//------------------------------// // A Blissful Reawakening // Story: Pinkamena's Awakening: From Malice and Hate // by Kingsley //------------------------------// Chapter 8: A Blissful Reawakening Einna walked out of Lilith's house and into the town. Expecting the townponies to run, most of them looked at her with a smile on their face and they waved at her. "Hi Einna!" Lyra greeted, as she walked past her. "H-Hello!" Einna replied nervously as she continued to walk down the street. "I didn't expect everyone to be so welcoming of me..." Einna looked at the map that Lilith gave her. "Well if I wanna spend as much time as possible as I can with Rainbow Dash, then I'd better head there as fast as I can!" Einna cheered, attempting to burst down the street with her extreme speed, but instead ended up running at the speed of a normal pony. "Hmm... it looks like I've lost my super speed and strength along with my power..." Einna said. "Oh well! That's just one step closer to me being even closer with everypony else!" Einna walked through the town while continuously looking down at her map, trying to figure out where Rainbow's house was. "Ugh... this is harder than I expected it to be." Einna admitted. "I think... I'll have to ask somepony for directions..." Einna looked around her and saw a lavender colored pony with spiked light blue hair coming in her direction. "Come on Einna! You've got to learn how to talk to others than just with Twilight and her friends if you really wanna be comfortable around here!" Einna said, as she took a big gulp and approached the pony. "Umm... hello there!" "O-Oh... hello there, you're that... one pony that did those horrible things around here a long time ago aren't you?" Cloudchaser asked. "Well um... yea... that was me... but I've changed now! Really! You don't have to be afraid of me or anything!" Einna expressed. "Oh I know that, Princess Twilight and the others told the whole town about you. I'm glad that you've had a change of heart! I hope you'll like here in our little town!" Cloudchaser said. "T-Thanks! I'm looking forward to it too!" Einna said happily. "Um... If you don't mind, I actually need your help with something." "What is it?" Cloudchaser said. "Well I'm a little lost actually, do you know where I can find Rainbow Dash's house? I thought maybe as a fellow pegasus yourself you might know where she lived." Einna asked. "Oh yea! I know where Rainbow Dash lives. Here let me see your map..." Cloudchaser said, moving closer to Einna and explaining direction and marking her map. "Did you get all that?" "Yes! I did, thank you so much." Einna said thankfully. "Maybe sometime when you're not busy, we could... hang out sometime?" "Sure! You seem like a really nice pony now, I'd love to be able to get to know you more." Cloudchaser said, smiling and waving Einna goodbye as she walked away. "Alright! Time to get going!" Einna said, following Cloudchaser's directions and proceeding towards Rainbow's house. - Below Rainbow Dash's Cloud Palace - "Well... I finally found it but... how am I supposed to get up there..." Einna questioned. "I may have to ask somepony for help again..." Einna looked around her and noticed a pony that looked similar to Cloudchaser, only her hair wasn't spiked up. "Excuse me! H-Hello there!" Einna greeted. "Hello there, you're that pony Princess Twilight was talking about right? Einna was it?" Flitter said. "It's nice to see you change your ways! Is there something you need?" "Thanks... and yes actually! Do you think you could um... carry me to the top of Rainbow Dash's Cloud Palace up there? It's embarrassing to ask for such a thing but I don't know any other way to get up there..." "Hmm... well I could but you wouldn't even be able to stand up there. Only pegasus ponies can stand on clouds." Flitter explained. "Hmm... since I'm still technically an entity, I think I should be able to walk freely on clouds right? At least it makes sense..." Einna thought. "Oh you don't have to worry about that! I'll be able to walk on the clouds, I have my own... way of doing that." "Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to fall through and hurt yourself." Flitter expressed. "But if you're sure then I guess I can take you up there." Flitter flew up behind Einna and picked her up. She carefully flew up and hovered above the cloud, gently releasing Einna on top of it. "Oh thank goodness..." Einna said, breathing a sigh of relief as she walked along the cloud. "Thanks Flitter! I couldn't have done it without you, I hope to see you again and hang out sometime!" "I'm surprised that it actually worked! But no problem!" Flitter said, waving as she flew away. "I'd love to hang out with you by the way! Just let me know whenever!" Einna waved goodbye and walked towards Rainbow Dash's Cloud Palace door. She lifted her hoof and knocked on her door. She took a deep breath and calmed herself as she awaited her answer. After a few seconds of waiting, Rainbow Dash answered and opened the door. "Einna!? Hey it's great to see you!