The Heart's Shell

“Rainbow! Are you ok?”

Twilight and the rest of the mares rushed into Rainbow’s house. Rainbow jumped from her sleeping spot by the fireplace and slowly walked to her door where her friends lay waiting. She looked pretty annoyed.

“Why are you guys here?” Rainbow asked, rubbing her eyes.

“We heard from Spike that there was a black shadowy figure in your house” Twilight replied. “We came to see if you were ok”

“Yeah, I’m fine” Rainbow replied, still yawning. “Except you just woke me up from a nap!”

“Oh, sorry” Twilight apologized. Rarity and Fluttershy just looked at Rainbow in concern.

“So, there’s no shadowy figure?” Fluttershy asked.

“Shadowy figure?” Rainbow replied, looking around her house. “What shadowy figure?”

“Spike” Twilight stared down at her dragon companion, angrily. “Was it all just a false alarm?”

“No! There was a shadowy figure I swear! That came out of Rainbow’s fireplace! I’m not joking!” Spike panicked.

“Guys keep it down” Rainbow interrupted. “Now, since you are here, why don’t I give you your Hearth’s Warming presents” The frowns turned to smiles from the other mares and Spike. Rainbow seemed to be keeping calm in all of this. She suddenly stopped and hung her head.

“What’s wrong, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow just sighed.

“Look Fluttershy, I, I’m sorry about what I had said earlier” Rainbow said. Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “I know you were only trying to help me. Can you forgive me?” Fluttershy nodded.

“Yes. But it’s not your fault” Fluttershy replied. “I was so insensitive in completely forgetting about Tank. Can you forgive me?”

“Yes” Rainbow replied. They gave each other a hug. “Now the presents!” Rainbow flew to her stash of presents that she had remembered to wrap up before she had fallen asleep. Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight opened them up.

Twilight got a book, Fluttershy got some flowers and Rarity got some gems. Knowing how Rainbow managed to get these objects at the same store was just purely coincidence. She then moved to the presents that her friends had given her; a new Daring Do book from Twilight, a new scarf from Rarity and tickets to a Wonderbolts exhibition from Fluttershy.

“Wow! These presents are awesome!” Rainbow said with glee. “Fluttershy How did you get these tickets?”

“During the weeks you had been cooped up in your house, I was invited to Cloudsdale to look after one of the member’s pets. She gave me free tickets in return!” Fluttershy replied.

“Applejack and Pinkie Pie will send their presents to you in a few days” Twilight said.

“Or maybe they already have…” Rarity said, looking under the tree. There was still one present left; a small one. It had blue wrapping paper and was covered by a red bow.

“I don’t think that’s from Applejack or Pinkie Pie” Twilight replied.

“Then who is it from?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know” Rainbow replied, getting closer and closer to the present itself. “This is the first time I’ve seen it as well”. She picked the present up in her hooves. She noticed there was a note on top. It read:

Dear Rainbow Dash

This is a gift sent by your truest desire. The moment you have been waiting for. A chance you never had. You get the picture. Use this object well, and you will get what you truly want.

From …

Rainbow and the others were very confused. Not because of the content, but that they had no idea who had sent it because no name was mentioned after the “from”; just three dots at the end.

“A gift sent by your truest desire?” Rarity read. She looked at Rainbow cheekily and patted her on the head “Is it true? Do you have a coltfriend?!”

“What!? No!” Rainbow objected, pushing Rarity off of her, she started to blush slightly. “If it was from a coltfriend, I think there would have been a name written at the bottom”

“Oh Rainbow, you don’t know anything” Rarity replied. “This was probably sent by a shy stallion that has never confessed his love and wants to remain anonymous”

“You don’t know anything” Rainbow objected again. “The notice sounded more sinister than nervous. I doubt any stallion is trying to confess his love to me. Besides, the letter said there was an object for me to use as well”

“Will you two stop arguing?” Twilight interrupted. “Now, Rainbow. Why don’t you open your present?” Rainbow did so. She unwrapped the paper and discovered a red box. Inside the red box was a small watch. But it was a very unique looking watch. Something that Twilight kept eyeing at. She picked the watch up with her magic and looked at it a bit more closely.

