Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Rainbow Dash shook off the drowsiness she was feeling as she made it into the Ponyville weather office. Although it wasn’t made of clouds, the area did have a high enough ceiling for her not to feel like she was trapped in a little box and enough room to make pegasus-style announcements. Ground bound ponies might have liked their ceilings so low that they could be touched by a pony standing on her hind legs, but pegasi needed a good ten feet of clearance from their heads to the ceiling to call a room anything but cramped.
Personally she preferred a solid fifteen, but Rainbow lived in Ponyville, not Manehattan…for the moment anyway, and she would take what she could get. As much as she felt like just blowing the town off and finding someplace that would appreciate a pony like her…finding a weather manager that could handle the freakiness that was the Everfree when it decided to spit out some random thunderstorm was going to take some time. So until then, the cyan pegasus was stuck in the middle of nowhere with the ingrates, backstabbers, and...them.
When the other ponies on the weather team started to file in, Rainbow made her way into her private office and grabbed the day’s paperwork. By the time she was back out, Raindrops, Thunderlane, Blossomforth, Cloud Kicker, and the twins had found a place to sit, and Rainbow was left looking for their last weather team member. When she didn’t appear out of the bathroom or anything, Dash looked over to the mare’s partner. “Raindrops, is Derpy coming?”
The gray mare had skipped out on morning meetings in favor of her mail route before more than once after all.
“Yeah,” the surly pegasus groaned as she looked around.
As if her name was some kind of demonic summoning ritual, the pony in question crashed through the double doors and wobbled around in the air as she came in for a landing. However, by some miracle and the grace of Celestia, she managed to stop before colliding with the row of seats that the rest of the weather team had taken, thus keeping them from being confined to hospital beds for the next two weeks.
After Derpy got back to her hooves, she looked around and gave a nervous laugh. “Hey everypony sorry I’m a little late. I just wanted to swing by my house and make sure my muffin was okay.”
The mention of the mare’s younger foal made the annoyance Rainbow Dash felt at her near miss drain out of the pegasus, as well as remind Rainbow just why Derpy still had a job with the weather patrol. The poor mare worked two jobs with another part time gig on the side with a moving company to help provide for her foals. Because of that, Rainbow just didn’t have the heart to let the ditzy pony go.
Rainbow had seen how hard it was on a single parent and…she wasn’t about to make Derpy’s life any harder.
“Okay everypony listen up,” Rainbow announced as she took to the air and held up the papers that had the day’s assignments. “We’re doing a little schedule change today that’s going to last…well, probably for awhile. I’m gonna be taking one of the night shift slots, so…Raindrops, Derpy…which one of you girls wants to work Ponyville?
“Or,” she added before any of the mare’s could speak, “if anypony else wants to trade for it, now’s your chance.”
Cloud Kicker raised a hoof. “Wait, you’re not working center anymore? Um…why?”
Rainbow Dash frowned at the question, and didn’t bother holding in her anger that had been stewing all night. She didn’t want to answer questions, she wanted to get some sleep so her internal clock would be ready for the new shift. “Maybe I’m tired of a bunch of ingrates falling over themselves over a bunch of lying, backstabbing cheaters that don’t even-!” the pegasus exclaimed harshly before she caught herself at the sight of Cloud Kicker cowering. “Any other questions? No? Good! Now which pony wants the position.”
Derpy held up both her hooves as of to push something away. “I can’t. Graveyard shift is the only thing that works with my morning mail route and picking Dinky up from school.”
“Looks like you get Ponyville, Raindrops,” Rainbow said as she sorted through the files and threw the ponies their clipboards for them to sign so the head office would know they got their daily assignments sometime next week when the mail got to Cloudsdale. Why everypony had to go through so much paperwork, Dash would never understand.
Raindrops looked over to the pegasus sitting next to her. “Hey Blossom, you want to switch to Ponyville and let me take Everfree?”
“Are you sure you can handle her?” the other mare asked while pointing a wing at her weather partner.
“Hey!” Cloud Kicker whined.
A frown crossed the yellow pegasus’s face, and she bent over to glare at the town’s resident ‘free spirited’ pony. “The only banging me and you are going to do is when you ask me, and then I hit you on the head with a stick. A big stick, with nails in it…repeatedly.”
“Deal!” Blossom exclaimed before they switched papers.
After waiting for all the ponies to finish signing their names and passing the paperwork forward, Rainbow Dash checked everything, then stamped it with her hoof print and shoved them in the Sunday folder. “Great!” she said in a snap as the emotions CK’s questions brought up still burned in Rainbow’s heart. “See you tonight Derpy.”
As the blue pegasus walked past the gray one, Derpy fell in step with Rainbow and looked over to her in concern. “You okay Rainbow Dash?”
“I’m fine!” she snapped, and then noticed the gray mare recoil at the answer out of the corner of her eye. The sight made Rainbow stop and let out a tired sigh. “I…I’m fine Derpy, I just…didn’t get much sleep last night. Sorry. It’s…not your fault. You didn’t do anything.”
