Cloudsdale Dash and The Revenge of Dr. Negative

by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch

Chapter 7 - A Sword of Damocles

~~~~~The Blue Note~~~~~

Rainbow Dash had been angry plenty of times in her life. But never quite this angry.

She felt… enraged. That was the word Twi might’ve used if she was conscious, but now she was the one laid out on a bed instead of Dash or Rarity. She shoved her way out of that room, feeling that smouldering fury bubbling up in her belly. Miss Kitty and Daring were standing outside in the hallway, glaring at one another like cats. “Just what’ve you dropped on my doorstep this time, Doctor Do?” That was Miss Kitty, snapping at Daring with a huff. Dash ignored it, like she was ignoring everything else right now.

She turned the corner and stalked towards the room of interest. Namely the one where the attacker Miss Kitty seemed to think was in charge was being held. “How was I supposed to know his insane minions would attack here!? I thought he was dead!” Daring shouted back. Dash tuned out the voices. They were distracting her, and she wasn’t going to be distracted right now.

Two burly earth ponies stood before the door. One almost looked like Bulk Biceps back home, but his mane wasn’t buzz-cut. They crowded the entrance, giving her stern looks, trying to intimidate her… but whatever they saw in her eyes made them step aside. Unlocking the door, she stepped into the tiny room, finding that the white-coated pegasus was tied to a rough looking wooden chair.

If Dash had cared, she might have gotten a little squeamish at the dark stains that surrounded the chair. She might’ve felt a little conflicted about the sight of what had to be nasty implements bolted to the wall. If she’d cared, she might have even wondered why somepony who looked a lot like Pinkie Pie would need these things. But right now, Dash didn’t care about any of that. Right now, she cared about Rarity.

The captive looked up, a crazed gleam in her eye as Dash locked the door behind her. “So. The dead walk,” the pegasus hissed at her, her voice oddly… normal. Almost conversational. “I could have sworn I buried you under Mount Talon, Cloudsdale Dash.” Her eyes were familiar… almost hauntingly familiar. Who was this pony? Why did she feel like she knew her? Did it matter?

Maybe it did. The memories of somepony else lurked somewhere in her brain, but she had other things to deal with right now. “‘Fraid not,” she quipped, planting her hooves. This strange mare was making her nervous and angry all at the same time. “Where’d your thugs take my friend?” She had no experience in being intimidating or even trying to be, but there was some tickle in the back of her head that was coaching her. She put her shoulders forward, narrowed her eyes and tensed her muscles. “Why’d you come after Rarity?”

“The blue-maned one isn’t who we came for, you stupid whorse.” The pegasus retorted with a mocking edge, her bright blue eyes glittering maliciously. “She just got in the way. I don’t know why the other morons decided to take her. Can’t tell two white unicorns apart, apparently.” Her voice was a mad sort of sing-song, and it was setting Dash’s teeth on edge. “As for where she went… Pfft. Maybe you hit your head a little hard on those rocks I threw you into.”

For a split second, Dash felt a lancing pain rip through her skull, as though she’d just cracked her head on something hard… She winced it away, focusing on the pony in front of her. “Quit jerking me around and tell me where you took her, you madpony!” The white pegasi continued to grin, and Dash felt a heat start to grow in her chest. Her voice was rougher as she spoke, and she wasn’t sure why. “Tell me know, you stupid bitch, or I’ll…” That made her stop in her tracks, and Dash realized all at once that she was breathing very heavily…

And the other pegasi was giving her a cold, calculating look. “Or you’ll what, Cloudsdale? You’re no criminal or killer.” There was an odd quality to her tone. She drawled in a mockery of Applejack’s accent, but Dash could see the cunning behind that gaze. Sharp eyes that didn’t miss much at all. “Or maybe you are now. Maybe death changed you into something like me.” Her lips peeled back into a toothy, nasty grin. “I’m not going to tell you, either way. You’ll never be more frightening than Doctor Negative, puddin’.”

