Rainbow Dash's Inner TurmoilView OnlineThe SpotRainbow Dash's Inner TurmoilRainbow Dash's Realization "Yo Dash!" Startled, Rainbow Dash turns her head to see who could be calling her name out at a time like this. She then sees her old griffon friend, Gilda, flying at her. "Buzz off Gilda, I don't want to see your face around here." said the pegasus pony angrily. It had been two years since the incident at Sugarcube Corner and Dash hadn't forgiven Gilda for the way she acted towards Pinkie Pie. "I just wanted to come apologize for the way I acted at my party. I should've been grateful for Pinkie's willingness to accept me as one of her friends." Gilda stammered out. Rainbow Dash was speechless at this. She had known this griffon her entire life, and never heard her utter anything CLOSE to an apology. This all came as a shock to the pony who had thought of Gilda as the very definition of toughness, and sometimes the very definition of rottenness. The fact that Gilda had just apologized knocked dash back into the cloud she had been resting on. "I...I just don't know what to say." Dash quickly stammered "Just forgive me and lets go for a flying session. Like old times' sake." Gilda asked. "Ok lets go." Dash said. But as Rainbow Dash attempted to take off, the cloud beneath her disappeared and she found her wings would not flap despite all her efforts. "GILDA! HELP!" Dash screamed. But Gilda just hovered there flapping her wings like she didn't hear anything. All the while Rainbow Dash hurtled towards the ground screaming at the top of her lungs and flailing her limbs in a desperate attempt to do anything to save her life. Dash looked towards the ground and saw it getting closer and closer, right before impact she squeezed her eyes closed. Dash bolted upright and looked around and noticed she was still in her bed in her home in Cloudsdale. "Why can't I shake that dream. It wasn't my fault Gilda died. It just wasn't!" Dash screamed at herself. It had been 3 months since the tragic accident just outside of Cloudsdale and Rainbow Dash just couldn't get the memory out of her head. "If I had just been a little bit faster, Gilda wouldn't have died and everything would be fine." Dash sputtered through a few tears. Dash walked into the kitchen and poured herself a drink, a shot of her favorite whiskey, Applejack Daniels. "That helped a little" the pegasus thought to herself. "Just gotta go clear my head somewhere" and with that she was off in the night sky towards her favorite spot to be alone. "Wow I cannot believe I've never noticed just how cool those lights look before." Dash spoke to herself as she flew over Ponyville. It was only a matter of minutes, but it felt longer. The more she thought about it the worse she felt about that day. Upon arriving at the spot, Dash remembered why she loved this spot more than any other. It wasn't the fact that it was only her and Gilda that knew about it, but the way that the moonlight glistening just so off the lake and the near surrounding of trees made this spot look even better than it truly was. Dash flew around trying to find the most comfortable cloud near the clearing and when she did, she flew it close enough to the water where she could recline on it while her hind legs sank just barely into the water, which was surprisingly warm. Not long after Rainbow had settled into a perfect position and was getting ready to drift off to sleep she heard a noise over by the trees. "Who's there?" questioned a startled Rainbow Dash. No reply came, so Dash decided to investigate personally. She took off like a bullet straight at the source of the noise before seeing a familiar outline. "It couldn't possibly be, I know I saw her die that day. But it can't be anybody else! Gilda, I'm so GLAD to see you!" exclaimed an excited Rainbow Dash. "Ah hate to burst yer bubble Rainbow but Ah ain't yer friend Gilda." said a surprised Applejack. "Hah of course you're not, that'd be silly. Besides we all saw what they did with the body at her funeral." replied Rainbow. They had of course given Gilda a griffon's burial, which involved tying the body to a cloud and burning the cloud over a lake until there wasn't a trace of it left. "Whats got ye so bothered Rainbow?" queried Applejack. "I had another dream about Gilda. It was the same one I've been having for the past few weeks." answered a near crying Rainbow Dash. "Thar was nothin ye coulda done ta save 'er Rainbow. Ye tried yer best and nopony blames ye fer what happened." said Applejack, trying to calm her ever worsening friend. "Just