Derpy smiled and nodded. “Oh, okay. See you tonight then,” she said before reaching under her wing with a hoof. “Hey, do you want your mail?”
The oddity of the question made Rainbow Dash freeze, and turn back to look at the mare. Just as she had thought, the pegasus wasn’t wearing her mail carrier uniform, but she did have a letter. “Let me guess, forgot it yesterday?”
“Sorry,” Derpy admitted with a wince. “I sound it in the bottom of my bag yesterday after my rounds and you weren’t some so…”
A sigh escaped from Rainbow’s lips, and she took the envelope to see it was from Pinkie Pie. For a fraction of a second, Rainbow remembered the sad look on the other mare’s face after yesterdays events…then she opened the letter to read it.
Let me say salutations
And here’s an invitation
For an exaltation
Of the super most awesomest pony around
Who wears Magic like a crown
Just-
Rainbow Dash stopped reading the invitation, and tore the paper in half, then into fourths, and eighths…sixteenths…and whatever came after sixteenths before letting out a snarl and tossing it in the trash bin beside her.
“Bad news?” Derpy called out as the pegasus stormed out the door in a fury.
So now they’re holding parties for themselves, and parades, and I’m supposed to be the braggart? Rainbow thought to herself as she flew home to get some much needed sleep.
Twilight awoke to the feeling of somepony pounding her skull with a mallet. Not that somepony ever had tried to smash her head in with a blunt object, but if they had, she imagined that it would have felt like what she was experiencing at the moment. She let out a low moan, and tried to remember how she had gotten in such a state.
It had been during the parade…or perhaps the after parade party, or maybe it was the post party parade party that Pinkie had set up for celebrating the fact that the town had given the girls a parade…
Sometime during all the excitement, Twilight remembered a group of her fans, or future students, or…whatever they were supposed to be, had asked to see everything she could do. The unicorn had complied after some pleading from the foals and performed trick after trick in an impromptu magic show until…
Twilight couldn’t remember.
Then I woke up here, the unicorn thought before looking around her bedroom for a moment and missing the presence of a familiar purple dragon. “Spike?” she asked in a lazy drawl.
A quick check of the primacies told Twilight where the dragon had fallen asleep, but she decided to leave him there in favor or something else. After Rainbow Dash’s outburst the other day, Twilight had wanted to go over her books for inspiration to find a way to make her apologize and learn her lesson in humility, but then the foals had blocked her escape during the celebration and after a lot of magic tricks…
That was as far as Twilight could get.
Right…memory loss…usual side effect number two of magic overuse and exhaustion, the unicorn told herself. Some ponies said it sounded a lot like getting extremely drunk but…Twilight had no intention of ever testing that theory. Overusing her horn didn’t kill brain cells, but Applejack’s special cider did.
She looked up at the books on the shelves and concentrated…then winced when a sharp spike of pain told the unicorn magic wasn’t a good idea at the moment. Maybe I ended up using more magic than I thought, Twilight told herself before she made a quick mental revision of her to do list.
First coffee, then breakfast, and finally…a day with some nice relaxing reading of arcane formulae as she tried to figure out a way to finish teaching Rainbow Dash her lesson. After what happened yesterday… Ugh,! I can’t believe she said all those things to us!
For a fraction of a second, Twilight considered just letting her friend spiral downwards into the dark abyss of moral ambiguity, but...she knew that was the headache talking.
A quick glance at the clock so she could add a timetable to her schedule and…Twilight blinked at what she saw. Ten thirty? How could it be ten thirty? Pinkie’s celebration hadn’t lasted THAT long!
…had it?
Let’s see...parade until five, then we had that speech session, then the Q&A…then Pinkie invited the town to Sugarcube Corner for her hero party and those fillies talked me into doing all that magic, Twilight reminded herself as she recalled as much as she could before hitting a wall.
To try and dislodge some memories, Twilight shook her head to try and clear it, and then instantly regretted it when she felt her brain practically slosh around inside her skull. GAH! Okay bad idea… Another sigh escaped the unicorns lips, and she X’d coffee off of her checklist. Caffeine was not a good drink to be had whenever a headache was already in progress.
“Maybe some tea instead,” the unicorn told herself before she headed for the door. With it being past ten, the market would be open. So while fresh coffee wasn’t an option, she could at least get what she needed to make some tea.
For a moment she looked back at the stacks of books and wondered if she could take the time to look through a few. The unicorn knew that somewhere in there a tome of herbal tea remedies waited for her to peruse its pages and find out just what she needed to down in order to help relieve a magical exhaustion migraine but with Spike unconscious and her telekinesis on the fritz for the day…
Twilight sighed dejectedly. “Suppose I could just ask but…oh pony feathers that’s going to be so embarrassing,” the unicorn mumbled before she headed to the door and…got another spike of discomfort when she tried to open the door with her horn on reflex. Then she rolled her eyes at the foible before turning the handle with her mouth to get out into the small hamlet she called home.
