• Published 28th May 2015
  • 2,627 Views, 37 Comments

Ciderholic - twilightsparkle3562



Rainbow Dash turns to an Alcoholic Cider for comfort following Tank's hibernation

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Winter Wrap Up

Chapter 8

"Winter Wrap Up"

In the weeks that followed since Rainbow Dash had begun seeing Sweetheart, winter was nearing its conclusion and Rainbow Dash knew that it was almost time for Tank to wake up since going to sleep for the winter. As Ponyville rallied to wrap up winter, Rainbow Dash focused on the task of clearing the clouds, allowing the sun to melt the mounds of snow that had piled on the land.

"Oh, boy, I can't wait to get Tank up," giggled Rainbow Dash as her work neared its completion. It seemed that the time she spent with Sweetheart had given her a new lease on life that didn't involve her drinking the alcohol that made her a hazard to those around her. Once her work was done, she came back to the site where Tank had dug himself into the ground.

"You seem excited to see Tank again, Rainbow Dash," remarked Fluttershy, flying down to her. "I told you that it was for the best and when Tank wakes up, he will sure be happy to see you again."

Bending down towards the spot, Rainbow Dash dug into the ground and cleared away the mounds of snow with her hooves, finally breaking into the soft earth underneath.

"Come on, Tank," thought Rainbow Dash. "You can do it. Just wake up and come out of there."

After a few moments, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could both see the ground start to move and fall down. At that point, Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie also joined in to see what was happening. Twilight was wearing her new all team organizer vest to replace the one she had lost in the library explosion.

"Is he up?" asked Pinkie Pie, excitedly jumping up and down. "Is he up?"

"Shh, I think he's waking up," cried Rarity. "I see a green claw."

A small green claw came out and more dirt came down with each swipe of the claws. Rainbow Dash could see that she was growing more and more excited and at that moment, a small head came out and two small black eyes blinked. Rainbow Dash, with tears of happiness forming in her eyes, reached up and grabbed Tank's shell.

"Tank, I'm so glad to see you," cried Rainbow Dash, hugging him tightly as the rest of her friends reacted to this touching reunion.

"Don't you think Tank looks a lot happier now after a good rest?" remarked Twilight, smiling warmly. "It's like I said, sometimes it's hard to see our friends go away. But, its even better when they come back."

Rainbow Dash continued to hug her friend tightly as she took to the skies, flying like she had never flown before. It was almost as if Rainbow Dash had been reborn, freed from the grip of evil that the alcoholic cider had possessed.

"She sure seems happy," remarked Fluttershy. "I guess she realizes now that good things come to those who wait, don't you think?"

"I agree with you, Fluttershy," said Twilight. "I'm just glad to see the old Rainbow Dash back to normal."

So, they all watched as Rainbow Dash continued to spin Tank around as the winter wrap up continued throughout Ponyville. As they watched, they heard Spitfire come down along with several other Wonderbolts, helping out in the winter wrap up.

"Glad to see that Rainbow Dash is back to her old self," she said, taking off her sunglasses. "Those therapy sessions have sure done her good."

"What do you think will happen now?" asked Twilight, walking over to Spitfire. "Will she go through this again?"

"I don't think so, Princess Twilight," replied Spitfire. "I've ordered Sweetheart to have Rainbow Dash come to her regularly, so this kind of behavior doesn't happen again. There is a side to us that sometimes needs to be explored and it can be sensitive."

A hushed silence came from the rest of the ponies and they all turned their attention to Spitfire with concerned looks on their faces.

"Trust me," she said. "Rainbow Dash will have to go through with this every year as long as Tank is alive. But I assure you that we will be there by her side when the whole process starts up again."

However, there was the matter of the Flim Flam Brothers and although nopony cared about them anymore, there was the question of whether they would recreate their alcoholic cider again.

"But, what about the Flim Flam Brothers?" remarked Pinkie Pie, still holding that empty bottle. "What about them and their disgusting cider?"

"You are going to have nothing to worry about, Pinkie Pie," said Spitfire. "I'm petitioning to start a group that focuses on ponies who had the same problems as Rainbow Dash. We are going to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again."

All the ponies admired this and a small chorus of gasps and awes were heard. It was then, a few days later in Canterlot, that a document was presented petitioning the founding of an alcoholic rehabilitation center for ponies and Twilight and her fellow princesses were in Canterlot to sign the deal as Rainbow Dash looked on from the crowds.

