me, Dashie?”
“O-kay,” I sniff, wiping my muzzle on Mommy soft chest.
Mommy kisses the top of my head. “Thank you, Dashie,” she says. “And I’m sure that Daddy will be home before we know it.”
“Really?” I ask.
Mommy nods a little.
I sigh and snuggle in closer to Mommy.
Mommy just holds me in her hooves for a while, rocking me slowly. Eventually I stop crying, so I wipe my eyes with my hooves, getting them a bit damp.
My ear is pressed up against Mommy’s chest; I hear a funny growling sound coming from her. I giggle, I know that sound. “Mommy hungry!” I laugh. My tummy growls too a second later, giving me tummy pains.
“Sounds like we could both use some breakfast,” chuckles Mommy.
“Yup!” I reply, nodding.
Mommy sets me down on the bed then gets off of the bed. “Come on then, Dashie,” she calls over her shoulder, starting to trot out of the room
“Coming!” I yell, jumping onto the floor. I follow Mommy out of the room, watching her blue tail swishing in front of me. A big grin forms on my face.
I jump onto her tail and wrap my hooves around it. “Go!” I yell, biting down on it.
“Dash!” yelps Mommy, turning around to look at me.
“Go!” I yell again, my voice muffled by Mommy’s tail.
“Oh, Dashie…” sighs Mommy, turning to face away from me.
She grunts a little as she starts to walk forward again.
“Faster, Mommy, faster!” I yell through her tail.
Her wings start flapping slowly, and I quickly slide across the cloud. We get to the stairs and Mommy stops. “That’s far enough,” she says.
“No,” I tell her, “all the way!”
Mommy looks at me again. She looks at the stairs and stomps her hoof in it a couple of times, making the “poof” sound. “Seems soft enough, I mean, they’re clouds…” she mutters. She waits for a few seconds. “Hang on to me really tight,” Mommy says.
I reply by nodding.
“Here we go!”
“Weeeeeeee!” I yell as Mommy starts slowly walking down the stairs. “Wee-E-ee-E-ee-E-ee-E-ee-E-ee,” I yell happily, letting go of Mommy’s tail while my rump bounces off of the soft cloud stairs. This is really fun! I should do this more!
I’m having so much fun that I let go of Mommy’s tail with my hooves and stick them straight up in the air.
Uh-oh.
Because I’m yelling and putting my forelegs in the air, I forgot something important. I’m not holding onto Mommy anymore.
“Ahh-A-hh-A-hh-A-hh!” I see my forehooves, then my hindhooves, then my tail, and then everything all over again; I stop moving and lay on my side, but everything else is still moving. Especially Mommy. She is moving sideways and up and down and backwards and towards me all at the same time!
“Dash! Rainbow Dash! Are you all right?!” Mommy says, gently standing me up on my hooves with her forelegs. “Answer me!” she commands in a worried voice, her swirling, moving eyes staring into mine.
“Again! Again!” I yell, raising my forehooves in the air, but I’m so dizzy that I fall over backwards! “Again, Mommy!” I giggle, looking at the room through my dizzy, upside-down vision.
Mommy sighs a huge sigh as she picks me up in her forelegs and nuzzles my cheek softly. “I knew that was a bad idea,” she says, hugging me to her chest. She jumps into the air and hovers into the kitchen with me still clutched in her hooves.
“But Mooommmmy!” I whine. “I want again!” My eyes are still really dizzy, and the house is spinning around as Mommy flies over to the table. But that just makes me want to do it again even more!
Mommy buckles me into my booster seat and replies, “I should never have done that in the first place, so I will never be doing that again.”
“Awwwwwww… no fun...” I grumble.
“It’s for your own good, Dash,” says Mommy, getting something out of the pantry.
“No fun,” I huff.
Mommy puts a bowl of sliced fruit on the table in front of me. “What do you say?” she asks.
“Stairs again,” I demand, crossing my forelegs in front of my chest.
Mommy pushes the fruit closer to me, so I turn my head away and push it back. “Stairs!” I want to play on the stairs! Why doesn’t she understand that?
“Will you eat your food if I let you play on the stairs again?” Mommy asks.
I nod, still not looking at her.
A really big, long sigh comes from Mommy. “Fine,” she groans. “I’ll go soften up the clouds a bit while you eat.”
Turning around, I watch her leave the room. I turn my attention to my food and rub my hooves together expectantly. My tummy growls again. This is going to taste really good! Especially because after this, I get to play on the stairs!
I reach forward to get my food but come up short, my hoof just touches the edge of the bowl. My forelegs are too short because of the booster seat! I stick my head as far forward as I can, feeling my muzzle touch the edge of the plastic bowl. Sticking my tongue out, I lick the side of the bowl. I push myself as far out of the seat as I can and lick the bowl again. I’m still not long enough.
Tilting my head to the side and sticking my tongue out again, I angle it downward and hook it around the rim then slowly pull it towards me. Almost… almost… yes! The food gets close enough for me to grab it in my hooves, so I slide it closer.
Reaching in the bowl, I pull out a slice of the fruit. It’s all orange-y colored and kinda filled with tiny lumps that you can’t feel. Orange isn’t my favorite, but it’s okay. Daddy really likes these, though. The juice dribbles down my chin as I eat the Orange. “Mmmm…” I say, closing my eyes. They’re actually pretty good.
“Are you almost done, Dashie?” asks Mommy suddenly.
