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Flight School1,036 words
Deja Vu1,531 words
Friendship is Magic Once More1,661 words
Wrapping Up the Winter2,913 words
There's a Crisis in my Gala, and You're All Invited.2,166 words

Wrapping Up the Winter

Let's just say it took me forever to think of a good way to work in filly Rainbow Dash

The Ponyville she left was not the same Ponyville she entered. The sun shone brightly over the morning sky, as everything was covered in a layer of thick snow stretching over the landscape. Rainbow Dash's legs sunk slightly into the snow, as the freezing chill shook over her body. She stood there, admiring the view in front of her, a nice change from the Everfree Forest's darkness. She was too caught up in the view that she forgot about her situation. That's when she noted the crowds...

Groups of ponies and stallions all working together, gathering up the snow. These 3 groups all wore separate colored vests, green, brown and blue. Each of the ones in the in blue vests were mostly pegasi with a few Earth ponies and were all grouped together somewhat uncoordinated and looking about confused. The other 'teams' seemed to work just fine. The ones in green worked solely on clearing the snow from the area and gathering food, while the ones in brown worked on helping animals. Then it hit her.

"Ow! Who threw that?!" yelled Rainbow Dash, wiping snow off of her face. She turned to a member of the blue team who was walking up to her. It was a grey pegasus pony with an almost blonde mane, though the pony's odd eyes were what caught her off guard. "Derpy, what did you do that for?!" asked Dash, astounded that the pony was able to get a good shot even with her crossed eyes.

"Dash, you’re supposed to be our leader-thingy" replied Derpy Hooves. Dash looked at her own body and somehow didn't even notice that she was wearing a blue vest herself. It all flew back to her, she was the leader of the weather team of the winter wrap up.

"Well, that explains the groups I guess" she mumbled to herself. As she walked up the rest of the flight team alongside Derpy, she found herself stuck. What was she to do to "complete" the memory and return to Sonic? She put these thoughts aside as she addressed the group, giggling nervously to herself. The feeling of serious deja vu was almost funny.

"Ok guys, what we want to do is...uh..." she struggled to remember what she was to say, though it was plainly obvious.

"Clear the clouds?” asked one of the ponies.

"Uh, yeah! Sure, clear the clouds. Earth ponies should...cut the ice! You know, so it melts and all that stuff" Rainbow Dash nervously smiled as the ponies went about their business before joining the other pegasi in the sky.

...

Despite all the commotion, no pony seemed to notice a tiny Rainbow Dash standing by some snow, poking at it curiously. To her, it was like a cloud, only much colder as the shivers crawling over her told. Her attention turned to her surroundings, amazed by the buildings and the plant life that didn't exist. She felt like an alien on a different planet. Either that or the surrounding ponies were the aliens. She happily explored the snowy Ponyville with her big purple eyes. To her it was odd to see ponies that didn't have wings on their backs. In fact she barely saw any pegasus ponies at all! Her mind raced with questions about the other ponies, especially the ones with horns on their heads. She turned her head to the sky as she spotted a flock of ponies clearing the skies, deciding to return to where she belonged, she flew up into the sky to help the weather team. She flew up to a purple pony with fluffy pink hair who was in the process of kicking a cloud. Rainbow Dash felt vaguely nervous about strangers.

"Excuse me, is there anything I can do to help?" she asked. The pony’s attention was drawn to the young filly, who stared at her curiously. She looked very familiar.

"Uh, sorry kid, but this isn't for you. Why don't you find one of the younger ponies to play with? I'm sure there's a young pegasus pony named Scootaloo at the school." replied Rainbowshine as she returned to her work. Rainbow Dash sadly returned to ground level and made her way to what she believed was a schoolhouse judging by the amount of fillies and colts playing around the area. She stood before the crowds looking for "Scootaloo". It was an odd change from her school at Cloudsdale. No runways or hangers. Just a school house and a playground full of chatty fillies and colts. To her surprise there was one little pegasus firmly grounded. The others were all flying in the air chatting happily. This one was all alone. Rainbow Dash slowly approached the orange filly.

"Um, hey" she said. Scootaloo turned to her, and quickly took a step backwards in shock. Scootaloo examined the filly that stood before her.

Cyan coat? Check.

Rainbow mane? Check.

Purple eyes? Check.

Scootaloo frowned. "What are you, an impersonator?"

"Of who?"

"Rainbow Dash, who else? You look just like her" Scootaloo replied. Rainbow Dash shot a confused look. She had never met this filly before, yet how did she know who she is? "What is your name anyway?" she asked.

"My name is Rainbow Dash..." she answered back. Scootaloo examined her closely. She looked like Rainbow Dash, she sounded like her and her name was the same as well. But why was she suddenly younger? "What's your name?" asked Dash. Scootaloo hesitated in answering to her.