A quick glance around the outside told Twilight that she wasn’t the only pony getting a late start. Judging by all the parade leftovers that were still laying around like confetti and balloons, the cleanup crew had yet to begin removing the refuse. However, thanks to the size of the small town and the library being perfectly placed in the center, she was able to see that some of the booths in the market were open and was greeted by a bright light up hope amid the organized chaos.
Not the one she needed but…the sight of an orange pony already closing shop caused Twilight’s curiosity meter to rise, and she trotted over to see what was happening. “Hey Applejack…um, what’s going on?” Twilight as she looked at Applejack’s usual stand that was in the middle of being folded up for transport back to the farm. “Forget the apples?”
The farm pony gave Twilight and odd look at the unicorn snickered at her own joke. “Naw. I sold out,” she replied, making Twilight stop and jerk her head up…then immediately regret it when her brain reminded such quick movements were verboten.
“But…you…wait…doesn’t the market open at nine?”
“Eeyup.”
“And you sold out in…an hour and thirty four minutes?” she asked after making a slow calculation that would have left the unicorn in tears because of an apparent mental deficiency had the majority of her gray matter not been paralyzed with screaming pains.
Applejack shrugged. “Guess folks round here like to buy from a hero,” she continued before her face darkened a bit. “Remember all them yahoos was buyin’ all of Rainbow Dash’s stuff? Well now I’m getting’ the same treatment.”
As the earth pony stood up a little taller, Twilight wondered if she should tell Applejack that Rainbow hadn’t been behind the rainbow merchandise and it was just local sales ponies that made the things but…the need for relief came first. “Applejack, do you know of a good cure for headaches?”
The farm pony gave Twilight a measuring look. “You had a bit too much of Pinkie’s special punch last night?”
“Um…no,” Twilight mumbled as she tried to remember just what had happened and…failed miserably. “I just overworked my horn with all the magic those foals wanted me to show them and…now I’m paying for it.” When Applejack didn’t show any comprehension, Twilight sighed and spelled it out for her. “When a unicorn overuses her magic, we get really bad headaches. Remember when the bear attacked and I was stuck in the library all the next day? This isn’t as bad as that time but…it still hurts to…well, do anything really.”
Applejack nodded, finally comprehending. “Sorry to hear that Twi. Ah think Pinkie’s got something that’ll help, least it did for me once,” she said before thinking to herself for a second. “Think she called it her super special pink party pony late night…something or rather.”
“Thanks Applejack,” she mumbled before something else came to mind. “Oh, and have you seen Rainbow Dash today? I think we need to get together and-”
Twilight blinked when she saw the earth pony turn to scowl at her for a moment. “Feh! Far as I’m concerned, if I ever see that lousy pegasus again, it’ll be too soon!” she said before the stand was completely transformed back into a wagon, and Applejack made her departure.
Yeah, I was afraid of that, Twilight thought to herself as she watched Applejack head back to her farm. Considering how much those two butted heads, Twilight had doubted that Applejack would be up to looking past that one incident and helping Rainbow get over her bragging problem.
Now she needed to make Rainbow apologize, and still give her a lesson in humility.
-Break-
“Heeeeeere you go Twilight,” the pink pony across the counter said as she slid the unicorn…something in a glass usually reserved for ice cream sodas. It was…brown, and yellow and…Twilight was pretty sure she saw something translucent swimming in the glass.
After studying it for a few more seconds, Twilight looked back up at the baker. “Pinkie…just what is in this...thing?”
Pinkie Pie gave her a confused look for a moment, then looked at the odd drink and back to Twilight. “Oh the usual,” she said. “Sea pony tears, lobster soul, fish eggs taken from the womb, eye of newt and tongue of frog, Tirek hair and bark of dog.”
All of a sudden, spending the day without magic didn’t seem so bad in Twilight’s eyes. She pushed the odd concoction away and groaned at the pounding in her head. “I’ll pass, thanks.”
“Or was it eggs mixed in a blender with-Oh. Okay, suit yourself,” she said before reaching over to grab the strange brew and downed it in one gulp. As soon as the glass hit the counter, Pinkie Pie let out a burp, and Twilight blinked in surprise as a could of strange red vapor formed into the face of a demonic horned creature that seemed to laugh in a deep evil voice for a second before evaporating.
With the…oddity that had Twilight wondering if Pinkie practiced witchcraft over, she looked back at the party pony and cleared her throat. “So um…about Rainbow Dash,” the unicorn said before pausing to see if Pinkie suddenly raised any objections to helping the pegasus just by the mention of her name.
When none came, Twilight let out a silent sigh of relief. “Since the Mare Do Well thing didn’t work, I was thinking we could do something else to stop her bragging,” she said. Ugh, why didn’t I bring my book, 101 Lessons in Humility? That one hadn’t even been on a shelf since Twilight had been using it as a reference to plan how things were...supposed to work out the other day.
“Oh! I know, maybe we can challenge her to a race!” Pinkie exclaimed, making Twilight blinked in surprise. After the running of the leaves, she didn’t think doing something like that again would have much in the way of positive results.
“You know how she’s always saying how she’s the fastest flyer in Equestria!” the pink party pony went on. “You can do something like give Applejack those butterfly wings and then-”
Twilight held up a hoof to stop her. “Pinkie, those things are delicate. They’re not built for racing,” she explained.