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "How um... how are you up here actually?" "Oh I'm still technically an entity remember? The whole "only pegasus's can walk on clouds" thing doesn't really apply to me." Einna explained. "But that's besides the point! I was wondering if maybe you'd wanna... hang out today or something?" "Are you kidding!? Of course! I was hoping you'd come here actually, I told Lilith yesterday before we left but I didn't know if you'd be feeling better by then." Rainbow Dash said, coming outside and closing her door. "But that doesn't matter! Come on! Let's head out!" Rainbow Dash grabbed Einna and flew off the cloud towards the fields. Rainbow Dash set Einna on the ground when they arrived. "So what do you have planned for today Rainbow?" Einna asked. "Oh you'll see! A while ago I had an Iron Pony competition with Applejack to see which one of us was the strongest!" Rainbow Dash explained. "We're not going to do the entire competition today, just a bunch of the exercises that we had to do! Does that sound alright to you?" "Yea! Since I lost my super strength and speed, this will be good to see where I stand and I'm sure you're going to destroy me." Einna laughed. "But it's all in good fun right?" "Ha! Maybe for you! Me on the other hoof, I don't like to lose!" Rainbow Dash expressed. "So don't think I'm gonna go easy on you!" "Oh so that's how it's gonna be is it?" Einna said, getting her game face on. "Well Rainbow, I'm not gonna let you win so easily, ya got that?" "Let's see if you can back those words up!" Rainbow Dash said, walking towards a stump and sitting on the other side of it. "Come on! We're starting with hoof wrestling!" Einna approached the opposite side of the stump and grabbed Rainbow's hoof. "So... how does this work?" Einna asked. "It's simple, on the count of 3 we both try as hard as possible to slam the other pony's hoof down to the ground. The one who is able to do it is the winner." Rainbow Dash explained. "We can't move our other hoof though and we can't get up or anything like that." "Alright then! I think I get it." Einna said, with a psyched look on her face. "Alright! On the count of 3 okay? 1... 3!" Rainbow Dash yelled, pushing Einna's hoof down to the ground and almost winning right off the bat by catching her off guard. "Hey! That was a cheap shot." Einna chuckled, struggling to push Rainbow back up. "I may not be as strong as I was... but I think I'm strong enough to deal with you!" Einna pushed Rainbow Dash all the way back over. Rainbow struggled to maintain her position and push Einna back as her face flushed red. Einna continued to push down until she was about to win, but she started coughing and grabbed her chest with her other hoof. Rainbow Dash saw this opportunity and, with all her strength, pushed Einna back and slammed her hoof to the ground. "YES! I WIN!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "You put up a good fight there Einna I gotta say!" "Heh... heh... you got lucky..." Einna said, sweating a little and slightly coughing. "Are you alright Einna?" Rainbow Dash asked. "...I'm fine, don't worry, it's just the side effects from me being... me! Remember?" Einna explained, wiping off her swear and standing up. "I'll be fine! Really! This is good for me to get used to it! What's next?" "Alright then, come on! We got a lot of other events to do!" Rainbow Dash said, trotting into another part of the field. Throughout the day, Rainbow Dash and Einna did many different events. The exercises consisted of the Barrel Weave to the Haybale Toss to Push ups and a tug of war. Needless to say, Rainbow Dash won most of them with Einna only succeeding in the tug of war. For the last event, they would both compete in a short race around the track. "Alright Einna! This is the last thing I have planned for today!" Rainbow Dash said, breathing lightly. "We're going to do one lap around this track! The one who completes their lap first is the winner!" "Alright Rainbow... seems easy enough." Einna said, breathing a little heavier. "Come on! Let's get started." Rainbow Dash and Einna both took their positions on the track and got ready. "Ready... SET GO!" Rainbow Dash yelled, as she bursted down the track. Einna followed swiftly behind Rainbow Dash, increasing her speed continuously until she and Rainbow Dash were neck and neck. Both of them tried to pass each other up, but it was a stalemate of speed halfway across the track. "I gotta say Einna... you're a lot more athletic than you look..." Rainbow Dash said. "I'm glad though... this wouldn't have been any fun if you were a pushover!..." "Heh... thanks... Rainbow! You're not so bad yourself... considering you've won almost every event!..." Einna said, breathing heavily. "But I... won't let you win this one!..." "Yea? Well you're going to have to prove it!" Rainbow Dash challenged, as she pushed herself and started to pass up Einna. Einna tried to do the same for herself. The finish line was almost there and she pushed herself past her new limits. Instead, she completely lost momentum and started to slow down. She came to a halt and fell to the ground, breathing extremely and sweating profusely. Rainbow Dash, unaware of her condition, continued to run and crossed the finish line. "HA! I WIN! YES!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Her celebration was short lived however, as she looked back on the track and saw Einna collapsed. "Einna!" Rainbow Dash yelled, flying over to her immediately. "Are you alright? What happened?" "Heh... I guess I need to take my new limits into consideration..." Einna said, still breathing heavily. "Don't worry... I'm fine... I just pushed myself a little too hard..." "Are you sure? We can go to the hospital if you want." Rainbow Dash asked. "Heh heh... they won't know how to analyze me... it's alright though Rainbow, I just need to take it easy now." Einna said, getting up carefully while leaning on Rainbow. "This is embarrassing isn't it..." "Nah it's alright I don't mind. Here, get on my back and I'll carry you back to my place." Rainbow Dash said, getting down so Einna could get on. Rainbow Dash carefully flew back to her house and opened the door. She walked into her living room and set Einna down on the couch. "How are you feeling now?