All in the Name of... Tickets!

Part Five

All in the Name of… Tickets!

***

Day Forty-Two

As the mare slept and snored quite loudly, the sun’s radiation beamed through the window blinds of Rainbow Dash’s unusually quiet bedroom. Accompanied by the morning birds that sang outside her window, the light slowly moved from the footboard of her puffy cloud bed and onto her closed eyes. Awoken by its heat, Rainbow Dash let out a yawn and stretched her forelegs out as far as she could reach. As she wiped off the rheum in her eyes, Rainbow Dash realized her usual grogginess wasn’t within her and that she felt more well-rested for a typical Monday morning. Confused as to why she was this way, Rainbow Dash turned her head towards Tank, who lay inside his enclosure.

Dash let out another yawn before she said, “Good morning, Tank… Gosh, heh. I sure do feel better for a Monday…” her vocal tone deepened with regret, “morning.”

A thought suddenly came to her and Rainbow Dash immediately felt her heart and soul sink. Unable to mentally contain what was going on, Rainbow Dash jerked her head over towards the bed-side counter and urgently grabbed her clock to read it. With extreme disbelief for what she saw the first time, she shook the key wound clock a couple of times before gazing at it with the hopes that it was just broken. Unfortunately for her, it was working properly.

As its hands moved to display the time 11:21 a.m, Rainbow Dash said frantically, “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!!! I missed my shift!” She then leaned back and banged her noggin on the headboard.

Afterwards, she threw off the covers of her bed and rushed into her bathroom. Upon her arrival, the rainbow mare decided not to waste her time with the details of her appearance. Instead, she quickly fixed up anything she considered a consequence of bed rest, which included brushing her scruffy mane, fur, and tail. Eliminating her awful body odor, she ran back into her bedroom and unfolded her wings.

Rocketing out her open window, Rainbow Dash accelerated towards the Ponyville Post Office. While she gained some altitude in order to fly over the roofs of the town, some of the hay would blow off into the whirlwind of Rainbow Dash’s high speed air channel. Meanwhile, she was forming a mach cone until she spread her wings wide to decelerate for the oncoming office. However, she quickly realized that she failed to correctly judge the displacement between herself and the building. As a result, she smacked into the sign above the office.

After she slid off the display, Rainbow Dash fell and hit the ground supine, spurring up some dust upon her collision. She then moaned from the pain until she heard the sound of hooves clopping towards her. As she closed her eyes, hoping they weren't from who she thought it was, the sound of the hoof-steps got closer. Rainbow Dash clenched her body together, ignoring the agony of her condition. When she opened her eyes, it was upon her relief to see a pink pony standing above her.

“Ummm… Rainbow Dash, what are you doing on the ground?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Dash let out a grunt before she said, “Trying to re-discover gravity.”

“Oh, well let me join you,” said Pinkie as she turned her back towards Rainbow Dash, readying herself to sit down next to her.

“Actually Pinkie, that won’t be necessary,” insisted Rainbow Dash. She then managed to pick herself up and off the grass.

“Hmm.. Alright! Well, what were you actually doing on the ground anyway?” asked the pink pony.

“Well Pinkie, I was trying to get here as fast as I could, but I somehow lost control of my flying and crashed into the sign above us,” replied Rainbow Dash as she pointed to the post office’s mail sign.

“Wait… you lost control of your flying?” Pinkie Pie raised her eyebrow.

“Yeah, well... You see...” Rainbow Dash’s vocal tone became hesitant. Since she had to tell Pinkie Pie the truth, anyway, she walked with her away from the office and into a nearby alleyway. In the seclusion of their location, Rainbow Dash told Pinkie, “I woke up late for work and as soon as I saw my clock, I flew out of my bedroom and straight towards the post office. But since I was more worried about being late, I kinda didn't pay attention to what was in front of me and BAM!”

“BAM?!” exclaimed Pinkie, her eyes and mouth widened.

“I hit the sign... hard...” Rainbow Dash sighed as she lifted her fore-hoof to scratch her head.

“Ouch,” replied Pinkie, flinching to show sympathy for her friend’s pain. “Well, are you still okay? Nothing broken?”

