Dashing Through the Holidays

Gifts are tricky, aren't they?

"Aw, come on! You've got to be kidding me!" the young woman exclaims to herself in an exhausted tone, looking at the barren store doors with a sense of urgency. The cold winter's air bites at her nose, but the adrenaline running through her veins is the only thing she can possibly focus on right now. Rainbow Dash is known to be quite air-headed, but this is a new low for the athlete... Normally, she isn't this late to Christmas shopping, but this year has especially been hectic with all the threats of magic at school. Now, it's the day of the holiday she's shopping for and her depressed sighs only show how bad she feels.

Kicking the snow slightly, Rainbow Dash groans to herself, bringing her hands to her head. She should have known all the stores would be closed, but that idea evaded her thoughts when she woke up today. She already had gifts for everyone. Everyone except her best friend...

"God, I'm so screwed," Rainbow Dash sighs to herself, scraping her foot across the icy ground. "How could I have forgotten a gift for AJ?! She's always harping on about the meaning of Christmas! I should have remembered! God, Dash!" Taking a deep breath, Dash shakes her head, turning away from the store. Even though this revelation would render most people hopeless, Rainbow Dash has an odd sense of determination to her. Some call it stubborn. Others say it is loyalty. "Okay! I can do this! I haven't checked the other stores. Surely something is open, right?" In her desperate attempt to reassure herself, Dash takes off running down the street, thinking of a couple other possible locations. Surely, she could get a gift from one of them. At least, that's what she keeps trying to tell herself.

The ice on the sidewalk certainly makes it difficult for Dash to keep her balance, but her mind isn't concerned with the dangerous situation at all. Instead, her main goal is to get a good gift for Christmas before it is too late. The Christmas party is in a few hours, so she is in a time crunch right about now. The only problem is that she can't think of a good gift for her more southern friend. Even if one of the stores was open, what could she possibly get that Applejack would actually use? Her friend is a strong and resilient farm hand who sees little value in decorations or comfort items. In fact, Dash can't remember if she's ever seen Applejack value something like a stuffed animal. All her valued items have some sort of intrinsic use. Things that do some type of work...

Maybe she could get her some type of tool... Though, that would heavily depend on if she can find a tool that Applejack doesn't have yet. This is why Christmas is almost always the most stressful time in Dash's life. She never knows what to buy her friends and it always makes her feel a little inadequate. Despite how many excuses she may throw around, Dash knows that the only person to blame for all of this is herself... Thinking of good gift ideas is something that Rainbow Dash needs to work on. Especially after this fiasco.

Sliding across the ice, Rainbow Dash stops in front of one of the other stores in the area. Her wild eyes look at the doors to see if there's any sign of life from inside. Unfortunately for the athlete, no light or movement comes from inside the establishment, making her heart drop a little more. "Okay... Only a couple more possible places. One of them has to be open. They have to," Dash tells herself with a deep breath and a shake of her head. The universe itself seems to be laughing at the poor girl, the winter breeze biting at her skin and every place she goes to is closed. No, as much as she wants to blame the universe, Dash knows that this is because of her own procrastination.

It's not like she dislikes her friends, right...? No, she loves her friends. Her procrastination isn't due to any distrust she has of them. Instead, she just slept all of winter break, so she has no one to blame but herself. Sighing once again, Dash zips down the sidewalk, making her way to the next store she thought of. All she needs is one gift. One thing that can make it look like she didn't forget to buy her friend a gift. This task seems more impossible as the seconds tick away. If there's one thing Dash learned from this, she knew that she would have to go shopping earlier next year.