“Pbbbbbbbbbt!” I yell, spraying half-chewed orange out of my mouth.
“Dash…” Mommy sighs.
Opening my eyes, I see orange-ness all over Mommy’s unhappy face. “Oopsie,” I giggle.
Mommy smiles and shakes her head. She walks over to the sink and grabs a towel. She rubs her face all over the towel, then she puts some water on it and wipes her face again. She sets down the cloth and walks back over to me. “I guess I asked for that, huh?” she asks.
“Yup! Stairs now?” I ask.
“All right, Dashie, we’ll do the stairs now,” says Mommy.
“Yay! Yay! Yay!” I cheer.
Mommy comes over and unbuckles me. As soon as I’m free, I jump onto the cloud and race to the stairs. But as soon as I try to climb up, my hooves get stuck in the first step! “Mommy!” I yell over my shoulder, trying to pull my hooves out.
“I’m coming,” she says, walking out of the kitchen. She grabs the back of my neck and pulls me out of the cloud. She flies to the top of the stairs and sets me down. “All right, Dashie, the clouds are really soft now, but I’ll still catch you when you reach the bottom, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy!”
Mommy flies back downstairs and stands at the bottom of the steps. “Whenever you’re ready,” she calls, grabbing a large, pillow-sized cloud in her hooves and holding it in front of her.
I take a few steps back, then run forward! “Weeeeeeeeee!” I yell, jumping in the air. But when I land on the steps they squish into a slide! “Weeeee!” I squeal, closing my eyes and huddling into a ball. Then all of a sudden, “poof!”
Opening my eyes, I see nothing but cloud. I uncurl myself and stick my head up and out of the cloud-pillow. “Hi, Mommy!” I say, inches from Mommy’s face.
“Well hello to you too, Dashie,” says Mommy, giggling slightly.
I feel a little tickle on my nose, so I wiggle it back and fourth. Crossing my eyes, I see a little tuft of cloud on the tip of my blue nose. “Lluh,” I grunt, sticking out my tongue and licking it off. Clouds taste funny.
Mommy laughs and nuzzles my cheek.
The sound of the door-ringer-noisy-thingy goes off. “Who could that be?” Mommy says quietly, in the ‘I’m talking out loud but not to you’ voice.
I stick my hooves out of the side of the cloud-pillow and roll onto them, breaking free of Mommy’s grip. “Beep beep! I’m a cloud!” I yell, running towards the door.
“Come back here this instant, Dash!”
“No! I’m the umn-catch-ible cloud!”
“Stop running with that cloud or you’ll trip!” she yells from behind me.
This is really fun! I soon reach the door with Mommy chasing me. I know she is chasing me because I can hear her hooves “poofing” all over the cloud behind me.
All of a sudden, I trip on something. My face ends up in the cloud next to my hooves. “Poof!” goes my face when it hits the cloud. A pair of warm forelegs wrap around me and pull me to my hooves. Then Mommy pulls the cloud off of me with a quiet “pop”, making me giggle. Clouds make funny sounds!
Looking over my shoulder, I see Mommy crush the cloud in between her forehooves. “I told you that you’d trip, Dash. That’s why you have to listen to me when I tell you to stop,” she says.
The door-ringer-noisy-thingy goes off again. “Door!” I tell her, pointing at the door.
Mommy puts her hoof to her face and sighs. “We’re not finished here,” she says, walking towards the door.
Finished? Finished where? What is Mommy talking about? I was just having fun. Mommy is silly sometimes. Maybe she’s saying I can do it again!
Mommy reaches the door and opens it slowly. Then Daddy walks in! “Daddy!” I yell, running toward him. When I get close enough, I jump in the air and smack into his big, strong chest.
“Ooof,” say Daddy, wrapping a foreleg around me and hugging me. He kisses the top of my head and chuckles, “Good morning to you too, Dashie.”
“What are you doing home so early?” asks Mommy, smiling. Daddy hugs me a bit closer and I nuzzle into him.
“Well,” says Daddy, his chest rumbling against my head. “I may not have told the whole truth…” he says sheepishly.
“Do explain,” she says quietly, starting to frown.
“Well, you see… I had this great idea late last night, but I had to lie a bit for it to work, as well as convince my boss to help me out a little,” Daddy says, gently petting my mane.
“You have ten seconds,” says Mommy, in her ‘you’re going to bed early’ voice. It’s a very serious voice, and I don’t like it.
Daddy sets me down next to his foreleg. Now I can see the expression on Mommy’s face, and it’s really scary. That’s a ‘no desert and bedtime early’ face. I shiver and cuddle up against Daddy’s foreleg. “Hear me out; I had to make a surprise for our little Dashie this year.”
Mommy’s face doesn’t change a bit. “What’s surprise?” I ask.
“And,” says Daddy, making me frown by ignoring me. “I invited her best friend to help her play with the gift, as a matter of fact, she should be here soon.”
I have a friend coming over?! “Which one?” I ask, both of them still ignoring me.
“You lied to me,” says Mommy.
“Not intentionally!” Daddy protested.
“How was telling me that you were going to miss Hearth’s Warming this morning an unintentional lie?”
“I didn’t think you were going to wake up before I left, so I panicked!”
Mommy face make a bunch of weird looks. She slowly walks up to Daddy and then she picks up her foreleg. She carefully looks at the bottom of her hoof and brushes it off with her other forehoof. Then she smacks Daddy in the face!