Rainbow Dash murmured, “My pride.”

“What was that?”

“My pride,” replied the frustrated Rainbow Dash, slightly gnashing her teeth. “My pride is broken and I have no idea what to do right now.”

“Ummm… I’m going to assume this has to do with the whole ‘being late’ thing?” asked Pinkie.

“Yeah, I mean… Pinkie...” Dash clinched her eyes, “From what I did today, I know that I’m going to get fired once I show up tomorrow and see my manager, Crafty.”

The party pony gasped, “Really? I mean are you sure about that!?!”

“I’m sure,” replied Rainbow Dash. “And now that I think about it, I’m realizing that I might be able to take the morbid pain of losing the job since I have come to want the extra hours after my ninety day probationary period. Therefore, I’m stuck between what I want and what must happen.”

“Well,” said Pinkie with sharp, poignant tone. “As your good buddy, Pinkie Pie, I must say to you as a friend, despite it being hard to take, but it seems like you must face what’s coming to you no matter what holds you back. However… The cunning Pinkamena says that if there's a way out of this situation, to which you still keep your job, then this might be the time to think about it… Besides this story needs a more interesting climax.”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash was confused by Pinkie’s last statement.

“Oh… Never mind that point,” replied Pinkie, trying to make Rainbow Dash ignore what she just said. “Just focus on what I presented to you.”

“Alright,” said Rainbow Dash with some exaggeration.

While she thought for a second that Pinkie Pie went crazy, the rainbow pony decided to ponder on the ideas that she was presented with. On one hoof, she knew that Crafty Crate wasn’t going to be happy to see her once she got within his sight. Therefore, she would be forced to deal with the agony of being fired. Meanwhile, on the other hoof, she thought about the boring training manual and slightly remembered the first passage entitled ‘Absence from Work.’ She recalled the fact that if she was absent from work on a single day and deemed a “No Show,” then she must present a doctors note, stating her reason why she missed work, the next day or otherwise face “the appropriate action determined by the manager.” An idea clicked in Rainbow Dash’s head. She immediately told Pinkie Pie.

“Are you sure about that?” asked the pink pony.

Rainbow Dash answered, “Well… yeah... I mean if you can write my doctor’s note and I present it to him tomorrow, then everything should be fine... Although I’ll have to swallow my regrets.”

Pinkie Pie wasn’t fond of the idea; narrowing her worried eyes, she told Dash, “I think that’s a bad idea, Dashie.”

She replied, sighing, “I kinda think so too, but I also believe it can be pulled off if we tried. If it works, I’ll promise not to be so flaky on your baking again.” Rainbow Dash raised a nervous grin towards Pinkie as she curled her lip.

As she thought about the fact that Rainbow Dash was willing to commit on a “high risk, high reward” idea, along with adding a bit of bribery, her subconscious still said, This is a bad idea, Pinkie. You need to tell RD to go and confront her boss about the truth despite the consequences. However, she remembered a lesson from Twilight Sparkle about how some ponies, such as herself, can only learn by experiencing the lesson the hard way or by a self-constructed scenario. Often times, as Pinkie recalled, it’s a much more memorable learning experience that can remain reminiscent in a pony’s walnut-sized brain.

Still, Pinkie wanted to be sure that Rainbow Dash was serious about the plan. She questioned Dash’s intentions a final time.

Rainbow Dash responded with confidence, “Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I see how it can work... I mean, as long as we can obtain a doctor’s note…” she paused, remembering something, and then stated, “You know what? I think I have one at home that you can edit. Is that okay?”

Pinkie Pie took in a deep breath of air before she said, “Yeah, that will be nooooo problem!” with a flourish of her fore-hoof.

“Great,” replied Rainbow Dash. “Now, let’s get out of here before somepony discovers us here!”

She then took the liberty to look around and, with a jerk and widened moderate cerise eyes, noticed the eerie setting, what with the grimy trash cans and dirty brick walls, before she slowly flew out of there.

“Okie-dokie-loki,” responded Pinkie Pie as she hopped away with Rainbow Dash.