“Uh, Twilight. Are you ok?” Rainbow asked Twilight.

“Yes, I am” Twilight replied. “There’s just something interesting about this watch is all. Mind if I take it to my lab for some tests?”

“Twilight!” Fluttershy shouted. “Sure we don’t know who gave her the gift. But that doesn’t mean it’s an evil object! Besides, Rainbow has needed a new watch for a while after always drawing one on her wrist!”

“I agree with Fluttershy” Rarity said. “This is Rainbow’s present and you shouldn’t experiment on it just because you find it eerie”

“Sure, you can experiment on it” Rainbow said. Rarity’s mouth was wide open. Fluttershy was hoping for a ‘but’ afterwards. “If you do think it might be dangerous, fine. Do your egghead stuff on it, but bring it back afterwards ok”.

“I’m sorry Rainbow” Twilight replied. “I just feel an eerie sense to this object. But I will bring it back when I’m done”.

And so the others waited until Twilight got back. When she did, she was calm but looked annoyed at the same time.

“So” Rarity stated “is the watch enchanted like you thought it was?” Twilight just sighed and hung her head.

“No” Twilight replied as she walked over to Rainbow and gave the watch back to her. “I guess I was wrong. I scanned the watch for any dangerous magical forces and there wasn’t any. It’s just an ordinary watch”. Rainbow seemed pleased and relieved about the situation. She trotted over to Twilight and patted her mane.

“Seriously Twi, I don’t know what you were so worried about” Rainbow laughed. “It’s just a watch! You and your egghead stuff”. Twilight just rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Sorry Rainbow” Twilight groaned. Rainbow just giggled some more.

“We’d best be heading off, darling” Rarity responded.

“Are you going to join us?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow’s smile vanished.

“I can’t go without him” Rainbow replied.

“We understand. You’re still down. And attending a house full of critters is not going to help is it?” Twilight asked.

“I’m sorry you guys. I mean, you were having the best time of your lives having fun and eating lots of great food. Hearth’s Warming is supposed to be a happy time for every pony. I’m just bumming you out with how sad I’ve been lately. Not that all of the presents you gave me were bad or anything but, it’s been 24 days. It’s only just the start of winter. It’s going to take me more than that to get me to properly smile again. I just can’t wait for winter to be over. Just so I could see him again”

The ponies looked at Rainbow with concern.

“That can’t be helped. But you take as much time as you need, then you can join us when you feel like it” Fluttershy responded.

The others bid Rainbow goodbye.

Rainbow just looked at her new watch. Now that she thought about it, it didn’t have a time on it at all, analogue or digital. It did have two hands on it, but it looked more like a compass than a watch, like a compass-watch. There were only four letters; a W, 2 Ss and an A. It was a season watch/compass. W meant winter; the two Ss were spring and summer and A meant autumn or fall. But Rainbow still had no clue what this could actually do until she read another note inside the box.

This watch can bring your pet tortoise back from hibernation. Just follow the instructions below and you’ll get what you truly desire.

Step 1: lay this watch were your tortoise lies.

Step 2: say that you wish for Tank to come back.

There are really only two steps, and then everything else you create yourself.

“You’re joking right?”

Rainbow just kept laughing and laughing about the whole situation. “You’re telling me that this watch can bring Tank back? Well I don’t even need him; I’m fine on my own”

“That is a lie” a voice echoed though the watch “I’ve witnessed you. You love your tortoise. You never wanted to say goodbye to him!”

Rainbow’s mouth was wide open; the watch just spoke to her. She couldn’t believe it herself.

“W-who are you?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“I am the answer to your wish” the watch replied. “Just follow the instructions and then you’ll understand”

“Ok then” Rainbow replied. She took a deep breath then let it out. “If you can grant me what I want, then it won’t hurt to at least try, but it would have to wait till the morning. It’s quite dark”.