“Theeeeeen how about you use your magic to make Dashie super slow in the air?” Pinkie suggested while Twilight raised a cautious eyebrow before Pinkie kept going. “And the Applejack can be all ‘Look at me Ah’m a better flier than you too! Ah think Ah’ll go and join the Wonderbolts while you can just sit around here pushing clouds for the rest of yer life, uh-huck!”
The unicorn backed away from the earth pony’s rather…manic grin. “Okay first, Applejack doesn’t say uh-huck,” Twilight corrected her in a cautious tone. “And the fact I would never do something like that to Rainbow aside…cheating like that would defeat the point.”
As the pink pony’s grin changed to a look of confusion, Twilight found herself wondering if it would have been better to go to Fluttershy for advice first. She knew Rainbow better than anypony, she would have been the one to talk to about which option was best.
“But…we already cheated.”
Twilight looked back to the mare and frowned as her brain reminded her that there was currently an evil monster inside trying to claw its way out through her skull. “What?”
“You said you wanted to create a pony that would save ponies around town better than Dashie, but then you had me, Applejack, yourself and Fluttershy…even though she didn’t do anything, dress up as the same pony and make everypony think there was only one of us,” the party pony added after a second thought. “So it was more like four, or three really, against one than a one on one hero contest like Dashie thought it was. How is what we did not cheating?”
“Wha-it…” Twilight let out a groan. “Look, that’s not…it wasn’t a contest! It was a bunch of events where we helped out the town at different intervals while not taking any credit-”
“Until the parade you had me talk the mayor into,” Pinkie reminded her.
Twilight groaned. “Yes, but that was just supposed to push Rainbow Dash over the edge and have us chase us around town so we could reveal ourselves,” she went on before catching herself. Then Twilight got back on track mentally. “The point was, Mare Do Well didn’t brag about herself!”
“Buuuuuut, we did,” Pinkie replied as she tilted her head in confusion. “At least I think we did. Remember when Dashie came into Sugarcube Corner and we went on and on about what we did in costume and she got all angry with Mare Do Well…or us? Wait was she angry at us, or Mare Do Well? Because…Mare Do Well is us now, right?”
A throbbing in one of her lobes made Twilight groan as she . “That was to teach her empathy!” the unicorn exclaimed. “She was-all that boasting was annoying and she needed to be shown what it felt like!”
As Twilight reached up to rub the area beneath her horn, Pinkie picked up the conversation. “Ohhhhhh-kay…so…um…what about all the other stuff we set up like all the costumes and the parade?” she asked.
“What’s what all the questions all of a sudden?” Twilight grumbled as she frowned at the pink pony. She hadn’t been this inquisitive about the plan when Twilight and Applejack were getting her to go along with it.
“Oh those. I’m pretty sure nopony else will be allowed to get away with asking them without igniting cries of Oh Oh Ce,” she said before shrugging…and making Twilight wonder just what the hay was in that drink Pinkie downed. “And um…you never did answer my question about us cheating.”
Twilight’s eye twitched. Her head throbbed again, and her temper flared. “It wasn’t cheating!” she exclaimed. “We were providing Rainbow with a superior model to follow in how to be a hero with Mare Do Well! We didn’t brag-”
“Except in front of Rainbow, aaaaaand I might have told a few of my friends how awesome she, or uh we was…or is it we were? Anyway…and I might have mentioned where to go if they wanted to see her next appearance,” Pinkie cut in. “We uh…needed the crowds, especially way out there when you broke the dam.”
Twilight’s eye twitched again. “I didn’t break the dam!” she yelled before a stab of pain hit her brain.
“Then what were you doing way out there?” Pinkie asked with a cocked head.
“Saving the town, and Rainbow! But she seems to have forgotten that!” Twilight went on in a shout that made her wince again. “Hay, that alone proved that Mare Do Well was a superior model of hero since she saved a pegasus that was being such a jerk!” Almost immediately, the unicorn regretted her decision to yell when the migraine reminded her raised voices were a bad thing.
Pinkie blinked, half-nodded, then raised an eyebrow. “You mean like when how Rainbow saved Rarity even though she tried to upstage her in Cloudsdale and even messed up Dashie’s timing with her weird music so bad she couldn’t even do basic tricks that she had correctly practiced plenty of times before?”
Once again, Twilight felt her eye twitch. “I…that’s beside the point!” she exclaimed before taking a calming breath and exhaling. Calm down Twilight, shouting is bad and…you know Pinkie needs things explained slowly sometimes.
After she had found her center, Twilight looked at the pink pony that was balancing a spoon on her nose, and rolled her eyes. “Look, Pinkie. We were providing Dash with a superior model of hero to follow while showing her how bad she was being with her bragging. Remember how we saved the day four times, and she only got three rescues?” If math didn't prove her point, nothing would.
“Well if you want to be technical about it, Dashie saved the day three times with an assist to me when everything was falling apart at the construction site,” she said after putting the spoon away. “Then you had one, and Applejack had one, and me and…do you remember which of us did the balloon rescue?”
