//------------------------------// // Decisions // Story: Ponyville Tales // by Silverquill //------------------------------// “Why can’t more days be like this…” Rainbow Dash was lounging on her favorite napping cloud, enjoying the sunny weather. Her and the weather team had done a good job; aside from her personal cloud, there wasn’t a single one in the sky. There was nothing to do but kick back, relax, and maybe saw a few logs… Or maybe go into a freefall. The cyan Pegasus shot her limbs out in a panic as the cloud beneath her suddenly disappeared with a poof. She started flapping her wings, attempting to pull herself out of the fall, but there was no need; she’d landed in the arms of someone. She slowly took her eyes off the ground to see who her rescuer was. “What’s new, dweeb?” Oh, here we go… Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and flew out of the griffin’s arms, doing a loop and stopping herself right in front of Gilda. “You’ve got some guts, showing your face around here again. Are you actually going to say something worthwhile, or are you just here to destroy my napping cloud?” “Whoa, chill out, Dash. It was just a joke…remember, like old times?” The pegasus shot her a look. “Alright, fine I’ll get to the point…sheesh.” Gilda searched through her feathers for something. Finally finding it, she retrieved it and showed it off; two tickets glimmered in the sunlight. “Are those…?” “You know it, Dashie. Two tickets to the Wonderbolts show this afternoon.” Rainbow Dash reached out a hoof tentatively, reaching out to the tickets to see if they were actually there. She quickly caught herself and pulled her hoof back. “Wait a second, why are you showing me this? Last time I checked, we weren’t friends.” Gilda smirked, crossing her arms. “I decided I’d give ya a second chance; something tells me the old Rainbow Dash is still there, buried under a bunch of lame. I knew you liked the Wonderbolts, and one of my friends had a couple spare tickets, so I bought ‘em off him. Pretty cool, eh?” “Giving ME a second chance? Why I oughta…” The tickets seemed to flash a little brighter. “…Ehehe, what I meant was, what time do I show up?” “8 o’ clock tonight, Cloudsdale Stadium. Be there, or be square.” With a dismissive wave, Gilda flew off, leaving Rainbow Dash to wonder if she should really follow through on this. On one hoof…she’s a snotty brat who thinks I’m the one who’s uncool. She rubbed her chin. On the other hoof…Wonderbolts. Moments later, she was rushing home as fast as she could to grab her #1 Wonderbolt Fan foam glove. She’d almost gotten home when she flew by Sweet Apple Acres, knocking off the hat of a certain orange pony. “Whoa there, Rainbow, what’s the rush?” Rainbow did a quick 180 and landed next to Applejack. “Gotta go get some stuff, got something awesome to do tonight!” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Well shoot, ah didn’t think having to watch Pinkie Pie would excite ya this much.” Rainbow turned to go. “Yeah, gotta run, things to…” She turned back. “Wait, what?” “Remember, sugarcube? Pinkie came down with the flu, and we’ve all been taken turns makin’ sure she’s all right. Lessee… I took the first turn this morning… Twilight’s there right now… Fluttershy should be next… then you, then Rarity.” Rainbow groaned. She’d completely forgotten about her sick friend, along with their collective promise to keep an eye on her and help her recover. “Uh…yeah, I didn’t forget! Of course not. I’ll… see ya later.” Rainbow flew off, leaving Applejack to return to her work. “Well, she’s actin’ mighty strange today,” The orange pony mused to herself. Rainbow shut the fluffy door to her cloud home before hovering through her living room and upstairs to her bedroom. She looked out the window at a sun dial she kept outside, showing that it was closely approaching Fluttershy’s turn to watch over their sick friend. And right when she was supposed to meet Gilda, it would be her turn to take over for a few hours. Geez…the show will be over way before Rarity shows up! The pegasus flopped down onto her self-made cloud bed. She glanced up at the autographed poster taped to her wall- Soarin’, Spitfire, and more, all posing for last year’s show- and then buried her head in her pillow. What am I going to do… she groaned. The show comes ONCE A YEAR… I can’t miss that. An image of her sickly pink friend rose to the top of her mind, the party pony a bright shade of green. …but I can’t just abandon a friend either. She sighed and rolled onto her back, placing a hoof over her chest. She looked at her dresser and saw something peeking out from under it. Curious, she got up and pulled it out from under the dresser. It was her foam hand, proudly declaring that the Wonderbolts were #1. And then she knew what she had to do. She raced out of the house, taking just enough time to close the front door behind her. If she hurried, she might have just enough time… Something knocked downstairs at the front door to Sugar Cube Corner. Fluttershy looked up from her sick friend, raising an ear. The knocking stopped as Mrs. Cake opened the door, greeting whoever had answered. Fluttershyshrugged and went back to treating Pinkie Pie. The worst of the sickness was hitting the pink pony now. Her face was, quite literally, green, and the pile of blankets over her did nothing to stop the shaking. To make matters worse, Fluttershy had forgotten one of her fever-reducing remedies at home, leaving Pinkie to deal with the illness on common-cold mixtures alone. She