“Fine, do what you must” the watch said.

The next day, Rainbow got her winter gear on and walked to where Tank had buried himself. She laid the watch on top of the snow pile and asked for Tank to come out of hibernation.

Rainbow was expecting something to happen, yet nothing had happened.

“Well” Rainbow said confidently. “I guess you were wrong. I’ll just have to wait till spring to see him”

Suddenly, a huge laser of light beamed from the area where Tank had buried himself. It pushed Rainbow back almost crashing into a tree. Rainbow was close to shrieking. She had no idea what was going on. When the light disappeared, there was fog and mist. Rainbow came through the fog and mist to search for her tortoise. She looked inside the hole where he had buried himself, but Tank was no-where to be seen. Rainbow ran backwards from the hole for a second, in shock.

“Tank?” she cried out. “Where are you?” Rainbow started to get worried. Sweat was pouring down her brow and her heart was beating fast. Then, a reassuring scaly foot stroked alongside Rainbow’s hind leg. Rainbow reacted quickly and looked behind her, Tank was there, awake. Rainbow’s eyes widened and began to tear up again. She picked up her tortoise and gave him a tight hug.

“I’m so glad you’re back!” she said, smiling. “I thought I would really have to wait 2 months until you returned!” she put Tank down and wiped her tears away. This is the first time Rainbow had really smiled in a while. A huge grin on her face, something that Pinkie Pie would definitely like.

“I can’t believe it actually worked!” Rainbow grinned as she picked up the watch from the pile of snow. “And it’s all thanks to this watch. I don’t know how it did it, but it has! I can finally do all those things with you I couldn’t before!” Rainbow just skipped alongside Tank who had harnessed his flying gear again.

She walked over to the sled stand and asked for 2 wooden ones. She then flew all the way up to the highest hill in Ponyville and looked down. The wind was blowing freely in her mane. She then looked down at Tank.

“You ready?” she asked confidently. Tank gave no response.

“This just in, brave Rainbow Danger Dash and her trusty tortoise Tank the Fearless are about to go down the fastest, steepest and most daringly huge mount in all of Ponyville!”

Rainbow bent down and licked her lips, determined to beat her pet down the slope.

“Ready, set, go!” both of them went as quick as lightning as they slid down the slope, making sure not to crash into any trees.

Nearby, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were close to the trees of the slope, estimating the amounts of snow that had fallen in the past few weeks.

“Twilight Darling, I don’t see how measuring snow fall is relevant to your research” Rarity explained.

“Oh but it is” Twilight replied. “Ever since that giant snowball hit Ponyville, I’ve been very intrigued to record effects” Rarity looked concerned.

“Twilight. That giant snowball crashed in Ponyville a month ago. Why are you doing research now?”

“I checked results a month ago too. But I’m checking every month for effects”

“And I’m out here because...”

“Because you were helping me with recording, remember”

“Right, I stupidly volunteered” Rarity murmured.

“What was that?”

“Nothing” Rarity quickly replied. Then something came to her, a thought. “I wonder who could have sent that watch” Twilight dropped the snow she picked up back on the ground when she heard that. She sighed and looked at her friend.

“I don’t know. But even when I didn’t find any magical sources, I still feel suspicious about it. I mean, I’m even more worried that something bad might happen to her”

“Who, Rainbow Dash?”

“Yes. Some pony might hurt her. And she’s just come out of her shell” Rarity glared at her when the word 'shell' was used. “That didn’t help, I know”

“That’s alright darling. Besides, if Rainbow was in danger, she would be able to handle it. She’s pretty tough”

“Not recently. She’s not been completely herself lately. She’s fighting a battle in her mind that she might not win” Rarity looked sadly at Twilight.

“Don’t say that, darling. You know how much Rainbow loves to win things, especially battles”

“I know. I know. Just, what I’d give for Rainbow to be sledding in the snow right about now”

Then, Rainbow Dash went speeding past them, getting snow all over Twilight and Rarity. They both shook the snow off and noticed Rainbow smiling as she was going down the slope.