Since the earth pony wasn’t able to walk on clouds, she waited outside Rainbow Dash’s home while the very light cerulean pegasus retrieved the doctor’s note from her cabinet in the living room. Upon descending to the ground were Pinkie waited, Rainbow Dash dropped a pencil in front of the pink pony while Dash planted her hooves on the dirt and grass. As she took out the crumpled note from underneath her wing, Rainbow Dash apologized for its condition as they proceeded over towards an old tree stump where they will edit the paper.

As Pinkie Pie looked down upon the document, a certain word caught her attention. “Umm… Rainbow Dash? What is this word? Pra-ziq-uan…”

Rainbow Dash silenced Pinkie Pie. “Just ignore that and make the changes I tell you.”

“Alrighty then,” smiled the party pony.

As she worked with Rainbow Dash, she changed around some of context found within the note to reflect upon the lie that Rainbow Dash had caught a cold. After Pinkie Pie was done with the edits, she handed the note back to Rainbow Dash with a smirk. Dash thanked her for helping out.

“Not a problem at all!” cheered Pinkie Pie.

Dash giggled before she said, “Yeah… Well, I guess I need to go back to my house and wait until tomorrow. So, I’ll see you around!”

“Wait!” exclaimed Pinkie, reaching out her fore-hoof.

Rainbow Dash responded with urgency, “What?”

“What about your weather duties?” asked Pinkie.

“Oh, that? I have the day off today,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Oh,” the earth pony blurted.

“So, yeah. Nothing to worry about there, buddy.” Rainbow Dash started to fly up towards her home. “So, I guess I’ll be leavin ya! Goodbye, Pinkie Pie!”

“Bye, Rainbow Dash, and good luck!” Pinkamena waved to her, and then she thought, narrowing her light cerulean eyes, You are going to need it.

***

Day Forty-Three

A sense uneasiness was present with Rainbow Dash as she sat on her stool and waited inside the crew room for Crafty Crate to show up. While she has already fooled her co-workers into thinking she was sick yesterday, by carefully showing the forged note to some of them, the one stallion that remained to be notified, about her reason, walked into the room with his typical gruffy attitude and clipboard. As he stepped over towards the white board and faced his crew, he stated his morning announcements before noticing Rainbow Dash in the corner.

“So, good luck to all of you today,” said Crafty as he looked over towards her. “And as for you, Rainbow Dash... I will need to see you in my office during your break today.”

Dash was baffled by demand, but she replied, “No problem at all.”

“Alright then, lets get out there!” shouted Crafty as he turned to leave the room.

“Yes, sir!” replied the whole crew.

***

The Office

As the clock ticked in Crafty’s office, it displayed the time: 8:02 a.m.  As he sat by his desk with his hoofs crossed, he glared upon a piece of paper until a knock was heard from the door.

Looking up, he yelled, “Come in!”

When the door opened up, Rainbow Dash appeared before him with the note underneath her wing.

“Ah, yes. Rainbow Dash! Please sit down right there and leave the door open,” said Crafty as he pointed to the same chair she sat down in during their first confrontation.

“Thank you,” Rainbow Dash replied while she sat down on the wooden chair, making it creek in the process. “This is for you,” said the rainbow pony as she slid the note to him. She then spoke with a clear voice, “I’m very sorry for missing work yesterday since I got a cold over the weekend. Therefore, I had to spend my time in bed until I could check up with a doctor on Monday... to make sure I was well enough to work.”

“I see,” replied Crafty as he read the note:

The Clinic at Ponyville Hospital

7 / 10 / 12

9 / 11 / 12

Supervised Under: Dr. Red Heart

Note of Visit

Rainbow Dash visited me with upset stomach problems, to which have caused her to undergo a fully developed colic *cold. Therefore, I have told her to remain on her feet and walking while NOT stopping to rest. Afterwards, I have told her to take it easy and rest while advising her buy a round of an praziquantel and ivermectin mix to prevent any other possible complications. **She will be fine to return to work on Tuesday.*

Signature: Dr. Red Heart Time of Visit: 1:32 p.m Patent Room: A113

***

As Crafty placed the note down on the desk, he crossed his hoofs and snorted out a pocket of air, looking at Rainbow Dash with his lips tightened. His eyes sharpened and focused on her. Meanwhile, Crafty’s emotion towards the pony that sat in front of him wasn’t anything close to happy. Instead, it was confusion in regards towards the same story that was told from her and the note.

