“Um, hellooo?” said Twilight Sparkle to the cyan blue pegasi who was fogging up the glass door. She tapped the door with her hoof and that snapped Dash out of her funk.
“Oh uh, hey Twilight.” said Dash awkwardly.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I know you, but how do you know me?” asked Twilight.
Dash was once again entranced by the missing horn on Twilight’s head. Twilight noticed what she was staring at this time and decided to get this whole issue out of the way. “Oh this thing?” she pointed at her forehead then moved her bangs out of the way to reveal a stub of a horn. Dash’s attention was once again re-focused.
“Twilight, w-what happened?” asked Dash with worry.
“Oh they file it down every few months or so to keep my magic from getting too strong, you see as a unicorn’s horn grows her ability to cast magic does as well, for example Princess Luna’s horn matches her magical potential. The bigger the horn the more magic a unicorn is able to produce, so when they file down my horn and shorten it, the restrict my magic output. I’m still able to perform some basic spells, but nothing too strong.”
“But why would they?” Dash then remembered the restoration efforts in Canterlot. “Oh, right...”
“Sooo...who are you anyway? I don’t get many visitors aside from the guards and the scientist. Well nobody, BUT the guards and scientist ever come to see me.”
“Name’s Rainbow Dash!”
“Well hello Rainbow Dash, my name is Twilight Sparkle, but I guess you knew that already.”
Dash started to remember her past and the first time she met Twilight Sparkle, she crashed into her and they both landed in a mud puddle, then she used a raincloud and her Rain-blow Dry to clean her up, her mane looked so silly afterwards! Then Twilight...what did Twilight do?
With Dash trying to find her memories she didn’t realize that she was making an awkward silence between the two of them which lasted for a good four minutes. “Um hellooo...” Twilight began waving a hood in front of her face which snapped Dash out of her funk. “Are you alright? You seem to be zoning in and out of our conversation.”
“Ah yeah, sorry bout’ that.” said Dash as she shook her head. “Anyways, Twilight do you know anything about the outside world?”
“Um, not much really, I know that there’s some kind of war going on outside, but other than that not much else, I’ve been in here since I was just a filly.”
All those years? She’s been here since she was that young? So she never became a student of the Princess, she never went to Ponyville, and she never found her calling as the element of magic. Dash was appalled, “What are they keeping you in here for? Yeah your magic is ridiculously strong, but couldn’t they have taught you to control it?”
“Rainbow Dash...I deserve this.” said Twilight somberly.
“What?”
“4,000 ponies died because of me. Stallions, mares, fillies, colts, and even more, I’m afraid of this power, I don’t know what to do with it, but they do. I trust the ponies here to put my magic to good use. That’s what they’re doing to me here, they’re studying me; my magic. They say that they want to use my magic as a clean source of energy for all of Equestria!” Twilight then showed Dash her horn stub again. “Right now, even though my horn is like this, it still has the power of 10 master-level unicorns, I could easily regenerate it right now to the point where my power is equivalent to Princess Luna’s, perhaps even more!”
Dash was surprised, this Equestria’s Twilight was even more powerful than she could have imagined. Twilight let her bangs cover her horn again and she looked down at the glass floor somberly. “My magic hurt thousands of ponies, the least I could do now is let it be used to help them.” She turned away from Dash and inhaled deeply, she then turned around to face her with a meek smile on her face. “So that’s my story Rainbow Dash, what’s yours?”
Dash, bummed out by Twilight’s sad tale, recomposed herself to tell her story. “Twilight, what if I told you that I come from another Equestria? An Equestria without war, and an Equestria that doesn’t have you living in a bubble?”
Twilight thought about Dash’s claims. “Well I guess it wouldn’t be too far fetched, the idea of parallel universes is something that has been considered by various scientist over the years, from Stephen Hawk to Carl Neighgan...” Dash was pleased, finally a pony who didn’t think she was completely crazy! “But what proof do you have that you’re from another universe?”
Great, this question again “Well, I guess the most proof I have are these wings.” she stretched out her glorious metal wings.
Twilight’s eyes widened in amazement, “Oh my gosh, they’re beautiful...are they from your Equestria?”
“Er, well, no. They were made in Cloudsdale, but the Equestria I come from, I have a real pair of wings.”
Dash saw Twilight was starting to get skeptical, “Well that’s all well and nice Rainbow Dash, but that’s not exactly proof that you’re from another universe, if anything you probably just lost your wings in an accident and had them replaced with prosthesics.”
Dash needed to win this one, “Well that is kind of what happened, at least according to this world, I was injured in Flight Camp as a filly, and I had my wings amputated, but where I come from that never happened I never lost my wings!”
“And how do you know about your past self from this universe if you’re from another universe?”
Dash was getting more anxious as Twilight began to shoot down her claims, “It’s my memories, they keep changing to match this world, just a few days ago I didn’t know anything about this world. I was just with you...”