“What’s Rainbow Dash doing out here?” Twilight asked.

“Looks like you’ve got your wish, darling” Rarity replied.

“That’s odd though. When we last saw her, she wasn’t herself but now she’s back to normal”

“So?”

“So, between the times we visited her and now, she has changed”

“Well she did get presents from us remember? She was happy then”

Twilight twitched her eye.

“I already know that. She was happy for a brief moment. But then when we mentioned the Hearth’s Warming party, she went back to being gloomy. I as well as the next pony want Rainbow to return to normal as soon as possible, but these things take time”

“Well apparently not if we saw her speeding on a sled”

“You’re right; there must be something else that has changed her”

“And?”

“And, something doesn’t seem right about that. I think that watch might have something to do with it”

From where she was standing, Twilight couldn’t see tank sledding beside Rainbow. However, she did feel a little suspicious about what was going on.

Tank had gone ahead of Rainbow now. She was shocked and confident at the same time.

‘No way is the fastest pony in all of Ponyville losing a race to one of the slowest animals in Ponyville!’ she thought. She picked up her speed and managed to go ahead of Tank by a long shot.

Fluttershy was caring for some of animals. She was about to give Angel his lunch until a huge snow pile fell on top of both of them.

Rainbow had made a perfect landing to the race, then she looked at Fluttershy who was now covered in snow. Rainbow Dash burst out in laughter.

“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked, confused. “What are you doing out here?”

“Just sledding with my best friend in the world!” Rainbow replied.

“Who?”

“Fluttershy, I have some exciting news to tell you!” Rainbow Dash squealed “Tank is back!” She pointed at her tortoise who had just arrived at the finish line and was looking livelier than ever. She went over to tank and nuzzled him.

“I don’t believe it” Fluttershy gasped. “This isn’t possible. Tank should be hibernating. It’s still winter!”

“I know” Rainbow Dash replied. “But what made a difference was this watch I got for Hearth’s Warming!” She held her watch up to show Fluttershy.

“Like magic?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, like magic” Rainbow replied. “I’m just so happy I have my pet tortoise again!”

“I’m not too sure about this, Rainbow” Fluttershy said, concerned. “Hibernating is healthy for him, what you are doing could hurt him biologically”

“Nah, he looks perfectly fine” Rainbow argued. “Don’t worry about him, whatever the watch did, I think it covered the health consequences too”. She picked up Tank and said goodbye to her yellow Pegasus friend.  Fluttershy turned to Angel in concern.

“I’m really worried about Rainbow Dash” Fluttershy said to him. “If that watch did really bring back Tank, I just hope nothing bad happens to him”

Rainbow and Tank had lots of runs down the slope. Then they went to play horse hockey, have snowball fights and have hot cider by their fire.

It was night now, and Rainbow and Tank were both exhausted from all of the fun they had together. Rainbow was preparing to go to sleep.

“That was so much fun!” Rainbow Dash said “I never had this much fun for a long time”. Tank nodded. He smiled at Rainbow. They both gave each other a hug. Rainbow yawned.

“Well, it is getting late. We should probably catch some Zs” Rainbow said “A big day of fun tomorrow”. She got into her bed and laid Tank in his bed too. She slowly drifted off to sleep.

Tank was getting cold again. He walked over to Rainbow Dash and started to sleep next to her. This woke Rainbow for a couple of seconds when she had noticed him. She just grinned and nuzzled her pet.

She finally got the chance to sing him the lullaby after eight months of missing it. Why she hadn't sung it in that long was because she discovered Daring Do. Tank also took a liking to the series so she would read him the books too. But at this stage, she was too tired to even do that, so she went with singing the lullaby.

'Little Tanky please do not cry now

I will always be by your side now

even if the weather gets too cold now

I never will leave you alone'

“Goodnight Tank” Rainbow finished as she finally drifted off to sleep. She knew something big had started for the both of them. That nothing could keep them apart again. But she still had to learn that all good things must come to an end eventually. And eventually may come sooner then she expects…