"It's Scootaloo, but if you’re Rainbow Dash, why are you suddenly my age?" asked Scootaloo. She walked around the impostor, noting that the fillies' flank was blank. "...and where's your cutie mark?" she asked. Dash looked at her flank. She didn't know either where her cutie mark was. She just hadn't earned it yet.

"How do I know?!" she squeaked. She sat down and pouted about her missing mark, even though the rather odd filly she was talking to didn't have a mark either. Scootaloo sat down next to her, not knowing that she was speaking to her idol from the past.

"Hey cheer up Rainbow Dash, if that is your real name, do you want to go play or something?" asked Scootaloo with a glee about her. Rainbow Dash turned to her and gave a small smile.

"Sure thing, but can I ask, why did you think I was an impersonator of myself?" she asked.

"Well there is this pony, who looks just like you and has the same name that is just amazing! She does all sorts of tricks and stunts, including the Sonic Rainboom!" she declared with a fangirlish glee about her. Rainbow Dash smiled at her energy, even if what she was saying didn't make sense. She was starting to like Scootaloo.

"Sounds a little like me then" she smiled. "So let's get moving then" and they left the playground.

"Where are your friends?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"They are like the only fillies working during this wrap up. Both working with their sisters, so I was left alone" she replied.

"It was a good thing we met then" Dash smiled.

"Yeah, thanks. You wanna see my scooter?" asked Scootaloo.

"What's a scooter?"

"You'll see"

...

The older Rainbow Dash sat exhausted by a tree after fulfilling most of her duties as weather team leader. At this point in time, Twilight would start to organise the wrap up to be more efficient, only Twilight never came. The wrap up was continuing without her. In fact, she hadn't seen ANY of her friends during the day, so the day seemed a little less heck-tick without them.

Or more heck-tick. She hadn't quite decided. It was like they were missing in time...

As she sat on the soft ground, her vision became clouded and dark. Before she knew it, Dash was asleep and waking up was beyond her control. She began to dream. Her dreams were vivid and unreal. Her mind was clouded with images of the mechanical being that sent her here in the first place, until one point where a young filly bearing a strong resemblance to herself attacked and defeated it alongside a visage of her current self. As the event took place, a voice called her name constantly. Suddenly, her vision turned blue...

"Rainbow Dash! Wake up!" yelled Sonic at the top of his voice, with a worried tone. He grabbed and shook her awake, thinking the worse had happened. So imagine his surprise when she returned with a yawn.

"Hey Sonic, what time is it?" she dozily asked.

"There is no time here" he deadpanned. "I just found you like this when I got back from the place named "Friendship is Magic".

"You visited the Everfree Forest?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, and it was...weird to say the least"

About 5 minutes earlier...

"Heh, this is like Angel Island! Only with fewer robots" he said to himself. He was running at full pelt through the darkness from where he started. At this speed, he reached the bridge in no time at all and crossed it without a thought.

"Rainboooooow....", a voice called out like before. Sonic screeched to a halt and looked around for the source.

"Who's there?!" he cried. He was prepared for whatever threat may attack him.

"We have eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in all of Equestria..." it replied in a ghostly monotone. Sonic placed a hand on his hip, looking confused.

"Eh? I can't fly, what are you on about?". At that moment, a single dark pony came out of the fog, looking downright annoyed.

"Oh come on! We're looking for Rainbow Dash! Not a kid, and not a....whatever you are! Get out of here!" it yelled at him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Nightmare Moo-I mean Luna-I mean one of the Shadowbolts! We're waiting for Rainbow Dash. Leave now!"

Sonic shrugged and walked into the temple nearby, not really wishing to around such a rude individual anymore.

...

Colour partially returned to the building, making it possible to distinguish what was snow and what wasn't. Up until then, the town hall looked like a giant igloo. Above them in bold blue text read 'WINTER WRAP UP".

"You know, how does the rest of the colour return?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'll tell you later, but we have to move on" he replied. He wished to keep his past experience with the Time Eater private at the moment for two reasons. One reason was so Rainbow Dash wouldn't be confused right now.

The other reason was that he wasn't totally sure if she was the only Rainbow Dash flying around the White Space...his thoughts became interrupted by Rainbow screaming at the sight of Shadow and Fluttershy, encased in what appeared to be stone.

"Sonic! We have to get them out of there!"

"We will, just calm down. Right now, we have to move on" he reassured her the best he could. However, Rainbow Dash didn't want to leave them. It went against what she stood for, true loyalty.

"Dash, believe me. They will be fine. Trust me" he whispered. Dash held back tears as she backed off from the statues. She may have been fine when Sonic was in the same state, but he came back after she returned. These two didn't. Surely there must be another way, but she left those thoughts behind as she turned to Sonic.

"Come on Dash, there are some more buildings over there" he said calmly, pointing to the distance. Wordlessly, the two walked over to the next area.

...

"So you can't fly? Seriously?" asked Dash. Scootaloo lowered her head in shame.