sighed as her friend weakly leaned over, getting sick into a small trash can again. She held Pinkie’s hair back as the pink pony got rid of all the soup Fluttershy had managed to get into her. Once she had emptied herself out, Fluttershy gently leaned Pinkie’s head back onto the pillow. “I’m sorry again for forgetting the fever medicine… so, so sorry…” Fluttershy glanced out the window, noting that Celestia’s sun was beginning to sink down over the horizon. “Rainbow should be here soon to take her turn. I’ll be sure to go home straight away and bring back the medicine…sorry…” Pinkie looked at her through bleary eyes. “It’s okey dokey, Fluttershy… I’ve handled parties rougher than this…” She went into a coughing fit before leaning her head back again. “I’m just glad to have friends so nice that they’d take the time to care for me…” Fluttershy smiled at her friend as someone knocked at Pinkie’s door. “Oh…I’ll be right back, Pinkie.” Fluttershy hovered over to the door and opened it. “Is that you, Mr. Cake?” She was knocked aside as something jumped into the room. Her eyes rattled around until she shook her head, focusing on the newcomer. “Rainbow Dash?” “You know it!” The blue Pegasus trotted towards her, removing something from her back. “I stopped by your house to see if there was anything that might help…just found a buncha weird liquidy things. I brought some down; maybe it‘ll help.” Rainbow Dash handed her a familiar green vial. The fever remedy! “I also stopped by the store and got a few things to pass the time, some soup, some vitamins, some…hey, you listening, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy ignored her, quickly moving to where she’d left her mobile medical equipment. She laced the remedy with a few more vitamins and mixed it all in with some more soup, making sure to use a correct dosage. Satisfied that it was done, she quickly moved to Pinkie. “Uhm…do you think you could handle just a teeny bit more soup, Pinkie?…” Pinkie gave the tiniest nod. Rainbow stood by and watched as Fluttershy spoon-fed the pink pony a little bit of the soup. Pinkie could barely swallow it, but she managed to get a few spoonfuls down. Fluttershy sat the soup aside and the two pegasi watched as their friend’s green face started to take on a familiar pinkish glow. After the green had almost faded, Fluttershy started getting Pinkie to eat more soup, and she happily complied. The two pegasi watched as their pink friend finished the rest of the mixture. She slurped down the rest and then closed her eyes, finally feeling well enough to get some decent sleep. Fluttershy smiled as she took her friend’s bowl away and started packing up her equipment. “Oh, thanks so much for bringing that, Dashie. Without that mixture, you would have had much worse to deal with…” The rainbow-maned pegasus scratched the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. “Uh, yeah… I knew you needed it,” she lied. Her face quickly fell, though, something seeming to cross her mind as she saw the sun setting. Fluttershy noticed Rainbow‘s expression. “Forgive me for asking, but… is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?…” she questioned. Her rainbow friend snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head, glancing at their peacefully sleeping friend. “Well, if Pinkie was awake, I’m sure she’d like to thank you…” Fluttershy said. “Rarity should be coming in a few hours… I hope it wasn’t any trouble getting the remedy. Good luck… I‘ll come back after Rarity‘s turn to give her another dose, if she‘s willing to take it…” With that, Fluttershy gathered up the rest of her belongings into a small white case with a red cross on it. She gave Rainbow Dash a smile on her way out. The light blue mare went and sat by her friend’s bedside. Pinkie had fallen asleep quickly, her breathing making the pile of covers rise and fall. Seeing that Pinkie’s fever had eased up a little, Rainbow Dash tossed a few blankets off the pile. Without much to do, her thoughts began to wander to what Gilda was up to. Did she bother waiting? Is she in the show right now? Ugh, freakin’ lucky sky punk… A pink hoof rested gently on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming, Dashie,” Pinkie mumbled, before letting go and falling asleep again. Rainbow Dash smiled. Well, at least I’m here for a true friend. Gilda, eat your heart out. The hours went by pretty boring at first, but Pinkie woke up about halfway through. Feeling much better, she’d allowed Dash to show her the things she’d picked up to make her sick time more enjoyable. Currently, she was wearing a couple yellow party hats stuck to her head while Rainbow Dash read her bad puns from a joke book. No matter how bad, she was always guaranteed a laugh. “Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this one…what do you call a flying snake?” Still giggling at the last joke, Pinkie covered her mouth. “Hmmm…I dunno, Dashie. What do ya call a flying snake?” “A pega-hiss!” Pinkie Pie burst into a fresh round of laughter, her infectious laughter starting to get to the Rainbow Dash as well. “Ooooh, that was awful, Dashie. C’mon, another one!” “Okay, okay…” Her search for another joke was interrupted by someone knocking at the door. Setting the book aside, Rainbow Dash fluttered over and opened the door. “Why hello there, darling!” Rarity stepped into the room, carrying her saddlebags with her. “I’ve come to relieve you. How’s our sick little friend?” Pinkie Pie, still giggling, gave a little wave. Rarity waved back “Oh