Twilight blinked in confusion and…drew a blank. “Um…that was…I’m not sure.”
As the pink earth pony jumped up in a gasp, Twilight was thinking that she should have just guessed Applejack. “Maybe it was the real Mare Do Well!”
Oh Celestia give me strength, Twilight prayed on the inside as she groaned on the outside from having to listen to Pinkie’s theory. “Look Pinkie…do you want me to help Rainbow Dash, or not?”
“Sure I want to help Dashie.”
Twilight sighed in relief. “Good,” she said with a nod…then winced. “I’ll see what Rarity is up for and…have you seen Fluttershy this morning?”
“She’s hiding out in her house’s secret basement until this Mare Do Well thing blows over because all those ponies kept mobbing her last night. Probably has something to do with that whole modeling scare she had last season…you know, in the Spring?” Pinkie replied before reaching behind the counter and pulling out a basket of baked goods. “She sent Angel over with a list of food and a note saying why she can't come into town anymore. Can you take it to her?”
For a fraction of a second Twilight willed the basket to levitate, then winced, sighed, and reached to take the basket in her mouth since it refused to move by normal means.
“And can you take this to Dashie?” Pinkie asked before dropping a thermos into the basket as well. “Rarity said she had a headache yesterday so I made up enough of my super special cure-all for two.”
Twilight froze for a moment, unsure on whether to commit to such a task before Rainbow had been properly dealt with in regards to her actions, but she supposed if Pinkie wanted her to… “Roh-kay,” the unicorn managed to say with the weaved carryall in her mouth before heading for the door.
"Oh, and it's dangerous out there, take this."
Twilight turned around and grunted when yet another weight was added to the basket. She frowned at Pinkie for a moment, but rolled her eyes and carried it out anyway when the unicorn saw the party pony wasn't going to just let her leave it. What the hay am I supposed to need a megaphone for?
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4800011 So far, at least, this story is better than Post Nuptials, I would say. Post Nuptials was too pat, with a resolution that was far too quick and clean. This story, by contrast, is much more realistic (so far).
Yes, Rainbow Dash just got angry and yelled at them rather than explaining. That's more or less what we should expect from a hot-head like her in that kind of situation. She was hurting at what her friends did to her, and she naturally got angry instead of being calm and rational about it. Time (and future chapters) will tell if she is able to cool down enough to give them a real explanation, and perhaps forgive them.
Though really, it would be out of character for her if she can never forgive them, and it would also be out of character for them if they can't meet her halfway by apologizing for how they wronged her. I hope the author doesn't use this as a contrived excuse to break them up entirely, because that wouldn't be very good writing.
As for all the thumbs downs on the comments, I think we just have some thumbs-down trolls among us.
4800142 This is my stance also. I agree she needed to be taught the value of humility, but not like they went about it.
Bust out the Pringles this is about to get hype.
I agree with this story here. . Rainbow Dash wasn't the only one that bragged, and all of them needed to be taught a lesson.
Please, continue on!
I've never seen Twilight grasp the idiot ball so firmly before, it's STAGGERING.
Keep writing, this is super interesting and I like it a lot.
4800324
To be fair, she's hungover and can't really think properly.
That's what happens to fixfics; everyone who didn't like the original suddenly likes your fic.
Oh Twilight, your next idea, whatever it will be, is going to blow up in your face big-time. I can't for the confrontation between her and Rainbow.
Keeping this story on a good track will take delicate balance, somebody with the skill of a Hemingway or a Heinlein.
Unfortunately, we have Lord Brony. We will simply have to make do, yes?
In any case, and to be completely serious, this situation looks set to get out of control. What with Rainbow Dash's outrage, Applejack's anger, Twilight Sparkle's insistence that her plan was nothing wrong, etc..., it looks set to blow up in multiple faces. I wonder if the Princesses will have to get involved?
I reiterate my stance that Rainbow Dash needed to be taught some humility, but that she was not entirely wrong herself, and the others chose the wrong method.
The problem is that we're dealing with the worst elements of the characters taking the fore: Rainbow Dash's inability to see that she'd let her hero status go to her head, Applejack's smugness and anger, Twilight's inability to see that her clever plan was too clever by half, Pinkie Pie's naivete, Fluttershy's spinelessness and Rarity's being a bit of a snob. I should think that at some point Celestia shall have to yell at them for being imbeciles.
4798093
Perhaps you aren't, but there are several in here who seem to think Dash is blameless.
Except they never decided any such thing. They decided to put on a costume and play hero - and by doing so hopefully set a good example for Rainbow. Everything else that happened to Dash - her grandstanding, her failures, her despondency - she did to all that to herself.
So when you say she needed a dose of humility, just what were you expecting it to look like?
4800649
Gotta say I agree with this
4799956
Uh, no. You've said this multiple times, and every single time I've told you that I am not saying that. I honestly think you might be joking with me right now, because I've said it with as much emphasis as possible. Not only that, but you keep ignoring everything else. Honestly, the replies I keep getting from you feel like an entirely separate conversation is going on. There's not really any way I can be any clearer. Sorry.