As for Rainbow Dash, she felt uncomfortable with Crafty’s stare. With her face paling from the apprehensions she thought, Rainbow Dash swished her legs, that dangled from the chair, back and forth. While she lingered on the fear of being caught in her lie, her eyes wandered around the office and out of the focus of Crafty’s until he cleared his throat. She silently gulped as her eyes became fixated on the annoyed expression that was projected by Crafty’s face.

“Well,” said Crafty. “According to your note, the doctor said you had upset stomach problems to which it lead you getting a cold? Right?”

“Yeah… you're right,” said Rainbow Dash. “It was a horrible cold too.”

“I see,” replied Crafty. “And yet Friday you were fine?”

“Actually, I wasn't.” Rainbow Dash pretended to feel a bit of shame towards not telling Crafty that she was “sick,” in order to help promote her false story.

This surprised Crafty as he put a hoof on his chin. “Really?”

“Yeah,” moaned Rainbow Dash. “Although I did try my best to get through the shift despite nearly throwing up in the crew room during the break, twice.”

“I see… And yet you were well enough to say hello to everyone, smile, complete your rounds on time, and even survive being in the morning heat?” asked the white stallion.

“Yes,” said Rainbow Dash with a bit of slight hesitation, fearing that Crafty was trying to poke holes in her story.

Meanwhile, Crafty took in a long breath of air and exhaled it before placing both of this front hoofs, along with his head, down on the maple desk. Then a faint sound of laughter could be heard as Crafty’s head bobbed from his hysteria. Then as he began to lift his forehead towards Rainbow Dash, she could see the extensions of Crafty’s cheekbones as they helped form the wide smile that ran across his entire face. As he brought himself back up to a proper composure in his chair, he wiped the small tear from his left eye while giggling for a reason unknown to Rainbow Dash.

Curious and confused as to why he suddenly broke out in a laughing frenzy, she felt forced to ask, “Umm… sir? Why are you laughing?”

“Because…”

As Crafty began to calm down, he crossed his hoofs again while shaking his head in a downward direction. He then looked up at Rainbow Dash and told her, “Do you know how long I’ve had this job?

“No, sir,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Sixteen years,” he responded.

Dash remained quiet since she just assumed that he knew the stunt she’s trying to pull off.

Crafty repeated, “Sixteen years I've had this job. Ten of them have been dedicated to this position.”

Rainbow Dash dishearteningly said, “Wow.”

Crafty continued his speech. “Yeah, so therefore, I have experienced this situation with a lot of new mail employees... And believe me when I say I did this EXACT stunt with another job I had before this one. So, you aren’t the first one to perform what you are doing right now. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Also, do you understand that lying to me, your manager, doesn’t help me to think anything better about you and that it puts yourself in a position that isn’t in your favor?”

Rainbow Dash sighed, “I understand.”

“Well then…” said Crafty before he put his two hoofs together. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but since you provided me with a false note while lying to me and not being honest, along with your earlier reports, I’m afraid that you have earned three strikes from and me. Therefore, I’m going to have to let you go.”

There was a moment of silence between themselves as Rainbow Dash took in a breath of air. As she exhaled, Dash responded with sincerity, “Thank you.”

“Now if you'll excuse me, I need to grab some papers for you,” said Crafty as he pushed away from his desk, reaching down to open up a drawer.

As he removed the documents entitled ‘Termination of Employment’, he handed Rainbow Dash a quill and ink jar and began to help her fill out the legal papers. After about thirty minutes, she completed the task while Crafty gathered up the documents to file them. Then with nothing else left to do between themselves, Crafty looked at Rainbow Dash and extended his fore-hoof.

“Thank you,” said Crafty as they shook hooves. “I wish the best of luck to you and I guess that will be all.”

“Thank you,” Rainbow Dash replied. As she got up and out of her seat, she turned to Crafty and wished him a good day as she exited the office. Thus, she ended her job with dignity for him. Crafty smiled and wished her a great day as well.