//------------------------------//
// A Rainbow's Prayer 
// Story: A Rainbow's Prayer 
// by Matthais Unidostres 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash flew backwards through Ghastly Gorge without a care as she watched her four flying finalists dodge the Quarry Eels. "Easy, peasy, one-two-threesy!" Dash said confidently, "Right, guys?"

CRACK!

Rainbow Dash flew straight back into the canyon wall. Cracks from her collision point spread through the wall and all the way up to a pile of rocks above. As Rainbow Dash rubbed her now sore back, she just happened to look up and see a rock falling towards her.

"AVALANCHE!" she shouted as she dodged the rocks. Suddenly the four animals flew by her, dodging the rocks with ease. "Hey! Whoaaaa!"  she shouted as she tried keeping up with them. However, another large rock fell down and landed on her, forcing her down to the ground.

Eventually Dash managed to shake off the dizziness, and found that the avalanche was over. She looked up to see the four contestants flying off. She jumped up to take to that air after them, only to get pulled back down. She turned and saw that to her horror, that her right wing was held down under a large boulder. She desperately pulled on her wing, but no matter how hard she pulled she couldn't get it free.

Dash looked up at the animals and called out, "C'mon... No! Wait! Come back! Don't leave me! I'm the one who's supposed to win! I don't wanna end up stuck here... " Dash shuddered, ". . .forever!" Dash looked around nervously as she began to feel panic take hold of her, "Oh no, nonono, th-this can't be happening. Forever is way too long to be trapped in Ghastly Gorge. I mean, it's like, forever!" Dash looked up and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Somepony! Anypony! Help me!"

Her voice echoed throughout the empty gorge, a sign of how alone Rainbow Dash really was.

"What am I gonna do," Dash said as she turned to the boulder, "What did I do to deserve this?" Dash hardened her gaze and said, "I am not giving up!" She then threw all her weight against the boulder and pushed with all her might. To her dismay, it wouldn't budge. She kept this up for a few minutes, but the rock didn't move an inch. Dash moaned and sat down. "I give up."

Dash looked up and around her surroundings. The walls of the Gorge seemed to extend infinitely upward, providing no escape.

"Valley of the Shadow of Death," Dash remarked quietly as she began to feel fear. Dash hung her head and whispered, "No. No, please no."

Fighting to hold back tears, Rainbow Dash bowed her head as low as she could as she began to pray, "Please God, don't leave me like this. Don't let me be stuck here forever. I want be with my friends, and join the Wonderbolts, and a tone of other stuff. If you got plans for me, why did you let this happen? I don't deserve it! I don't-."

Dash suddenly caught herself and sighed, "No, I deserve a lot worse actually. And if it weren't for you, Christ, I'd still be headed right towards it. I don't even want to think about it. . .but why did this in particular happen? How can I be of any use to you if I'm stuck here? Help me understand, God. Is there a lesson in this? All I did was try to find the prefect pet."

Dash sat in silence, still in prayer, for a moment. She focused on the couple of Scripture verse she could remember at the time. The Scripture was the only book she ever read. It wasn't like all those other egghead books. It was different, and way more important. As she sat there, she did her best to search for the Holy Spirit within her. She hoped that He could help her see what she was missing. Eventually, something did react inside her, and it filled her with guilt.

"I. . .didn't treat those pets right, didn't I?" Dash prayed sorrowfully, "I wasn't exactly nice, and I put them in danger too. I guess, I was so focused on getting an awesome pet, I forgot about what having a pet was all about. Love, attention, and all that mushy stuff. I can do that! I really can! I can be tough and awesome while still being a caring pet owner. I just didn't try hard enough. I'm sorry God, and You know I rarely make the same mistake twice. I repent, I really repent God. Just please, get me out of here. I fix that mistake, please forgive me. In Your Holy Name I pray. Amen."

Dash sat in silence for a moment after that. She squeezed her eyes tightly as tears of shame and despair squeezed. However, the sound of rock crumbling alerted her to look back down the Gorge. She smiled joyously as she saw the shadow of something approaching her.

Dash's heart soared as she jumped for joy, "Wahoo! My prayers have been answered! Oh, thankyouthankyoutha– "

Dash's joy was short lived when she saw who cast the shadow. 

"You?!" Dash shouted in disbelief as the tortoise approached her, "Oh no!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she began to feel anger build up inside her, "Now I'm not only going to be stuck here forever." Dash then took the opportunity to shoot an angry look upwards and shout "I'm gonna be stuck here forever with the most annoying turtle in the world!"

Dash shout down in a huff and looked over at the tortoise. It appeared to be slowly digging at the dirt beneath the boulder. "Gyh, I'm doomed!" Dash moaned, "DOOMED, I tell you!" Dash buried her face in her hooves and started crying. "Does God not care about me anymore?" she thought sadly.

CRREAACK!

The odd sound caused Dash to look over at the tortoise. After taking a look, she blinked the tears out of her eyes and rubbed them clear for a good 5 seconds. However, the sight still hadn't changed. The tortoise had dug a small hole beneath the boulder and stuck his head into it, and then lifted the 2 ton boulder with its neck.

Dash stared at the impossible scene for about 10 seconds, then finally regained her senses and quickly rolled away from the boulder. Once she was clear the tortoise lowered the boulder back down and backed away.

"No way," Dash said in awe, her mind still reeling from what she just witnessed. She looked down at the tortoise and said, "You. . .saved me. . . and I- OW!" Dash tried to open her wing, but was greeted by a sharp pain. Her legs shook rapidly and she fell painfully to her knees. "Ow. . ." she moaned.

As Dash lay painfully on the ground, the tortoise approached the mare. He pulled his head inside his shell and popped back out with a roll of bandages in his mouth.



A/N: First of all, its a cartoon. Second of all, in the show, Tank pulls a pair of sunglasses out of his shell, so who knows what else he has in there.



The tortoise unrolled a clean length of bandage, and Dash lent a hoof in helping him wrap it around Dash's injured wing.

"Well, gosh. . ." Dash said, shocked nearly speechless. She attempted to stand, but her legs still responded weakly. The next thing she knew, Tank was underneath her, lifting her up onto his back.

Now Rainbow Dash was at a complete loss for words. This tortoise had actually gone into Ghastly Gorge after her, saved her, and now was carrying her to safety. She would have never predicted anything like this in her entire life. But what really blew her mind was how he was able to lift such a heavy boulder. It didn't seem possible.

Rainbow Dash stopped thinking as she came to a sudden conclusion. She smiled and said, "Like a camel walking through the eye of a needle. . . "

. . . .

"Thank you, God. I'm pretty sure I've learned my lesson. And I know how to show the little guy my gratitude."


The End