"No I can't..." she sadly replied. Rainbow Dash did her best to comfort her.

"Hey, you'll be able to fly at some point. Took me a while to get going, maybe you just need more practice!" she said cheerfully.

"I know, I've been asking Rainbow Dash, you know the other one, about it but she hasn't taught me yet". Rainbow Dash still couldn't get round the fact that Scootaloo knew a pony just like herself. Maybe this other Dash was...

"Hey Scoots, where can we find Rainbow Dash?"

"She'll be on the weather team, helping clear the sky. We won't see her today"

"Fair enough" she replied. Her questions would have to wait. "So where's this scooter of yours?" she asked as they approached Scootaloo's house.

"Wait here, I'll go get it", and with that, Scootaloo entered the house. Rainbow Dash continued to prod at the snow below her feet, it was such an odd feeling. It wasn't as soft as a cloud, but it looked like one. She spotted two ponies walking together, talking happily together. Dash examined them closely, one of them had the weird horn that the other ponies seemed to have, and the other had nothing at all. No wings or horn. It was just odd to see ponies without wings. The aqua one spotted her and turned to her friend, pointing at her. They both just stared at her curiously. Dash tried to read their lips but couldn't understand what they were saying about her. They walked off, still looking at her.

"Here it is! My pride and joy!" proclaimed Scootaloo, holding a motorised scooter by her side. Rainbow Dash stared at it curiously.

"That thing looks so strange, how does it work?"

Simple, just operate it with my hooves. Fancy a race?" Scootaloo grinned. Rainbow Dash nodded approvingly. "First one to the town hall and back is the winner, you know, the tall building"

"Got it, let's do this!" she replied. The two lined up side by side, Scootaloo in her scooter and Dash relying on her wings to win the race. Scootaloo started the countdown.

"3...2...1...GO!" she yelled, moving before she even finished saying 'go'. The two began blurs as they raced each other. Rainbow Dash was surprised at how fast Scootaloo was even going in the first place. She was almost going as fast as her, using her wings to speed up. The orange and rainbow blurs sped past anypony in their way, going at such a speed that they cleared the snow in their paths. Once they reached the town hall, Rainbow Dash gained the upper hand, turning around on the spot, while Scootaloo was forced to turn normally. The blasted through the town again, as a small very faint aura began to form in front of Rainbow Dash. The race came to a finish as Dash reached the house first, with Scootaloo mere seconds behind.

"Heh, nice race Rainbow Dash. You know you are like the other one is so many ways, almost like your her younger self, but that's be silly!" Scootaloo giggled. Rainbow laughed along with her, not noticing Scootaloo's parents returning home.

"Scootie, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the playground?" her mother asked with worry. Rainbow Dash stepped forward.

"It's my fault really, blame me if anyone". Her loyalty shone through even before she met the rest of the elements. Scootaloo's mother examined Dash.

"I never knew Rainbow Dash had a younger sister" replied Scootaloo's father.

"She doesn't. This is another Rainbow Dash. She looks like her though" Scootaloo stepped in. Her parents looked at each other and then back to Scootaloo.

"Well anyway, you shouldn't leave like that, even if you were only there for the wrap up" replied her mother. "Now we're going to be making dinner soon, say goodbye to...uh, Rainbow Dash"

Scootaloo lowered her head sadly before looking up at Dash who shot her a playful smile. "Maybe another time Scoots". Scootaloo gave her a friendly hug out of the blue. Dash couldn't help but smile at her kindness.

"See ya Rainbow Dash. I'll tell all my friends about you" she said happily. "Thanks for hanging out with me"

"No problem. See ya around" she replied and happily flew off into the air. Scootaloo and her parents watched as the rainbow trail covered the sky.

"Are you sure that's not the same Rainbow Dash?" asked Scootaloo's mother.

"Impossible. That's a filly, not a full grown pony" replied her father. Scootaloo said nothing as she watched her fly off.

Rainbow Dash flew happily through the sky. She met a young filly who, unbeknownst to her, would become her greatest fan in the future, and barely age on top of that. Her vision of the snowy Ponyville soon faded to white as she found herself floating above large blue letters all of a sudden. Grounding herself, she looked back at the entrance.

"Did that all really happen?" she thought quietly. More colour restored to the town hall, completing its visage. The young filly looked at the strange statues at her side. To her surprise, they were coming to life! A pony got up from the floor and looked around curiously, while the tall black creature seemed very calm and collected for someone just awoken from a stone prison.

"Shadow, where are we?!" asked Fluttershy with a scared tone. Shadow didn't answer, he simply stared at the young filly in shock. Fluttershy's attention was also drawn to her as the 3 stared in silence for a long time.

"..Rainbow Dash?" asked Fluttershy, lowering herself to Rainbow Dash's level. The filly just stared at her.

"We, Fluttershy, are in trouble" announced Shadow.

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