fergit about it, remember da good times ye had with Gilda. Its what she woulda wanted." "Thanks AJ, that's exactly what I needed to hear. You always have the right words for whatever situation occurs. I'm only wondering one thing, How did you know about this place?" asked a quizzical Rainbow Dash. "Are ya kidding? This place's been a spot that's given the apple family many a night a thinkin'. That and it's the best spot to do some heavy drinkin' when somepony's feelin' down." replied a smiling Applejack. "Yeah, the drinkings been pretty much the only thing to distract me from my dream. That and this place." said Rainbow Dash. "Want somethin' ta drink? Ah've got some good hard stuff in my sack if ye want a drink." proposed Applejack. "That'd be great, lemme help you pour them for us." replied Rainbow. As she uncorked the first jug the heavy smell of alcohol attacked her nostrils. "Hooey, you know how to make some strong alcohol, hopefully it tastes as good as it smells." quipped a smiling Rainbow Dash. After a few drinks Rainbow and Applejack didn't really comment about the taste of the alcohol much anymore. Then again much of their speaking didn't make sense after those few drinks. Before long both of the ponies had passed out and were only awoken when the sun was beginning to rise. "Thanks for the company Applejack, I'll have to make sure to visit Sweet Apple Acres next time I have another bad night like tonight." said a groggy Rainbow Dash. "Aw shoot, anytime Rainbow. Drinkin' with somebody who can actually hold their booze is actually fun. Not like drinkin' with Twi at all." Answered a cheery Applejack. Both the ponies laughed at the joke as they parted ways. Not knowing this wouldn't be the last time there was a surprise at the spot.
Source of the TurmoilView OnlineThe SpotSource of the TurmoilSource of the Turmoil It was a glorious spring day for the town of Ponyville and the pegasi were enjoying their work this day. Keeping a few fluffy clouds in the sky was all that needed to be done today. Rainbow Dash felt her work was done for the day and decided to knock off early. Deciding upon a spot over Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow found herself on a cloud between the barn and the south fields, allowing the rhythm of Applejack's bucking and Big Macintosh's running on the conveyor belt to lull her into an almost dreamlike state. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard wings flapping. "Those wings are flapping a lot slower than a normal pegasus' wings." remarked Rainbow Dash. And correct she was. She turned around just in time to be face to face with the griffon Gilda. "What're you doing here G? I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again!" yelled a fuming Rainbow Dash. "What would make you think I'd want you to ever come back?" "Dash I've changed. I'm not the same ornrey griffon I was before, I promise." replied Gilda. "Oh yea? Why should I believe you after the incident at your own party last year?" inquired a still furious Rainbow Dash. "You just have to trust me ok? I just want to make amends with everypony I've wronged." replied a sullen Gilda. "You just need to trust me. I've changed, and its for the better." "I should've forgiven her that day. We could've been flying together even longer. What a foal I was for not believing her sooner." sobbed Rainbow Dash. "I just can't stop thinking about her. I still can't believe shes gone." Thankful she was alone, Rainbow began to sniffle. Nothing she did seemed to help with the pain, even remotely. *knock knock* "Hello?" Rainbow Dash heard a timid voice enter her home and she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she flew to the door to see who could be knocking at her door this early in the morning. Rainbow Dash flung the door open to see a smiling Fluttershy there with Tank floating just over her flank thanks to his flying device. "Come on in Fluttershy, I had totally forgot about you polishing Tank's shell. Thanks for doin that for me. What can I do for you?" Rainbow Dash inquired. "Oh I was just dropping Tank off as I finished his shell early. I figured I'd stop by and drop him off, that is if thats alright." Fluttershy replied in almost a whisper. "Yea its no biggie. Take a seat, can I get you something to drink?" replied Rainbow Dash. "Oh nothing for me, thank you though." answered a cheery Fluttershy. "Alright, I'm gonna go grab a glass of water. I'll be right back." said Rainbow Dash as she headed for the kitchen. As Rainbow grabbed her glass, she seemed almost trance