“That was for lying to me,” she says as Daddy rubs his cheek.
“Sorry…” Daddy mumbles.
“Why would you ever think that lying to me was a good idea? And saying you would miss Hearth's Warming with us? Did you think that I couldn’t keep a secret or something?” Mommy asks Daddy angrily.
I don’t like it when Mommy and Daddy argue, it makes me feel like crying
Daddy looks down at me and pats my head, then he motions Mommy closer. He whispers something in her ear. She slowly smiles. “Really?” she asks.
Daddy nods. “So…” he begins hesitantly, “do the ends justify the means?”
“We’ll see.”
“Also… you should hit me again, it’s kinda nice. Not now though. Like, later, in the bedr—”
“Stooorm!” Mommy warns, nudging her head towards me.
“Right, sorry. Dash, pretend you didn’t hear that,” says Daddy, looking down at me.
“Huh?” I ask, meeting his eyes.
The flapping of wings behind me makes me turn around. Two pegasi, a light pink, almost milk colored one with a green mane and an orange one with a yellow mane are landing on our cloud. I know who they are, so I run outside to meet them!
I always forget how big it is outside. The sun always looks like a small yellow bouncy ball, but I can never seem to catch it. Daddy says that’s because it’s far away. And then there's the sky, it’s just so empty, empty and blue. A pretty blue that kinda looks like my hooves! I want to fly in it like Daddy and the Wonderbolts, but Mommy says I’m too young still.
Staring up at the giant sky all around me, my wings start to buzz again as I twist around, trying to take it all in. My wings start to get this itchy-feeling, and I just want to jump as high as I can. After I turn all the way around, I notice the two ponies again.
Oh yeah!
I run across the cloud and stop in front of Mommy’s and Daddy’s friends. “Shy?” I ask.
Fluttershy peeks her yellow head out of her Daddy’s yellow mane, her own pink mane waving slightly. “Hi, Dash!” she giggles quietly.
“Hi, Shy!” I return, waving my forelegs excitedly.
Fluttershy’s Daddy pulls her out of his mane and sets her on the cloud next to him. She immediately jumps up on his back again. “How are you doing, Rainbow Dash?” he asks in a deep voice. He pulls Fluttershy out of his mane again, but as soon as her hooves touch the ground she jumps back in.
“Doing good!” I say.
“That’s nice to hear,” he replies with a smile. “Now, Fluttershy, Dash wants to have some fun with you. Why don’t you get off of me and go play?”
Fluttershy says something that I can’t hear.
“Yes, I know, but Mommy and Daddy are going to be right here. And this is Dash! Your best friend,” says Fluttershy’s Daddy.
Fluttershy says something else that I can’t hear, and I walk closer. “C’mon, Shy! Wanna play!” I whine.
She carefully looks around and then waves to me again. She looks at her Mommy, who nods, and then at her Daddy, who also nods. Very very slowly, she jumps down onto the cloud.
“Shy!” I yell, tackling her and hugging her.
“Eep!” she cries, falling over onto her back.
Getting off of her, I help her to her hooves while giggling and brushing little bits of cloud off of her.
Daddy trots past me and bumps hooves with Fluttershy’s Daddy. He whispers something in his ear, and then they both nod and take off. “We’ll be back in a few!” calls Daddy.
“Make sure the fillies stay outside for their surprise!” adds Fluttershy’s Daddy.
“What took so long to jump?” I ask.
“Sorry...” says Fluttershy in her really quiet inside voice that she uses all the time. She brushes a little bit of cloud off of me too.
“It’s okay!” I say, giving her a hug. “I missed you.”
“Me too,” she says, smiling and returning the hug. “It’s been forever.”
“You know you two saw each other just last week, right?” says Mommy from somewhere behind me.
“Quiet, Firefly,” says Fluttershy’s Mommy, hushing Mommy. “This is most Fluttershy has spoken to another filly since Dash’s last visit. Seems Dash is the only one who can get her to open up....”
“What you think the surprise is?” asks Fluttershy as she pulls away.
“Candy?” I guess, licking my lips.
Fluttershy taps her hoof against her chin and looks up. “Hmmmmm…” she mumbles. “Maybe…”
“Toys?” I guess again.
“We get those anyway,” she says, “because it’s Hearth’s Warming.”
“Hmmmm…”
Fluttershy looks up and points with her hoof. “Look!” she says.
Following her hoof, I tilt my head back and stare straight up. Both my and Fluttershy’s Daddy are up there pushing weird clouds over our heads. The clouds are all dark and funny-looking instead of white and poofy-looking.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“I don’t know… looks scary,” says Fluttershy as the cloud above us get darker and darker.
Then something starts falling from the weird clouds. Except, it’s falling really slowly, and it moves side to side as it falls. It’s kinda hard to see against the clouds because it’s almost white-ish colored.
The first of the mysterious things lands of Fluttershy’s nose.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” she squeaks, wiping her nose really fast with her foreleg. “It hurts!” she squeals. “Run!” She closes her eyes, screams, and begins running in circles with her foreleg covering her head.
The things start coming down faster and faster. There’s a lot of them now.
A couple of them land on my face too. It pinchie-hurts. “Ahhhhhh! I scream, rubbing my face with my forelegs. “What is it!?” I yell.
“Mommy!” squeals Fluttershy.