"With the signing of this document," announced Princess Celestia. "We, the four princesses of Equestria, hereby decree the founding of Equestria's very first alcoholic cider recovery program to be headed by the Captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire and her own faithful student, Rainbow Dash of the Wonderbolt Reserves!"

A loud cheer came through the hall as Rainbow Dash was motioned to come up and stand by her idol as they watched the loud sound of cheers resonating throughout the hall. In the days that followed, many ponies who had been addicted to the Flim Flam Brothers' alcoholic cider, came forward and joined the program.

For Rainbow Dash, this was the end of a dark period in her life and learned a valuable lesson about not hiding your problems from anypony and instead that it is best to share them either openly with your friends or with someone in private.

It was a hard lesson, but it was a lesson that furthered her development as a pony and as a Wonderbolt.

Comments ( 12 )

It's kind of similar to where Spike had to let go of Pee Wee.

Interesting story. I'm enjoying it so far.

Hm. Okay, I was planning on leaving a comment per chapter, but after reading through the whole thing, I think I can sum it up here. This felt very rushed. A one-time bender does not an alcoholic make. Addiction is slow and insidious and can look very innocent at the start; many loved ones don't even realize the addict has a problem for a long time, sometimes years. Many addicts are 'functional' in that they can successfully hide the side effects for a long time. The swift punishment would be understandable if Rainbow was, say, nine years old, but she's clearly an adult, and the wording of the first few chapters implies that this is literally the first time she's gotten drunk; while it is reasonable for her friends to be concerned at her doing something stupid like flying while drunk, having a full-blown intervention after one mistake is unrealistic (and possibly abusive, depending on context).

Also, the legality issues. Had the Wonderbolts a very strict zero tolerance policy that Rainbow knew about (and was made clear in the story), Spitfire's actions would be more reasonable. But, seeing as they're a combination Air Force/show team, one drunken incident (that apparently not many ponies witnessed) wouldn't garner such a punishment; my grandfather and great-grandfather were in the Army, and both drank up a storm without much repercussion. The FFB's arrest was a bit over the top, too. If alcohol is legal in Equestria, they would be at most fined for not putting a warning label on their product, and they could get away with it via loopholes, as Coca-Cola did in the early 20th century. If it's illegal, how did Rainbow acquire it without realizing the danger? If they invented alcohol, like any new drug on the market, it would spend time being tested on control groups before laws could be made. Banning a product that, when used in moderation, actually has health benefits is not a good idea---just look what happened during Prohibition!

That's not to say this was a bad story. The tone was consistent, and the scene with the psychiatrist was probably the strongest chapter. If you had begun the story with hints that Rainbow had been drinking with increasing danger over a period of months or years, the later chapters would have been more solid. Most importantly, do keep writing, because you obviously have important things to say. Cheers!

6161564 You are not the only to critique me about my pacing. It's a never ending learning process and something that I have been trying to work on. I've been meaning to get this story edited and I will have whoever's editing read what you said.

6162708

I'm glad. I noticed from your profile that you are a person with autism; while I personally do not suffer from that particular ailment, I am a person with numerous cerebral disabilities. I believe this means that people like you and I have an opportunity to write stories that are outside of the usual norm. You have a very unique way of viewing the world, and if you can manage to incorporate that into traditional storytelling techniques, you'll find yourself writing amazing, groundbreaking things. So keep at it.

The story definitely felt rushed, but I think that the emotional scenes, each taken by themselves, were enough to get the point across.

6429433 That has always been my intention. My stories may be rushed at times, but getting the point across is always the key.

6429921 That is true.
This isn't the first story that I've favorited despite finding it a bit rushed, simply because the emotional bits were that strong.

Wow I have never had ideas of rainbowdash of her being a drunk it was awesome read and to have autism myself I know how hard it can be sometimes that's why I am asking if I could read it for my YouTube channel it would be a honour:twilightsmile:

6857227 Go ahead. Just be sure to give me credit.

I give credit to all the people I ask a win win way to go I have only just started to read fan fics :pinkiehappy: you can find my channel 20%rainbow20%dash I have just got my first subscriber on this channel but I have 8 on my gaming/voice acting one:rainbowdetermined2:

I don't have a problem with the pacing. Afterall, this all occurred in a span of three days to a week except the final three chapters.

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