4800131
Oh yeah, Rainbow was certainly in-character in that episode. I mean, helping and taking pride in saving ponies? Please, she'd much rather leave them to die until she can finish signing some autographs. That's canon RD, right?
Twilight, despite all of her wits and brains, why can't she honestly see how deeply she's hurt someone so close. Pinkie isn't the brains of the group but she has the most common sense of them all. Weird how Twilight feels like she has to explain it all to her like a child. Part of me wonders if Pinkie is intentionally pointing out things or she is oblivious to her subtlety.
4800705
Two direct quotes from you. You explicitly said that she was putting others in danger. Endangering them. You said it. Twice. At least. Those are direct quotes, from you, about how Rainbow was putting ponies in danger.
You can keep ignoring the points that I and others have been making. You can keep twisting things around in a pathetic attempt to justify your claims. You can keep metaphorically holding your hands over your ears and screaming LALALALALALALA.
But outright lying about what you've said when the records are right there for anyone to see? Thats just fucking stupid.
4799939
Alright, am I speaking a different language here or something?
Anyway, That's what I've been trying to saying. Rainbow let it all go to her head to the point she became so egotistical that she started actually ignoring ponies who were in danger. Also, I wouldn't say well in advance. The hot air balloon is the first time we see them show up. To be fair though, I still would have said they were justified even if the balloon accident never happened. Even before then Rainbow had become utterly unbearable due to her ego. Going back to one of my earlier comments, that's actually why I didn't like the episode. Yeah, Rainbow has a big ego. The problem is that the writers took that way too far, to the point that it just killed my SoD.
Honestly all of my comments so far are just trying to explain things from an in-story perspective. But, out-of-story, the only reason any of it happened was that the writers failed at characterization.
4799003
That would have been a much, much better episode.
I think they ALL are going in a downward spiral. I like how you explain why Rainbow Dash didn't leave Ponyville already.
I wonder what Celestia is going to say about this?
There's a troll among us...
In other news:
Wow, two words misspelled in the same sentence, and with the same letter? Okay then. "Sound" should be "found," and "some" should be "home."
4800649
I'm a Rainbow Dash fan, and do you know what I have to say?
gagnamite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/hey_you_youre_pretty_freakin_awesome_keep_that_shit_up.jpg
Celestia is going to flip a bitch when she finds out about all this. The butterfly effect will be wonderful and I hope we at least see an epilogue touching on it. Sombra probably returns to power and makes Cadence his evil mistress, Discord stays stone, Twilight stays a unicorn, the Plunder Vines abduct the Princesses and Tirek has to fight Sombra in order to suck Cadence dry.
And I just realized.. Tirek apparently knew about Cadence. Twilight, on the other hand, was a mystery. So how old is Cadence if a monster sealed in Tartarus knew about her? If someone had told him about Cadence, they probably would've mentioned Twilight so...
4800894
A troll? Just one?
4799003
It would have made the point that anyone can get a big fat head, and it wouldn't have entirely demonized Dash--- who at the end of it all WAS saving lives.
Except for the times where, you know, she wasn't saving lives and instead ignoring them in order to bask in her own glory. Plus while that would be interesting, it wouldn't actually teach any lesson because, unless they were to get as bad as Rainbow was getting, there wouldn't really be anything wrong with them taking pride in saving others. Heck, Twilight herself says being proud of what you are isn't bad, but when you get to the point where that pride makes you forget about what you should be doing it does become a problem. Considering how OOC Rainbow was in that episode to begin with, having over half of the Mane 6 get to the same point would have just been mass character assassination.
4800762
I'm beginning to think you have some kind of definition of endanger that I've never heard of before.
You keep talking about how she didn't put anyone in danger because she didn't cause any of the accidents. See:
I've been trying to say, over and over, that Rainbow not causing the accident does not automatically mean she is completely free of blame like you keep on implying. I've been constantly saying that this is utterly ridiculous. Now, endanger means putting someone at risk or in danger. Since nothing else seems to be getting to you, let me try this:
1. Rainbow and everyone else sees balloon with trapped ponies falling.
2. Rainbow decides that, even though she could get there and save them with time to spare, her autographs are more important.
3. Rainbow waits too long, and the only reason the ponies are saved is due to the Mane 6 interfering.
Rainbow not acting when she had plenty of time to do so nearly caused the ponies to get seriously hurt. It put them at risk and in danger. Rainbow put them at risk and in danger. Rainbow endangered them. Honestly this entire argument only started because of your ridiculous claims about how Rainbow was in no way to blame for nearly getting several ponies seriously injured.
For me, this is the perfect recipe: a dash of hurt feelings, a cup of stubbornness, a dollop of flared tempers, a few grams of shattered friendships mixed with tears, screaming and pain and a pinch of betrayal. Top it all with several heaping pounds of cruel, hypocrisy, and you've got a good fic in my opinion. As I've said many times:
They're precious friendship is falling apart! From the sound of things, it's gonna get even worse. I'm gonna grab some popcorn and watch it all go downhill.