my, she looks so much better. Thanks for keeping a good eye on her, Rainbow Dash.” “Not a problem.” Another thought of the missed Wonderbolt show struck her; she shot it down quickly. “Happy to help!” Rarity walked to Pinkie’s bedside and dropped her saddlebags on the ground. “Oh, I almost forgot… Rainbow Dash? You knew about that Wonderbolt show tonight, didn’t you?” …Grrrrrrr. “Uh… yeah, why?” “Well, I think it was very kind of you to skip it to keep an eye on your ill-feeling friend.” Rarity opened up one of the saddlebags and shuffled around. “Which is why when I found out a designer friend of mine was going to be setting the scenery for a little Wonderbolts after party, I was able to call in a favor and get us these.” The white unicorn found what she was looking for and took it from the saddlebag. Seven VIP passes glimmered in the room’s light. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.” Rainbow snatched the passes from her friend and fitted one around her neck, enjoying the feeling of knowing that this little thing could get her some personal time with her idols. “Thank you! Ah, I don’t even know what to say, this is…wait, seven passes?” Rarity shrugged. “A little honest birdie told me that you shot by her and told her that you had something to do tonight. I had a little inkling that Pinkie wasn’t on the top of your list of things to do,” she whispered, keeping Pinkie oblivious to the information. “Assuming that’s the case, and with the Wonderbolt show having been sold out for a week or so, surely you must have had someone else get you a ticket…and that person would probably be going with you as well. Am I wrong?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Well, then feel free to give that extra ticket to this mystery friend of yours. I would love to meet them!” Rarity chimed. Oh, no you wouldn’t, thought Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, the event’s this weekend. Do me a favor and pass the rest of the passes out to our friends, dearie.” “No problem. Good luck with Pinkie Pie. Thanks again!” Rainbow Dash handed a couple passes out to Rarity and Pinkie, wishing the latter the best of luck with her illness. After making her exit, she went home, Gilda and her offer forgotten. She flew home, tossing the passes onto her dresser and flopping onto her bed. She glanced at her Wonderbolt poster and smiled, before slowly falling into a pleasant sleep. Rainbow Dash flew through the skies, the citizens of Ponyville bustling about far beneath her. She’d awoken early and gotten to work, already having handed out passes to everypony but Twilight. And the extra pass, she thought. Still not sure what to do with that… She came to a landing outside of the town’s library, residence of her bookworm friend, Twilight. She raised her hoof to knock on the door. A claw snaked out from behind her and grabbed her arm. “There you are, lame-o.” Rainbow Dash was spun around, ending up face to face with Gilda. “Guess you thought you were too good for me, huh? Well, you missed a kickin’ show last night, AND you wasted your chance to regain some of your coolness. Man, I don’t know why I ever bothered with you.” Rainbow Dash glared. “Just back off, okay. I didn’t go, big freakin’ whoop. Got a problem with that, I’ll deal with you after I deliver these.” The pegasus removed the two passes she’d been keeping around her neck, her own pass nestled safely away at home. “Deal with ME? Who do YOU think yer dealin’ with, you…” Gilda narrowed her eyes. “Wait, what are those?” “Passes to the Wonderbolt after party, that my REAL FRIEND got me. Six for me and my friends, and an extra.” Gilda’s expression softened. “Ehehe…you know I was just jokin’, Dashie. Its all good… but hey, why don’t I take that extra pass off your hands? We can go to the party, you can introduce me to your friends… I’m sure we just had an… ‘error in communication‘. We’ll all have a kickin’ time, I just know it.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Keeping her eyes on Gilda, she raised a hoof to the door, knocking loudly. A few scurrying sounds were heard until the door was opened, revealing Spike glancing curiously at the newcomers. “What’s up, Rainbow and…uh…” Spike backed up a little, intimidated by his first look at a griffin. “Uh…Twilight’s sorting some things upstairs. Should I go get her?” “No need,” Rainbow Dash said, turning to Spike. She dropped the passes into his claws. “Just wanted to drop these off. One’s for Twilight…and the other, you can have.” Spike admired the passes while Rainbow Dash giggled at Gilda’s open jawed expression. “Gee, thanks Rainbow Dash. I’ll make sure she gets one. You coming in?” “Nah, got places to be.” Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at the angry griffin behind her. “Tell Twilight I said ‘hi’.” “Gotcha. See you later, Rainbow and…bird…lion…thing. Sorry.” The baby dragon closed the door, shouting out for Twilight as he did so. Rainbow Dash turned back to Gilda, a smirk on her face. Gilda glowered at her. “I gave you a second chance and this is how you repay me? Really, why did I ever bother with you? You know what, I got better things to do than hang out with the queen of dorks. Later.” The griffin flapped her wings and took to the skies, heading towards the outskirts of Ponyville. Rainbow simply smiled and shook her head, knowing in her heart she’d made the right decision. With no other pressing matters to attend to, she turned to go to Sugar Cube Corner…her pink pony friend would definitely be happy to see her.