I try to take a step forward, but now the ground is starting to sound crunchy! And it feels different too! It feels like soft hardness that goes crunch. I take a few steps backward to get away, but the cloud is crunchy behind me too!
I jump in the air to get away from the crunchy stuff, but I land on even more! “What happening!” I scream, running in place to try and get away from the soft crunchiness. “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”
Warm forelegs wrap me up and hug me. “It’s all right, Dashie,” giggles Mommy. “Nothing’s going to hurt you,” she says, nuzzling my face.
“But, Mommy,” I shiver, hugging closer. “Crunchy fall-y thingies do hurt!” I whine, burying my face in her chest.
Mommy giggles again and continues holding me. “It’s called snow, Dashie.”
“Hoe?”
“Snow, repeat after me. Ss.”
“Ss.”
“Nnn,” says Mommy, her chest vibrating against my face.
“Nnn,” I copy.
“O,” she says.
“O.”
“Wah.”
“Wah.”
“Now put it all together, snow,” says Mommy.
“S...no...wah.”
“Snow.”
“Snowah.”
“Almost, one more try,” encourages Mommy. “Snow.”
“Snow?” I ask. Sometimes learning new words is hard.
“Great job, Dashie!” cries Mommy, kissing my cheek.
“Snow!” I giggle. “Mommy, what snow?”
“Well, Dashie, snow falls from clouds, which is why you have never seen it before. It’s fun to play in and super cold. That’s why you think it hurts,” says Mommy.
“Ohhhh,” I mumble. “Can I try now?”
“Of course, Dashie,” says Mommy, setting me down underneath her where there isn’t any snow.
The snow looks about up to my ankles, so I step carefully. My hoof sinks in slowly, crunching all the way down. Now that I know what to expect, I just feel lots of coldness as I take another step. And another. And another.
This is really fun! The cloud is all crunchy now, and it sounds silly!
“Weeeeeeee!” I giggle, running in circles.
Seeing Fluttershy out of the corner of my eye, I stop and face her. She is still huddling under her Mommy.
“Shy!” I yell, bouncing towards her through the snow. “Come out and play!” I squeak.
“Snow is scary…” she mumbles.
“No’s not! Look!” I tell her, jumping up and down the the snow.
She just nods and cuddles up closer to her Mommy.
“I prove! You play!” I say. I lean down and take huge bite out of the snow.
Cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I yell, swallowing the snow. My teeth hurt! Now my forehead hurts! “Ohhhhhhh,” I moan, clutching my head with my forelegs.
“Oh, Dash, you okay?” asks Fluttershy, still shivering under her Mommy.
Looking up at her, I start giggling. “It’s fun!” I giggle taking another bite.
Cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold.
“It tastes like… ice cream!” I shout, gripping my head again as the forehead pain comes.
“Really?” she asks, slowly creeping out.
“Like super ice cream!” I giggle, nodding.
“Well, I like ice cream,” says Fluttershy, bending down to take a bite.
I watch her go from curious, to eyes watering and lip trembling, to quiet screaming, to gripping her forehead just like me. “See?” I giggle. “Just like ice cream!”
“You’re right!” giggles Fluttershy, scooping up some snow in her forehoof and looking at it. “This does taste kinda like ice cream!”
“Do you want more?” I ask, scooping some snow in my forehoof too.
“No thank you, I’m—”
I throw the snow at her, and it hits her right in the face!
The snow falls off her face slowly and in little chunks, and now I can see that she’s crying!
“Dash...?” she sobs, wiping tears and snow from her face. “I didn’t…” She hiccups. “I wasn’t...”
I walk forward and wrap my forelegs around her. “Sorry…” I whisper in her ear. She wipes her face on my shoulder starts crying even more!
Now my tummy feels upset; Mommy says that can happen if I do something wrong. “It okay,” I tell her.
She cries and shakes for a few more minutes before eventually stopping. She wipes her face on my coat and gets me a bit wet.
“Better?” I ask.
She slowly nods and pulls away; she wipes her nose and smiles. Quickly scooping up the snow at her hooves, she throws it at my face!
I close my eyes right before the snow hits me, but it’s still really cold.
“Oh, Dash, I’m sorry!” says Fluttershy, brushing the snow off of my face. “That was mean, I’m sorry. I’m sorrrry...”
After wiping my face with my foreleg, I open my eyes and look at her. She has her head angled down and has a sad face on.
“That was mean,” I agree, causing her to slump lower. I wrap my forelegs around her head and pull her face down into the snow, already starting to giggle.
Her screams are slightly muffled as I hold her there for a second. “Cold!” she screams.
Laughing uncontrollably, I let go and fall over; I squirm around in the snow as I giggle.
“Dash,” says Fluttershy. “Look at me.”
Opening my eyes and still giggling, I see her teal eyes looking at me in a not nice way. She looks mad.
“Take this!” she yells, throwing more snow at my face. My face is still cold from the last time, but now it’s even colder.
“Charge!” I yell, blindly tackling her.
“Eeep!” she cries, falling over in the snow.
I’m on top, shoveling snow onto her face. Then she flips me over and shoves my face into the snow. Then I’m on top again, but this time I shove her face into the snow. She pushes me onto my back and gets away.
I throw some snow at her, but it breaks apart before it gets there. Scooping some more, I pack it into a lumpy ball and throw it harder. The snowball hits her right in the face as she turns around.