You got yourself a like and a fave. Hope you update soon.
4801067
Endanger
transitive verb
: to bring into danger or peril <recklessly endangering innocent lives>
intransitive verb
: to create a dangerous situation <driving to endanger>
Inigo Montoya thinks you should reconsider your use of the word 'endanger'.
Rainbow neither brought her into danger or created a dangerous situation. The balloonist was already endangered. Her being in danger was somepony else's fault.
Rainbow holds zero responsibility for the danger the balloonist was in and has zero responsibility to help her, given that Rainbow is a weather pony rather than a legally sanctioned agent tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of anypony.
She failed to act. She didn't create the danger. And choosing not to intercede is different than causing the danger.
As for the other situations, she did the best she could with what she had. She lacked the strength to stop the cart. She lacked the magic to instantly fix the dam. She did not create the dangerous situations in any way, shape or form.
Happened exactly one time. The ponies on the cart? Yes, she started a speech. Then was interrupted and got back on track. Other than that, you had the dam and annoying Granny Apple.
I think you need to watch the episode again.
I was looking for exactly this story a while back. A bit heavy handed so far, but the pure fact that nobody made a story how absurd the "moral" of that episode yet is astonishing, and you get props for that alone.
Already liked it, can't wait for it to finish.
I like the idea of this story, but I hate how the characters are acting. I get you want to make us feel like they're being complete hypocrites and assholes, but it's just WAY too OOC.
Other than that, holy shit they piss me off so much. Not even once did they think about how Rainbow Dash felt about the whole ordeal, they didn't think about the things that Rainbow had said to them other than the added insults, and they're ALL bragging about saving the day and being Mare Do Well. Not to mention Twilight keeps going on and on about teaching Rainbow Dash a lesson and 'humility' (even though they've already done FAR enough of that). I think the ones that need to be taught a lesson is them, not Rainbow Dash.
Well, it seems that despite being so intelligent, Twilight is too stupid to see how her plan is going to fail. Pinkie seems to be understanding more about how flawed this whole MDW thing was, even Twilight's new plan. And with the way Applejack and Twilight are acting, I think these two are definitely going to become the very thing that they tried to curb Rainbow. Will it be too late for them to realize this? Who knows? I personally think maybe Celestia should get involved with this and pretty much set the record straight with the others. And I got to ask one last thing.
What will Rainbow do? Become a villain to hurt her friends? Or abandon Ponyville when it needs her the most?
Keep it up.
4801286
There've been lots of stories like that. Of course to this day it's probably the most hated episode so a number of its "fix fics" is the biggest.
I admire the idea. I think it's a noble goal and everything but this fan fic would be a bit too awkward for me. Everything about MMDW is either wrong or awkward and taking the bull by the horns like that is too much. Too many bad memories.
Twilight, why you do stupid?!
4801370 I think one of the best fics for this is a oneshot called "No Hard Feelings", in which the Mane Six are told, pleasantly, by Rainbow Dash how she felt about the ordeal... The result? Pinkie Pie glomps Rainbow Dash and then, while still glomping, looks to the others and says my favorite humorous fanfiction line:
EDIT: For those giving me a thumbs-down, let me explain. The Mane Six, in that one-shot, felt AWFUL after hearing how Rainbow Dash felt. That's why the hugs were initiated. Because they were genuinely sorry.
4801155
Alright, this is where the misunderstanding has been occurring.
We both seem to agree on what endanger means. The problem is the way you see the situation is different from how I was looking at it. To you it wasn't endangering because, as you said, the problem had already occurred without Rainbow having any involvement with it. I, on the other hand, do not think the cause of the accident actually matters in this situation, and that what is important is how the problem is dealt with.
That said, from my perspective Rainbow Dash is endangering the ponies because she has made it clear that she has made it her responsibility to be a hero (which I assume we both can agree would mean going out of your way to rescue those who are in danger if it is within your power to do so). Even if she hadn't said anything, there would still be an implied responsibility because, as she had enough time and it was within her power to save them, choosing not to save them or letting them get hurt meant she was involved with whatever happens to them. Now, granted that idea comes from different laws in the real world, but I imagine the same would be true in Equestria as well.
That's where all the confusion is coming from. I'm sorry for how ranting my last few posts must have been, but I was getting frustrated because I just couldn't figure out where the misunderstanding was coming from. I knew it was there, I just didn't know what it was.
So, just to reiterate. I was saying that Rainbow was putting the ponies in danger because she chose not to save them (over selfish reasons, but that's not the point of this post) until basically it was too late. Again, my use of endanger in this case does not include whether or not Rainbow herself caused the accident, because at that point it was irrelevant. The accident had already happened and nothing could change that, so the only thing that mattered was what happened to the ponies trapped inside.
I really hope that clears up the confusion here. We both had good understanding of the situation and the terms we were using, but the misunderstanding was that you thought I was looking at the situation the same way you were (that Rainbow wasn't responsible because she didn't cause the accident to occur, meaning they were already in danger), and I thought you were looking at the situation the same way I was (that whatever caused the accident and the fact that the ponies were already in danger didn't matter, and the only thing that mattered was what happened to the ponies in danger).