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'm feeling better now Rainbow, like I said I just needed to rest for a little bit and take it easy." Einna said, getting up from the couch. "See? Good as new!" "That's good, I was worried you may have pushed yourself a little too hard there." Rainbow Dash said, walking into the kitchen. "You want something to eat? You must've worked up an appetite after all of that!" "Yea I could go for something to eat." Einna said, chuckling. Rainbow Dash returned with a plate of sandwiches for each of them to pick from. "Looks tasty!" Einna said, taking a sandwich and biting into it. "Also, thanks for hanging out with me today! I had a lot of fun with you Rainbow! It's also good for me to try and build up some more stamina again." "I did too Einna! I'm... I'm glad I got to know you better. You're a really nice pony after all!" Rainbow Dash said, eating her sandwich. "We should do it again sometime! You can bet you'll see an improvement when you're with me!" "Definitely! There's no doubt I'll work up a good sweat when I'm with you!" Einna laughed. "Wow... it's already sunset, time sure flies doesn't it?" "Yea you said it." Rainbow Dash said, finishing off the food. "Are you full?" "Mhm, it was plenty of food! Thanks again." Einna said, letting out a small burp. "S-Sorry!" "Haha! That's nothin! Watch this!" Rainbow Dash said, letting out a huge burp. "Whoa! Looks like I still have a lot to learn from you!" Einna expressed, laughing with Rainbow. "...Hey Einna, come with me into the kitchen." Rainbow Dash said. "I have something for you." Einna followed Rainbow Dash into the kitchen. Rainbow Dash opened the fridge and rummaged through the very back of it. "I... I normally don't share this is anypony because... well I just love it so much so I like to save it for when I'm craving it." Rainbow Dash said, taking out 2 cups of cider. "...I'd like to share it with you though Einna, to commemorate our new friendship!" Einna took one of the cups and sniffed it. "Wow! It smells really sweet!" Einna said. "It's Applejack's signature apple cider. It's my absolute favorite! I try my best to get as much as I can, but Pinkie always somehow gets there before me..." Rainbow Dash said. "But that's besides the point! It may be cold but it's still cider! You're the only one I've shared my stash with Einna!" "Wow... thanks Rainbow Dash! That... really means a lot to me!" Einna said happily, lifting her cup to Rainbow Dash. "Cheers! To our new friendship!" Rainbow Dash cheered with Einna as they both drank the cider in one chug. "WhOA! That tasted amazing! How often does Applejack make these?" Einna asked. "Unfortunately you showed up just as the cider season was ending. So there won't be anymore until next season." Rainbow Dash admitted. "Awww... it was so tasty though..." Einna said. "Well... I do have plenty of cider stocked up... so I guess... you can have some every now and again... but not always! I don't want it to disappear too fast." Rainbow Dash said. "Really!? Yes! Thank you Rainbow!" Einna squeed, hugging Rainbow Dash. "Yea yea... but don't tell Pinkie! She's crazy about the stuff too and if she finds out it'll be gone before I can have another drop." Rainbow Dash said. "No problem! My lips are sealed!" Einna said, looking out the window and seeing it was getting quite late. "It looks like it's getting pretty late out Rainbow, I should probably start heading out now!" "Alright Einna, come on I'll help you down to the ground." Rainbow Dash said. Rainbow Dash walked Einna outside and lifted her to the ground. "I'll look forward to the next time we can hang out Rainbow!" Einna said, waving goodbye to her. "Me to Einna! I'll cya later!" Rainbow Dash said, flying back into her Cloud Palace. Einna began walking back to Lilith's house. It was nightfall at this time but there were still ponies outside conversing and walking around. Einna arrived at Lilith's house and knocked on her door. "Einna? I didn't expect to see you here this late." Lilith said. "How was your day with Rainbow Dash?" "It was great! I had an amazing time with her! Don't worry I'm not coming in or anything, I just wanted to ask for a favor." Einna said. "Would you mind making me a small map to Applejack's Farm, Rarity's Place, and Fluttershy's Place? I know where Pinkie and Twilight live already." "Oh yea, sure no problem. Just give me a minute." Lilith said, taking a few pieces of paper and writing directions on them. She then labeled them and handed them to her. "There, you should be able to find them no problem now." "Thanks Lilith, I'll let you know how things are going tomorrow!" Einna said, waving goodbye as she left. Einna continued down the street, seeing other ponies waving at her with smiles. She walked back to her house, opened the door and turned on the lights. "Been a few days since I was here..." Einna said, walking towards a mirror and looking at her brooch. She turned around walked towards her fireplace, turning it on and listening to the sounds of her fireplace crackling in the quiet abode. "It sure it a lot quieter here... with no one to talk to..." Einna walked upstairs and opened her bedroom door. She got into her bed and got underneath the covers. "...Why am I feeling sad? I have friends now! The friends I've always wanted!" Einna expressed. "Instead of feeling sad, I should be happy and excited! Tomorrow I'm gonna go see Applejack and then Rarity..." Einna giggled in bed as she thought about the upcoming days she would spend with her new friends. She turned out the lights and, despite her excitement, quickly fell asleep with a smile on her face.