“I’m gonna get you!” she yells. Fluttershy scoops some of the snow in front of her and makes a little wall-hill thingy to hide behind. She giggles as my next snowball just runs into the wall but doesn't hit her.
I throw more snow at her, but my snow just makes her wall bigger! I run at her, but she just throws snow at me and makes me cold! So I run out of her range; she doesn’t have a good throwing foreleg.
“No fair!” I yell.
“Is too!” she returns, throwing another snowball at me—but missing.
“Is not!”
“Is too!”
“Is not! Against the rules!” I yell.
“Really?” she asks.
“Yup,” I reply, nodding.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she says, pushing over the humpy wall thing.
I run forward and hit her with another snowball after missing the first two, causing her to fall on her rump. “I win!” I shout, standing on her half-destroyed wall. “You lose!”
“But I want to win too,” says Fluttershy sadly.
“Well… ummm...” I mumble. “Come on up, Shy!” I say.
“Yay!” she cheers, joining me on the snow-wall.
“We win!” I yell into the much lighter clouds above us, striking a Wonderbolt pose; I wrap my foreleg around Fluttershy’s shoulder and hug her tightly.
“Yay!” she agrees.
“But I win more,” I add quickly.
“Girls?” calls Mommy from the small porch. “Are you ready to come inside?” she asks.
“I don’t wanna!” I yell.
“Me neither,” adds Fluttershy.
“I have warm ap-ple ci-der!” she sings, motioning to the open door.
Ciiiiiiiiiiiderrrr…
“Ci-der! Ci-der! Ci-der!” I chant, running for the door.
“Oh, and me too, cider,” says Fluttershy, following right behind.
“Stop right there, snowponies!” says Fluttershy’s Mommy right after we get in the door.
“Eep!” squeaks Fluttershy, hiding behind me. “What’s a snowponies?” she asks.
“You both are,” giggles Fluttershy’s Mommy, “just look at yourselves!”
My and Fluttershy look at each other, but it doesn’t even look like her! She is covered head to hoof in snow! Her coat has snow in it, her mane has snow in it, and even her face has snow in it! “You look silly!” I giggle.
“You do too!” she returns, chattering her teeth.
I reach my hoof up to my face and feel my teeth starting to chatter too. They make a small clicking noise and make my head vibrate a little.
“Let’s get you all warmed up,” says Fluttershy’s Mommy. “Rainbow Storm! Morning Glory! Attennnnn-hut!” she yells. Both my Daddy and Fluttershy’s Daddy walk around the corner with serious expressions on their faces and towels clenched in their mouths. They walk up next to Fluttershy’s Mommy and stop. “These fillies—no, these mares have just experienced the snow battle of a lifetime! They are cold, they are tired! It is your duty to make them warm!” she yells.
“Yes, ma’am!” say both of our Daddies, saluting.
“Present towels!” says Fluttershy’s Mommy.
Both Daddies sit down and take the towels out of their mouths with their forelegs; they unfold the towels and hold them in front of them.
“Proceed!” she yells and trots off, giggling to herself.
Daddy steps forward and throws the towel over my head. He gently rubs all over my head, and my mane, and very very gently rubs my face. He moves the towel to around my body and rubs my middle too. “Extend your wings, Dashie,” he says, unwrapping the towel to give me some room.
“Okay,” I say, my teeth still chattering. Daddy carefully takes the towel and runs it over my wings and in between a few of my feathers. This is very relaxing; Daddy is a good massager. He finishes by going over each one of my legs and my tummy.
“That tickles!” I giggle, squirming around.
Daddy kisses the top of my head and tosses the wet towel in the corner. He wraps me in a dry towel and nuzzles my face. “All better?” he asks.
“Little bit,” I say, shivering inside the towel.
He carries me over to the living room and sits down on the sofa; he tucks me next to him and wraps me in his wing. I’m already starting to feel warmer.
Fluttershy comes in a second later, also wrapped in a towel and being carried by her Daddy; all I can see of her is her head sticking out of the fluffy towel. He sits on the opposite side of the sofa and copies Daddy’s position by wrapping Fluttershy in his other wing.
“Are you girls ready for some cider?” asks Mommy, carrying in four mugs and two sippy cups on a small platter.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” I squeak, huddling closer to Daddy. “Want cider!”
“Yes please,” says Fluttershy.
Mommy gives me and Fluttershy a sippy cup, then she gives a mug to each Daddy. Fluttershy’s Mommy walks in the room and Mommy gives her a mug, then she takes the last one for herself. Both Daddies are sitting on the same sofa as me, and both Mommies are sitting on the other sofa, facing me. The parents start talking while I start drinking, so I listen and watch over the sound of me and Fluttershy slurping.
Tilting my head back, I start slurping my cider allllllllllll up. It tastes so good! It’s like… Wonderbolt levels of awesomeness! And even better, it’s warm! The cider warms my teeth and my mouth, and then it travels down my throat and ends up in my tummy! I can already feel much warmer from the tasty goodness, and my teeth have stopped chattering.
“Did you get the pictures, Storm?” asks Mommy.
“I sure did; I never took my eyes off of them. Well, except when I was looking at your—”
Mommy frowns and tilts her head toward Fluttershy’s Mommy and Daddy.
“Beautiful face,” Daddy rushes out. “Face. Nowhere else. Not anywhere else at all.”