“With me? So in your Equestria, we know each other?”
“We don’t just know each other, we’re best friends! You introduced me to Daring Do, we saved Equestria three times, you brought us all together at our lowest points, you’re the leader of our group and the strongest, smartest and bravest unicorn I know!”
Twilight was silent for a minute, but then she began to speak “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, it’s nice and all; everything you’re saying, but without any hard evidence, I’m not sure if I can believe you.”
Dash was getting desperate, “Twilight please, the reason I’m here is because I need your help, I need you to help me find a way to fix everything, and I can’t do that if my memories keep changing. The Princess cast a spell on me to keep my memories from changing, but she doesn’t know how long it will last, I told her that only the smartest and strongest unicorn in Equestria could help, and the first pony I thought of was you, and you don’t even know me! Isn’t the proof enough?”
Twilight was silent again and once again she shook her head, “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash.” she said with disappointment.
No, no this time she was so close! How was she going to get Twilight out of this one? How was she going to reunite the other’s? Her head felt hot, her temples sore, and once again, the lightning came.
“AAUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!” The storm was bigger than ever it left scorch marks on the glass and reflected off the crystal walls.
“Rainbow Dash!” cried Twilight, without even thinking Twilight instinctively blasted the glass door sending it flying. Suddenly a loud siren and alarm began ringing throughout the cavern. The large steel door quickly opened and in came a squadron of Royal Guards with horns down aimed at Twilight. Fluttershy and Applejack were behind the squad, unsure of what was going to happen.
“Stand down Star Subject! Head back to your cell and we’ll handle the pegasi!” cried Blueblood.
Twilight was about to retreat back into her dome, but watching Rainbow Dash in such pain and not being able to do anything was unbearable, but then she heard a large booming voice echo throughout the cavern.
“NO, YOU WILL STAND DOWN MAJOR!” cried Princess Luna as she approached from behind the soldiers. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” Confused and scared Twilight did not dare move from where she was standing.
“But your majesty, Star Subject has escaped and-” began Blueblood.
“THAT IS AN ORDER MAJOR!” cried Luna in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
“But...”
“THAT IS AN ORDER BLUEBLOOD!” cried Luna with the utmost authority.
“Y-yes...you’re majesty...” said Blueblood meekly, he then turned to his soldiers. “You heard the Princess! STAND DOWN!” The soldiers hesitated at first and then proceeded to raise their horns and let the Princess pass through as she approached Twilight Sparkle and the still convulsing Rainbow Dash.
Princess Luna began to speak to Twilight, “Everything Rainbow Dash has said is true, I casted a spell that would hinder her memory changes, but only you can reinforce it. She specifically requested you. I know you have the power and the knowledge to do this, this mare is our only hope. Do you understand my little pony?” While she did not use the Royal Canterlot Voice, the tone was commanding and Twilight understood immediately and focused her attention on Rainbow Dash.
“What do I have to do?” she asked.
“The spell requires you to go into the mind of your subject, you must dive into their memories and find a wall, that wall will be constructed by Rainbow Dash’s memories, once you find the wall you must find the rift, the rift will be swallowing the old memories of your subject and creating new ones. You must put yourself between that area of old and new and create a bond that will seal the rift and keep both sets of memories from overlapping with each other. Can you do that Twilight Sparkle?”
“I-I’m not sure...” said Twilight with hesitance she had read many books on psychology and mind spells, but she had never performed them before, but looking at Rainbow Dash and thinking about what she said, what if all she said was true? There was only one way to find out. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow.
She aimed it at Rainbow Dash and fired the spell, suddenly she couldn’t feel her own body, she felt as if she had been taken out of it and was now floating around, but no she was moving and being directed towards Rainbow Dash’s head. Before she knew it, she had crossed a barrier into what she assumed was the mind of Rainbow Dash. It was incredible, unlike anything she felt before, but there was no time to be amazed, standing before her was a large moving wall electrified with colorful lightning similar to the type that was coming from Rainbow Dash, on that wall were images that were moving quickly, these must be her memories.
But Twilight couldn’t find the rift, the memories on the wall were moving to the right very quickly so she decided to follow their flow, as she moved her ethereal body she couldn’t help but examine the memories embedded in the wall. All of it was so joyous and exciting, there was Rainbow Dash soaring through the sky with a proud smile on her face, no metallic wings. On another panel she was racing another pony with a blond mane and orange coat. And there she was with Rainbow Dash, first she seemed like she was giving her psychiatric help, and then next they were reading books together, then they were fighting an alicorn that looked a lot like Princess Luna, she saw herself wearing a golden tiara with a pink star on it, and then there she was in the center of group hug surrounded by other ponies a pink one, a yellow one, a white one, that orange one, and then Rainbow Dash again. It all looked so wonderful and beautiful, but who was this pegasi and how was she such an important part of her life? Then she saw the one that convinced her, she saw a wedding, and she saw a pony that looked a lot like her brother only older dancing with a beautiful pink alicorn, she seemed familiar
Twilight soon saw those colorful memories disappear into a void, this must have been the rift! The rift was a large dark crack and colorful memories were vanishing into it while on the other side memories were springing forth from the void, these memories were nothing like the ones Rainbow Dash had; there was one of her lying in a hospital bed with a yellow pegasi sitting by her, there was one where she was on the streets of a city begging for money, then another of her being harassed by pegasi soldiers in a cafeteria, these memories were so dreary and lifeless, the others were so colorful and full of...hope.