like. "Hey Gilda, whats wrong? You don't seem yourself today." asked a worried Rainbow Dash. "Just a long night Dash, nothing to worry about. Lets get to work ok?" Gilda quickly replied. It had been weeks since Rainbow Dash had forgiven Gilda. Rainbow Dash had seen that Gilda had indeed changed and had finally forgiven her. Gilda had been able to join the weather patrol with Rainbow Dash. Gilda had loved every minute of working with Dash. Most days after work, Rainbow Dash and her would go to what Dash called The Spot. Gilda understood why Dash loved The Spot so much. No matter the time of Day, or Night, it always looked so serene and peaceful. Tonight however, Dash went to The Spot alone. It was just before twilight when something falling from the sky caught the cyan pegasus pony's eye as she was searching for a perfect cloud to rest on. She noticed that the object falling wasn't an ordinary object, it was Gilda! A panicked Dash began flying faster than she ever thought possible. She kept urging her wings to go faster. She was so close to being able to grab her falling friend when she noticed the ground rushing towards her. She knew the impact was coming so she got ready to pull out when she grabbed her friend. But as she was getting ready to grab her friend, she noticed the ground come out of nowhere and she stretched out a hoof to her friend for her to grab before she hit the ground. *Crash!* Rainbow Dash came to her senses and was greeted with a worried Fluttershy looking at her. "Rainbow are you ok? You've been crying for sometime. I only came in here after i heard your glass shatter." Rainbow looked down at her hooves and noticed there were shards of glass that weren't there before her trance. "Yea I'm fine. I just can't stop thinking about Gilda." said a crying Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, you couldn't do anything more than you did. Gilda was a good friend to all of us in the end and nobody could've changed her mind in the end." said a strangely stern Fluttershy. "You're right Fluttershy. I just need to remember all the good times we had together." stuttered Rainbow Dash who had stopped crying almost entirely by now. "Thanks for stopping by Fluttershy. I'll catch ya later, I've gotta go take care of something." And with that Rainbow Dash flew off towards The Spot. When she got to The Spot, she took two feathers from each wing and stuck them in the middle of Gilda's favorite ring of flowers. "I'll always remember you G. I'll never forget all the good times we had." and with that Rainbow Dash flew off into the twilight sky.
Why can't I hold all these EmotionsView OnlineThe SpotWhy can't I hold all these EmotionsWhy can't I hold all these emotions Behind that smile, the frizzy pinky hair, and those amazingly happy eyes lie the inner machinations of one crazy pony. Although having to put on the air of always being happy and cheery might sound like a fun job, it wasn't. But if anypony saw her when she wasn't being her usual cheerful self they'd worry about what was wrong. And Pinkie Pie didn't want anypony to worry about her. "Another day, lets see what we're doing today!" said a still groggy Pinkie Pie. She had rolled out of bed and trotted over to her calendar and looked at today's plans. "How could I have forgotten! Its Winter Wrapup today!" shouted Pinkie Pie to nopony in particular. Truth be told her mind had been somewhere else lately. She turned back to her calendar and saw the day she dreaded every year. Applebloom's Birthday. It wasn't that she didn't like that filly, but it was also her sister Inkie's birthday as well. Thinking about her family always made her miss them and when she was sad it was visually noticeable. "I've got work i need to do today! I can't be sad!" muttered Pinkie Pie as she put her vest on as she grabbed her skates while walking out the door. Pinkie Pie trotted down to the town square to hear the mayor's speech. Pinkie Pie zoned out and missed the majority of the speech and only coming back to her senses when she heard the cheering at the end of the speech. At the conclusion of the mayor's speech, Pinkie Pie trotted towards Ponyville's largest lake with the rest of the ice scorers. When they all got there, they circled around Pinkie Pie. "Alright guys, we have a very important job to do. We have to score the ice quickly so it can be melted evenly. The faster we do this the longer we can celebrate! Lets do it!" shouted Pinkie Pie excitedly to her group of lake scorers. She noticed one orange pegasus in her team again this year. "Hey Scootaloo! Glad to have you back this year. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle with their sisters?" inquired a cheery Pinkie Pie. "Yea, they don't know what they're missing out on!" shouted an excited Scootaloo. "Maybe this day won't be so bad. I've got Scootaloo here to keep my spirits up!" Pinkie Pie whispered to herself. Pinkie Pie started her usual Winter Wrapup chore with her usual silliness of drawing odd shapes in the ice before making the standard checkerboard. Pinkie Pie was about to start the checkerboard when she noticed Scootaloo copying her silly shapes in the ice. "Wow Scootaloo, I didn't realize you had such a creative mind." remarked Pinkie Pie. "Well when you're a pegasus who can't fly you have to fill your time with something. I just happen to have a creative mind and a knack for drawing." replied Scootaloo. "It started as me screwing around trying to get Rainbow Dash's attention with my drawings in the dirt, but it just kinda stuck with me." "She's just like Inky." Pinkie Pie thought to herself. "Inkie always loved her pens and brushes. I can't remember a time where we had a break and she wasn't drawing." The sun was setting across Equestria and the Pie family was sitting down to a home cooked meal. The rocks from the southern field had been rotated to the western field just as was planned for the day and the entire family was tired and just wanted to get to bed. Everypony except Pinkie that is. She was bouncing off the walls of the dining room that had become the norm ever since that one day with the gigantic rainbow. Once her mother had gotten pinkamena in her chair and stopped bouncing off the walls for a little bit she put the plates on the table. "Eat up everypony. Tomorrow's a big day, we have a huge shipment of rocks coming in from Ghastly Gorge and they all need to be put in the western field, so we need to rotate the rocks from the western field to the eastern field." Their father told them with a monotone voice. The rest of the Pie family just looked at their plates and started to clean their plates. Everypony except Inkie that is. Inkie cleaned her plate of everything except her potatoes, which were of course mashed. Pinkie looked over to her plate and noticed an intricate drawing of their farm and barn in the potatoes. "Wow Inky, that's a really good drawing!" Pinkie remarked. "What!?!! What do you think you're doing Inkie? I thought I told you to knock off that drawing nonsense." Their father screamed at Inkie. "If i ever see you drawing again, so help me!" After that night, Pinkie remembered that Inkie had stopped drawing all together and focused all her efforts to working around the farm even longer. "I don't remember her being too happy after that night." Pinkie Pie remarked to herself. "Something wrong Pinkie Pie?" asked Scootaloo "You've been going in a straight line for a few minutes now just staring off into space." "Its nothing Scootaloo, just lots of work getting this lake done quickly and properly." replied Pinkie Pie. It only took another hour before all the ice on the large lake was good and ready to be melted. Scootaloo looked all around and caught a glimpse of Pinkie Pie as she disappeared in some trees. "I wonder where shes going?" Scootaloo asked herself. Scootaloo didn't have anything else planned today now that the scoring was done. She followed Pinkie Pie through what she thought must be the Everfree Forest. After walking for what felt like hours, Pinkie Pie stopped and looked around to make sure nopony followed her there, but she didn't see Scootaloo trailing her. However, what Scootaloo didn't realize was Pinkie Pie knew she was there and was waiting just inside the trees. Just as Scootaloo entered the treesshe felt a force knock her to the ground. "What are you doing here? Why did you follow me? Who sent you? What are you doing following me?" inquired a noticeably angry Pinkie Pie. "I didn't know where you were going so i decided to follow you since our work was done. Nopony sent me." replied Scootaloo, visibly shaken by Pinkie Pie's sudden change in demeanor. "I didn't mean to hurt nopony, I just didn't wanna be alone for the rest of today." Something within her statement hit a nerve with Pinkie Pie and she reverted to her normal cheery self. "Oh Scootaloo I'm sorry I yelled at you, it's just that i always come here after doing the big lake in order to get away from it all." said Pinkie Pie. This was not entirely true. She had only found the spot four years ago, two years after the accident. "I come here and play in the snow