“Come on, Firefly,” says Fluttershy’s Mommy. “We're all married here, we know how it goes," she says, smiling and giggling at Fluttershy’s Daddy.
“Yes, she totally doesn’t catch me looking anywhere besides her face in public either,” says Fluttershy’s Daddy, giving Daddy a wink.
“See, I’m not the only one who married a beautiful mare both inside and out .… I mean her personality and fla… What I meant to say was that I’ll just stop talking now,” says Daddy, finishing with a nervous chuckle.
Mommy glares at Daddy a bit before turning back to Fluttershy's Mommy. "I know," she says, "but Storm has to learn to keep it down, especially in front of the fillies."
Daddy grins. “I can’t help myself, you’re just so se—”
“So anyways! How have you two been?” says Mommy, interrupting Daddy.
“We’ve been doing well actually,” says Fluttershy’s Mommy. “We’ve just been having…”
After I finish sucking all the cider down, I take the cup out of my mouth and lick my lips. “Mmmmmmm…” I hum.
“Umhum,” agrees Fluttershy, still drinking her cider.
The door-ringer-thingy goes off again, making Mommy jerk a little while drinking her cider. “I’ll get it,” she says, getting up from the other sofa.
My cider is all gone now, I look down at my cup and sigh. “Daddy?” I ask, looking up at him.
“Yes, Dashie?” he answers, looking down at me.
“Cider?” I ask, looking at his mug then back at him.
“But I want to drink my cider,” says Daddy.
“Pleeeeeease?”
“But... cider,” protests Daddy.
“But, Daaaddyyyyyyy,” I whine.
“All right, all right,” says Daddy, lifting his mug over to my lips. “Just turn off those cute eyes of yours.”
“Yay!” Daddy only has a little bit of cider left, but I drink it all up. “Yum!”
“You’re welcome, Dashie,” Daddy hums, hugging me tighter with his wing and nuzzling my face.
Mommy walks back into the room with some ponies who have line-y things all over their faces. There’s a dark blue one, a pink one, a yellow one, and a red-ish one, but they're all really line-y and kinda saggy. “Dashie, do you remember your grandparents?” she says, motioning to the line-y ponies.
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
“You don’t remember us?” says the dark blue one.
“We came last Hearth’s Warming,” says the red-ish one.
“No, not really,” I say again. Even their voices sound line-y.
“That’s all right, Dash,” says the pink one. “We remember you.”
“And we even brought some presents…” says the dark blue one.
“Yay presents!” I cheer.
“Can we have some hugs?” asks the yellow one. “Please?”
Mommy nods and when I look up to Daddy, he nods too. “Okay,” I say reluctantly. Daddy relaxes his wing and I wiggle free. I walk up to the dark blue one and give him a hug. He smells funny… like the perfume that Mommy uses except too much. Then I hug the yellow one. She smells nice and is really soft, almost like Mommy but not the same as Mommy. I hug the pink one too, she smells like she needs to take a bath; she’s stinky. The red-ish stallion is the last one to hug, so I give him a hug and start coughing. His fur smells like when Daddy tried to cook. Not good.
“Do-ne,” I cough.
“Dad,” says Mommy warningly. “I told you not to smoke before you came here.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles sheepishly, but I can barely hear him over my coughing.
Mommy holds her mug up to my lips and gives me a little sip of her cider. The tasty goodness makes my throat feel all better.
“Presents now?” I ask, looking hopefully at Mommy.
Mommy nods.
“Yay! Shy, presents!” I cheer.
“Yay,” she agrees, smiling.
We both run over to the tall, glittery, shiny, tree—it was really fun to decorate—and look at alllll the presents. “I’m gonna open this one!” I tell Fluttershy, reaching for the biggest one. It’s wrapped up in wrapping paper, but I tear it off with my teeth, one piece at a time.
I open the box inside the paper and see…
“Yeeeeeeeees!” I scream. Sitting at the bottom of the box is a stuffed puppy toy! It’s about half as big as I am and cool and fuzzy and browny-goldy and floppy and I love it! And the puppy even has a little Wonderbolt costume on! It’s really cool!
“What did you get from us?” asks Mommy.
I pull the puppy out of the and turn around. “I got a stuffed puppy-toy!” I squeak, hugging him and nuzzling his face.
“Awwww,” coos Fluttershy, petting his head, “he’s so cute.”
“No, he cool,” I correct.
“You still have three more presents to open, Dashie. Which one’s next?” says Daddy, holding the picture taker thingy.
The next one is the next biggest one. I set the puppy down next to me and rip off the wrapping paper. It’s…
A Wonderbolt clock with a picture of Fire Blitz on it and a matching costume! Now I have to learn how to tell time. And I can match my puppy too!
“What did you get from your grandparents, Dashie? Turn around so we can see it,” says Mommy.
“New clock!” I say, proudly displaying it in front of me. “And costume!”
Shoving the mask on my head, I put the clock down and reach for the rest of the costume. My legs go in each of the leg holes, but my head won’t fit through the head hole! I push and push, but my head just won’t fit!
“Wrong way, Dashie,” giggles Mommy.
Hopping around, I look out through the small hole to see all of the grown-ups laughing! “What?”
“That’s the hole for your tail, Dashie,” chuckles Daddy. “Your head goes in the one at the other end”
“Oh.” I turn around inside the suit and try to put my head through the other hole, but my neck doesn’t reach and my legs get all tangled up. I wobble a bit and then fall over, making a poofy sound.
