//------------------------------//
// Morning (8/27/2016) 
// Story: A Pony a Day 
// by OfTheIronwilled 
//------------------------------//

"Hey, what's up, Fluttershy? It's spring isn't it? What's wrong with him? Oh no-- is he sick?! Is he never gonna wake up?!"

"Oh, of course he'll wake up, Rainbow Dash. I assure you, this is a natural and healthy process, and he'll wake up in a bit just fine. I think he's just taking a little while, that's all. After all, he is -- hee-hee -- well, a tortoise!"

"Oh. Oh good. Yeah."

"Um... well then, I'll just leave you two alone then. If you need anything at all, don't be afraid to ask, Rainbow Dash. I'll just be a little ways ahead, greeting all of my little friends for the spring."

"Alright, thanks Fluttershy."

And so Rainbow Dash sat down in the wet grass. The sun, shining bright in the sky, fell over the world for the first time in what felt like years. The weather was calm. Rainbow Dash was still wearing her Wrap-Up vest, which protected her from the wind that still managed to be nippy, but was calming down now after a day of managing the weather.

The Winter Wrap-Up had gone fine. Moved the clouds, sang the songs, blah blah, Rainbow knew the rest. Plus with Egghead around they got it done faster than ever, so Rainbow could actually get to the important stuff.

Rainbow Dash whinnied and stared down at Tank: head and feet ducked in, and just the tiniest bits of snow still on his shell. She fidgeted on the grass, tossing Tank's little propeller in her hooves back and forth for seconds. Minutes. Hours.

Until eventually, when the birds sang and the world smelled of warmth, and Tank finally stirred.

The tortoise shell wiggled and twitched in the grass, and from inside came a quiet, long, moaning echo. The snow resting atop it shimmied and fell, floating away as ice crystals in the wind, as a tiny stumpy foot began to poke it's way out of the shell's front. It moved around and stretched in the sunlight for a few seconds, and then another foot popped out, followed by a second set; once all four were free they stood the shell up slowly, achingly slowly, to stand wavering within a golden ray of sun.

A nose emerged from the shell, green and shaky.

Rainbow Dash gasped and shot forward, throwing herself to the ground. This was it! Th-There he was! After all this time, and the both of them managed to not let this hibernation thing kick their tails. They could go out and get to flying again in no time flat! She could finally have Tank back to have pet playdates with, and talk to, and-- she means, and and to be completely and totally cool with. Yeah. You know that she and Tank will totally be off training him in how to steer his propeller; he's got to get some intense training in after sleeping for, like, months.

...

Aw... who was she kidding?

Rainbow Dash wiped her stinging eyes.

"T-Tank?" Rainbow wavered. "Hey. How'd you sleep, you big lug?"

Tank poked his head out of the shell in a flash, faster than Rainbow had ever seen him move. His tiny eyes were wide, and he was smiling with his dopey mouth open, and--

And he leaned forward, nuzzling his scaly nose against Dash's cheek.

Rainbow Dash crushed her friend into a hug for the first time in a long, long winter.