before i hop on my canvas." explained Pinkie Pie as she trotted away. Scootaloo bounded after her. "Canvas? What Canvas? I didn't take you for a painter Pinkie." inquired a confused Scootaloo. "No silly. THIS is my canvas." and as Pinkie Pie said this, Scootaloo laid her eyes on the most pristine lake she had ever seen. Not even comparable to the size of the one in Ponyville, it was twice as beautiful and still frozen over. "How did you find this place Pinkie Pie?" asked Scootaloo. "Applejack showed me this place after one of her parties. Although I found it much like you did." remarked Pinkie Pie. She remembered how Applejack had done something similar to what she had done to Scootaloo, although with more questions and not allowing her to go for a little longer. "I come here mainly to remember my sister, Inkie. She loved to draw so I play in the snow like we used to and then score some shapes in the lake before actually scoring the lake. You actually remind me of her." "Well Pinkie Pie, do you think I can play and draw with you? I'd rather not go home so early." asked an excited Scootaloo. "Sure! It'll be fun to have somepony to play with out here. I always hate hogging all this beauty to myself." answered Pinkie Pie. At that Scootaloo finally got the chance to look all around her. The entire clearing was almost completely enclosed by trees. These trees, much like all of the ground, were topped with snow. The sun was hidden just behind the tops of the tallest trees, and the little light that was seeping through the cracks in the trees reflected amazingly off the ice of the lake. "Its beautiful Pinkie Pie. I can't wait t-" *PMPFH* a snowball smacked her face before she could finish her sentence. "Oh I'll get you for that one Pinkie Pie." Scootaloo shouted. Both had set up makeshift forts for the ensuing battle. "Only rule! No Rocks! Ok go!" Pinkie Pie yelled back. And so they began the battle of the spot. The fight came to a close as the sun began waning behind the trees. "Alright Scootaloo get those skates on. Its time to get creative." Pinkie Pie shouted as she trotted over to her skates. Scootaloo came over as well and both ponies put their skates on and began to score their images into the ice. As they finished their pictures they decided to admire their work. Scootaloo saw Pinkie Pie's picture. "Hey that looks a lot like Sweet Apple Acres. Is that what your picture is of?" Scootaloo quickly asked. "Not quite. Its the rock farm i grew up on. It held a lot of memories." Replied Pinkie Pie. "What happened to it?" Inquired Scootaloo. "Maybe another time Scootaloo I wanna see what you did!" answere an excited Pinkie Pie. As they walked over Pinkie Pie noticed Scootaloo's picture and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Scootaloo's picture looked almost exactly like Inkie, but this pony had wings! "Scootaloo, who is that?" Pinkie Pie stammered, trying to hold back tears. "It's what my mom looked like. It's the best I can do without the picture of her and my dad. Why Pinkie Pie?" answered an inquisitive Scootaloo looked worried. "That looks just like my Inkie!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "Oh Scootaloo thank you! You didn't even think of it like this when you were scoring her. It was five years ago. I went back home to celebrate her birthday. I arrived early to setup because she was travelling through Ghastly Gorge to get some exotic rocks. My father, who she was travelling with, told me the bad news. There had been a rockslide in the gorge and she couldn't get away fast enough." Pinkie Pie finished now with tears streaming from her eyes. She felt a weight around her and noticed Scootaloo was doing her best to hug her. "Don't cry Pinkie Pie. It'll be ok. Just think, one day you guys will be able to see each other again. Shoot I bet she's drawing right now!" Scootaloo replied trying to comfort her friend. "You're right Scootaloo! She's doing something she loves right now. Lets score this Ice and get going!" replied Pinkie Pie as she started on the checkerboard pattern. When they were finished they trotted towards Ponyville. About halfway back Pinkie Pie turned to Scootaloo. "Hey Scootaloo, why don't you stay with me tonight. We could both use the company and we can plan Applebloom's party!" exclaimed an excited Pinkie Pie. "Sure Pinkie Pie, sounds like a great time!" replied an excited Scootaloo as they entered Sugarcube Corner. They trotted up to Pinkie Pie's room and both fell asleep after a long and tiring day. Both excited for what would come tomorrow.