Twilight couldn’t sit idly by and let this happen she focused her energy and fired upon the rift, she tried to imagine it coming together; she visualized creating bonds and bridges to connect the rift and before she knew the rift began to seal together welded together by Twilight’s magic. The two memories were at a standstill separated by a thin glowing line, the memories in question involved some kind of tortoise on one side, and some kind of dark office on another. Twilight hoped that she wasn’t too late, and she found herself being sucked out of Dash’s head and back into her own.
“Whoa...” Twilight felt rather woozy, after floating in an ethereal form like that, she was trying to get used to being grounded again.
“Did it work?” asked the Princess.
“I think so...” said Twilight nervously as she looked at Dash who was slowly getting up from the floor.
Despite a rather painful groan, Dash seemed okay, “I’m alright, I don’t feel any migraine’s or headache’s, I feel great actually!” she hopped up and began hovering in the air she proceeded to do a few loops without feeling any pain, in her head or otherwise.
“Um, Rainbow Dash?” said Twilight as the pegasi stopped in mid-air.
“Yeah Twi’?”
“I...I think I believe you now.” said the unicorn with certainty.
“Really?!” said Dash excited, “What made you change your mind?”
“Well, when I was in your mind...I got a glimpse at your memories from your world, and they all looked so beautiful, so happy, and full of life...”
“They are...” said Dash, “And they’re real, that’s the Equestria I want to go back to, and I need your help to get me back there.”
Twilight though about it for a second, she looked at her dome, the only life she’s known for years, and then at Dash, a pony from an Equestria filled with hope and harmony, she made her choice. “I’ll do it Rainbow Dash. I’ll join you.”
“Hold it right there Star Subject!” Blueblood quickly approached the two with the battalion at the ready. “You’re not going anywhere!”
“Yes she is Major.” said Princess Luna as she got between them. “As of right now I am giving a royal pardon to Star Subject: Twilight Sparkle.”
Dash smiled with joy while Twilight was overwhelmed with surprise.
“But your Majesty! This is not some petty criminal, s-she’s a national threat! You’ll need the approval of the Royal Parliament and Council as well to-”
“YOU THINK I DO NOT KNOW HOW MY OWN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WORKS MAJOR? DAMN THE PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL TO TARTARUS! IF TWILIGHT SPARKLE IS NOT RELEASED AS OF RIGHT NOW OUR SECURITY WILL BE THREATENED REGARDLESS!” The Royal Canterlot Voice sent a few of the soldiers flying out of the cavern. “Do I make myself clear Blueblood?” Luna said in a terrifyingly calm manner.
“Y-yes Auntie...” said a completely submissive Blueblood.
“Good, come now everypony, you have an Equestria to save. And you Blueblood, I’m sure you can explain to the Commander the situation. Goodbye.” Blueblood meekly saluted and retired to his quarters.
“Yes!” Cried Dash as she made her way to the front of the group with Applejack and Fluttershy following behind. Luna and Twilight Sparkle were farthest back following the group, Twilight wanted to ask the Princess something personal and she knew.
“Princess Luna?” asked Twilight nervously.
“Yes, my little pony?”
“When you cast the memory spell on Rainbow Dash...did you see the memories on her wall too?”
Luna paused for a few seconds before answering. “Yes, I did.”
“And is that why you’re putting this much faith in her?”
Again the Princess paused before answering, “Yes.”
Twilight felt satisfied with the answer and decided to leave it at that, but then the Princess spoke again.
“Her memories gave me hope...they showed me the Equestria that could have been under my sisters rule...it has given me...insight.” the Princess said somberly.
Insight? What did she mean? She decided to leave it be for now, because for the first time in years she was finally going to see the outside world! She was finally free.
As Blueblood watched the Princess and the four ponies walk away he sighed, exhausted from today’s ordeal. He had to file a report now to the parliament and council, but right now he had a very important message to deliver, “Barb!” he called, a small dragon with purple and green scales appeared before him.
“Yes Major?” she said.
“Send a message to your brother, I need to talk to the Commander via fireside chat, tell him it’s urgent.”
“Right away Major.”, the purple dragon took out a quill and parchment and began to write the request, once she finished she incinerated it in a puff of green fire, the fire then twisted and turned upwards until it found it’s way out through a vent in the ceiling.