4800649
Well, I'll agree Dash needed some ego deflating... But I can't agree with their methods. Trying to set a good example? That might have been their intention... But they went about it in the wrong fashion. Truthfully, both sides are at fault here.
where the righteous beatdowns?
Well, Twilights plan now is going too blow like a nuclear bomb in her face.
4800649
Gotta say you gave me an idea. Instead of playing hero in order to teach Dash some humility, they decide to stage a potential accident. Pinkie calls Dash to help, Rarity and Fluttershy play victim, Applejack butts in after Dash starts boasting again and says can't trust Dash to help anyone and tries to help herself, but ends up failing and ends up about to get hurt. Dash snaps out of it and 'saves' all of them. Twilight comes out of nowhere to tell her that it was all a ruse and mentions that her boasting is getting really out of control. She starts giving off hypotheticals like "What if they were in real danger" and stuff. Dash comes to terms that boasting is not the same as confidence or whatever. Done.
4801421
I'm starting to suspect that somebody is downvoting every comment here out of principle.
So... it seems AJ, Twi, and Dash are being dicks for the sake of stubbornness, while Pinkie's being Unintentionally Smart Pinkie. I won't be calling Oh Oh Ce until I see more of how Flutters and Rarity are handling this.
4801565 Oh well. I've bitched and moaned before on other stories, so I'll just consider it karma for being unruly scum, in my case.
I like this story because the ending to that episode didn't make much sense to me. Rainbow's reaction in this story is far more believable. I only have one complaint, HOW IS TWILIGHT THIS BUCKING STUPID!? Seriously, her thought processes are not logical, so un-Twilight.
4801412
Because she feels shes the smartest so she can't be wrong.
I kind of feel that Fire and Rain did a better job of dealing with the aftermath of Mare-do-well, than this fic. Exploring the subtle effects of what happened after the fact (Rainbow outright refusing to accept legitimate praise), rather than shoehorning in some very out-of-character moments.
Yeah, there are some pretty clunky things in FiM that could have been handled better (the Mane 6's reaction in Boast Busters, Mysterious Mare Do Well, etc), and have been explored in some good detail amongst fics here on this site.
This is kind of a bizarre way of trying to 'fix' the story.
Pretty much, actually. Well, Fluttershy wasn't too bad.
4797037 Totally. Pretty much an OOC-fest. Something I like about this story is how it works a little better than the episode did. The rest of the Mane Six have become prideful in their attempt to teach another humility. Kind of like how Anakin Skywalker wanted to save his wife but ended up destroying her by throwing aside his morals to do so.
Wait, did I just compliment the Star Wars prequels?
4801941 Magical creatures do tend to be savagely arrogant, don't they?
4800218 Ah, but you forget that Twilight considered herself to blame before Queen Chrysalis revealed herself. And even if that made her right, that didn't justify her behavior in Part 1. The episode hinted that she at least understood this even at the beginning of Part 2. So to have a story where Twilight, who'd clearly come to terms with what happened long before the final confrontation with Queen Chrysalis, instead blow up at her friends right before/after Chrysalis' defeat for not listening her childish ravings and insults at the mare who, as far as everyone else was concerned, was Shining Armor's bride to be, and then present that as the more "believable" story, just doesn't sit well with me. I agree that maybe Twilight could've harbored a bit more negativity for the bitter pill that was her friends walking out on her, but from what I could tell, she'd already swallowed it. I doubt the aftertaste would be strong enough to solve a fight with more fighting.
Thirty-seconds come after sixteenths. Credit were its due, I can't rip up an invitation that many times.
I wouldn't hate this story so much if you didn't put all the blame onto the others. You're putting Rainbow Dash onto a pedestal, basically saying that she was not to blame for this situation. Rather, you place the other girls on the bad side. Let me state something here:
There is no bad side. There is no good side.
The reason the girls used this tactic rather than just tell Rainbow is because Rainbow Dash is stubborn and arrogant, and by the time they realized they needed to intervene, it was too late. Her ego grew three sizes that day. She would not listen. So they decided to give her a taste of her own medicine, by becoming a hero and later bragging about what the mare has done. Meanwhile, the way they executed the moral could've been better. They could've told her that "being a hero doesn't matter, so long as you're helping ponies. No matter how small the situation" or something like that. Mare Do Well could've been a symbol, rather than someone for Rainbow to chase down. I get this.
That doesn't mean the other Mane Six have to be portrayed as jerks because they executed this in a not-so-perfect way. Give them a break. You really think they're all going to get friendship down pat every time? That there needs to be one good, one bad side? Hell no.
I still can't believe people are bitching about this episode. If you're that upset over a My Little Pony episode, step back from the blasted computer and take a break. No need to make these characters so OOC just to "fix an episode." When you toss them idiot balls or transform them into bad guys or jerks, you're not fixing it.
Her explanation is another reason why I absolutely hate Twilight.
Because fuck that stupid--
Sorry.