“Help…” I whimper, seeing nothing but the inside of the suit; I can’t move at all. “Mommy!”
“I’ve got you, Dash,” says Daddy from close by. “Stop squirming, so I can help.”
It’s really hard to just lay there, but Daddy’s strong hooves soon sort everything out; now I can move again! He pulls the costume off of me and helps me stand up.
“Let’s try that again, Dashie,” says Daddy.
“Can do myself!” I grab the costume and line it up again. My legs go in the right leg holes now, my tail goes in the tail hole, and my head goes in the head hole too. I sit down and try to grab the zipper, but it’s hard to do. “Zippy,” I tell Daddy, angling myself towards him.
“Right away, miss Wonderbolt!” Daddy reaches down and pulls the zipper all the way from my private place up to my chin.
Dashie the Wonderbolt! I like the sound of that.
As soon as Daddy is done I strike a pose. “Wonderbolt time!” Now where’s my puppy? I look over to see Fluttershy cradling my puppy! She is holding a filly-bottle-toy up to his mouth and making soft, happy noises.
“My puppy! He not likes that!”
“Oh, sorry, Dashie.” Fluttershy hands me my puppy, and I immediately put it on my back.
“I’m the best Wonderbolt! My Wonderbolt-puppy says so!” I start running around the room yelling awesome flying sounds: “Shoom! Zeeow! Woosh!”
“Go, Dashie, go!” yells Mommy.
“I’m awem-some!” I giggle, as the puppy moves around a lot; he doesn’t fall off, though.
But now my mask starts sliding off of my face! I can’t see very well anymore! I crash into something hard-ish, and fall down on my rump. Lifting the mask up, I see that I ran into one of my unopened presents; I still have more goodies to open!
With my puppy still on my back, I start ripping the paper off. “Good puppy,” I say, reaching around and petting his head. He’s a really good puppy.
I reach in the box and pull out a small Wonderbolt beanie chair thing! It’s so cool! It’s a chair that’s super awesome and squishy!
“Beanie chair!” I tell them, turning around so they can see it.
“Very nice,” says Mommy. “Now, what’s in that last present?”
I set my puppy down on the beanie chair, and I jump on it too with my last present. It’s really small—like super small. I pick it up and rip off the little bit of paper. Opening the little box, I pull out three small shiny squarey-ish, papery things. “Mommy what these?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” says Mommy. “Bring them here and I’ll tell you.”
After jumping out of the chair, I put the puppy on my back and run over to Mommy. “Here Mommy,” I say giving her the shiny things. “Good puppy.” I pat the puppy’s head again.
“Storm, look!” says Mommy suddenly, causing me to look at her. She flies over to Daddy and shows him the thingies.
“Dad, Mom, you shouldn’t have,” says Daddy.
“Nonsense,” says the dark blue line-y pony. “She had to go sometime.”
“What? What?” I ask.
“These are tickets for front row seats for the next Wonderbolt show! And you get to meet them afterwards!” squeals Mommy.
“...”
“...”
“Aren’t you excited, Dashie?” asks Daddy.
“...”
“Yayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayay!” I scream, jumping up and down. “Gonna see Wonderbolts! Gonna meet Wonderbolts!”
I take a deep breath.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” I scream, closing my eyes.
After I stop screaming, I open my eyes and see that all the grown-ups are covering their ears with their hooves. Mommy slowly takes her hooves away from her ears and says, “Why don’t you head upstairs with your presents and Fluttershy, Dashie?”
“No! Wonderbolts now!” I tell her.
“Dashie, the tickets aren’t good until spring,” says Mommy.
“Now! Now! Now!” I tell her. “Wonderbolts now!”
“Dash. Listen to me,” says Mommy. “You can’t see the Wonderbolts yet.”
“Maybe we should listen to your Mommy,” whispers Fluttershy.
“But Mommmmy...”
“Rainbow Dash, listen to your Mom,” says Daddy warningly.
“Okay...” I huff angrily. “Come on, Shy. Come puppy!” All three of us slowly go up the stairs into my room and jump on my bed. My bed is still a bit messy from this morning.
“Now what do we do?” asks Fluttershy.
“I want Wonderbolts,” I grumble.
“But we can’t,” says Fluttershy.
“Silly tickets, work better,” I grumble.
Fluttershy and I sit in silence for a few minutes. Sitting down with a huff, I wish spring would hurry up so I could see the Wonderbolts. “Now what?” I sigh.
“We could lay down? I’m getting kinda sleepy,” says Fluttershy.
“Hmmmm…” I hum, tapping my chin. “I know! Name puppy!” I exclaim standing up.
“He’s your puppy, so you name him,” says Fluttershy, brushing a bit of her mane out of her face. “But I can help, if you want.”
“Ideas?” I ask hopefully.
“Ummmmm… Spot?”
“No, too blaugh,” I say, sticking out my tongue.
“Nuzzles?”
“No. Too nuzzle-y.”
“Doggie?” she asks.
“No, he’s a puppy, not a doggie.” I put my hoof under my chin and stick out my tongue.
“Puppy?”
“No, he needs name,” I tell her.
“Ummmm… how about… Cutie?” she suggests.
“Too cute,” I say, shaking my head.
“Sweetie?” she asks.
“Too sweet,” I whine.
“Cuddles?” she asks, cocking her head and petting my puppy.
“Too cuddles-y,” I groan. “Not helping, Shy.”
“Sorry,” she mumbles sadly.
“I got it!” I exclaim. “...No, no I don’t.”
“How about... Sexy?” she asks.
“Too… hmmm… maybe. What sexy?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “I don’t know, but sometimes I hear Daddy say it to Mommy,” she says, “when they think I’m not hearing.”
“Yeah! Me too!” I turn to my puppy-toy. “I will call you Sexy.”
“Good name,” giggles Fluttershy.
“The best name. That probably why Mommies and Daddies hide it,” I agree, nodding.
I roll Sexy onto his back, and I rub his tummy with my hoof while Fluttershy pets under his chin. He’s really soft, and it almost tickles to pet him. Both Fluttershy and I giggle and continue stroking him.
“What did you get?” I ask, still slowly rubbing his tummy.
“A few toys, a baby bottle, and some warm-y socks,” says Fluttershy, “but I left the toys downstairs.” She picks up her foreleg and gives me a closer look at her socks; I don’t know why I didn’t see them before. They are little white socks that come all the way up to her body. Softly petting them, they feel super soft against my coat.
“Comfy?”
Fluttershy nods, yawns, and covers her mouth.
“That nice.” I give his tummy another rub. “But I want to see toys too.”
“Today was fun,” says Fluttershy, laying down next to Sexy. She brings her sock-covered forelegs up to her chin and nuzzles them.
“Why you lay down?” I ask as she closes her eyes.
“I’m sleepy,” she says softly.
“But we have more to do!” I squeak, jumping up and down on the bed a little.
“Maybe later…” she mumbles, wrapping her foreleg around Sexy and nuzzling his cheek.
“But I’m not sleepy!” I tell her. “Wakey wakey!”
Fluttershy starts humming a song, then she starts singing the words. “Rest your head now, don’t be afraid. Mommy will take care of everything.”
But I don’t want to go to sleep. There’s still lots to do!
“Sleep in peace now, don’t you cry. Mommy will hold you and hug you tight.” She hugs Sexy tighter and nuzzles his face.
I have to set up my clock and play with Sexy, and I’m hungry too; I didn’t even eat dinner!
“And then after you fall asleep. Mommy will tuck you in all warm.”
And I have to play in my costume, so I can run around and play with Sexy even more. Sexy is fun to play with.
“Then she’ll kiss you goodnight...”
And get ready to watch the Wonderbolts perform and then get… get ready to… meet them…
“She’ll pull the cover up to your chin...”
And… and… see the soft bed… and... lay down on the soft bed and cuddle... with Sexy and Fluttershy and wrap my forelegs around them... and hold them tightly and… and… close my eyes…
“And when you wake up in the morn’ Mommy will...” Fluttershy stops singing and starts snoring.
But I’m not sleepy! I’m just resting.
After sending the guests on their way and promising to return Fluttershy in the morning, Firefly and Rainbow Storm walked up the stairs to their daughter’s room; they peered in the still open doorway.
“Awwwww,” cooed Firefly quietly, watching Dash and Fluttershy sleep with the stuffed animal.
“That’s adorable,” whispered Storm, taking a picture without the flash so as not to disturb them.
“Yeah…” Firefly sighed softly.
“So,” said Storm, facing her.
“‘So’ what?” she asked.
“You know,” he insisted, nudging her shoulder.
“No, not really,” she said.
Storm sighed, “You know, when can I get my present?”
“What are you talking about? You all ready got your presents,” answered Firefly.
“You know, my present,” he insisted quietly.
“I have no idea what you are talking about. Hold on a sec, I’ll be right back, and then you can finish telling me whatever it is you’re trying to tell me,” she called quietly, trotting into their bedroom.
He muttered something under his breath, taking another picture of Dash as she licked the puppy’s face while sleeping; he took a few more pictures while he waited. Fluttershy cooed softly and wrapped her foreleg around Dash, sighing softly.
“Now… what were you saying, Storm?” asked Firefly from behind him.
“Nevermind,” he groaned, throwing a glance over his shoulder. He froze as he was halfway between looking back toward Dash. He slowly looked back toward Firefly, his wings beginning to unfurl.
Firefly had lacy tights on each of her legs that were striped to look like wrapping paper. Her wings were already partly flared, and she had a small, green bow on her head. She slowly swayed around him, her tail flicking his nose and lightly teasing him as she circled him several times, her coat barely touching his. She stopped in front of him and gave Storm a taunting, enticing kiss that barely lingered on his lips. She stared at him with half-lidded eyes and whispered, “So do you want to unwrap your present now?”
“Sweet Celestia, there is a Santa…” said Storm, his eyes wide and his wings finally reaching their full extension.
He closed Dash’s door and dropped the camera on the floor. He followed his wife into their bedroom and kicked the door closed behind him, locking it for the night.
“You know, I wonder what she decided to call her dog….”
Author's Note
Ta-da! And so concludes the second adventure in the life of Dashie. Feedback is always appreciated.
Especially feedback regarding Fluttershy's font size. I went back and fourth with that, but decided to try it out.
And before you say anything, the next story I have planned for this universe (or series, or whatever you want to call it) is an epilogue. It will cover the events that take place when Rainbow's parents stop by Ponyville with Dash's old picture album. I wonder how the rest of the Mane Six will react to the pictures....