The name sent a dull shock through her body, and Dash felt herself take a step back. She opened her mouth to reply, but another voice cut her off. “She might not be that frightening, dear. But I am.” Dash turned to see Miss Kitty standing silhouetted in the doorway with a mane as sleek, shiny and straight as Missus Cake. Her blue eyes were ice cold, and in spite of the burlesque outfit she wore Dash felt a thrill of trepidation run up her spine.

Then… then her eyes turned to Dash, and softened considerably. “I am sorry for what happened to Lady Rarity, Cloudsdale. Your friend should be waking up soon, and Miss Do wishes to speak with you privately.” She paused, then reached out to gently squeeze Dash’s shoulder. “Please, leave me to my business. I will find out what happened to your friend.”

For an instant, Dash didn’t want to leave that room. She didn’t want to take the chance that her only source of information on Rarity was going to get away… but there was something hard in Miss Kitty’s voice, something weary and resigned that made Dash realize that her being there wasn’t going to help anypony. “Okay.” Dash didn’t like saying it, but… she shook her head, trying to clear it.

Miss Kitty stood aside, and Dash slipped out of the room. The door swung to close behind her, and… “Thanks, Dashie.” A voice whispered from beyond it, before shutting with an ominous click. Dash swallowed something in her throat and forced her hooves to keep moving. Memories were swirling around in her head, and right now she didn’t have time to deal with them. So she’d deal with them later, once she dealt with everything else.

The hallways were easy for her to figure out now that she’d been through them a few times, and finding her way to Sweetie Belle’s rooms was surprisingly simple. Daring stood outside the wrecked doorway, staring in with a brooding look. “What happened to you, Dash?” Daring’s voice cut through the silence, long before Dash had a chance to get close. Daring turned to face her, looking oddly pensive. “I know it’s you. I’ve known you longer than almost anypony else I call friend, and you’re not some clone or fake.”

Daring took a hesitant step forward, reaching up with her hoof to push a lock of Dash’s mane back. “But you look so lost, so scared, like you can’t remember a single thing we’ve been through together.” Daring Do was really, really close to her right now. Her voice was full of concern, her eyes were soft and… boy, did she smell awful nice. Waitwaitwait. Holy Celestia, is Daring Do into me!? It was a shocking thought that made Dash try to swallow the bird-sized lump in her throat.

Dash took a deep breath and exhaled. “Daring… I don’t know what’s going on here. I don’t know what’s happened to me, or you, or Twilight, but… But I’m glad I’ve got another friend here to back me up.” She put on her best grin, and tried not to think about the implications of the words of the madpony she’d left behind. “Look. We both know there’s nothing the two of us can’t solve if we stick together, right DD?”

That startled a laugh out of Daring, who shook her head with a soft smile. “Nice to see that no matter what happens, nothing can keep you down.” There was just a moment that Dash thought she was going to get a kiss, until Daring bit her lip and pulled away, squeezing Dash’s shoulders. “I’m glad to have you back, Dash.” Daring’s lips twisted up into a little grin that was much more reminiscent of the Daring she’d met not so long ago.

Dash found herself nodding. “Yeah. We’ll figure all of this out somehow.” She paused and chewed at her own lip. “My friend Twilight is really smart. She might be able to help us.” And maybe she can help me get my mind off of all this ridiculousness.. Dash put some distance between her and Daring, turning to head down the hallway.

Daring fell into step with a faint smile on her face. “So come on, Dash. Tell me how you met this Lady.” She asked in an all-too-casual voice, and Dash had to sigh. Daring laughed softly. “I’m not going to stop asking till you tell me, Dash.”

Dash paused, and shook her head slowly. For just an instant, she thought about telling the whole story. About a pony from Canterlot and the Elements of Harmony, about Discord and Nightmare Moon and Queen Chrysalis. The whole crazy part was Daring would probably buy into all of it… except for the beginning of the story. So instead, she just said: “Trust me, DD. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

~~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes slowly and took in a deep breath. Her mind was calm, quiet, and all too ordinary. Gone was the power of the universe at her command, and she was left with an odd feeling of being hollow inside, as though all of that power had filled something up she’d never been aware of before, and now couldn’t ignore.

The room was wallpapered in bright blue, and the walls themselves were covered in posters of competitive flying teams. The Wonderbolts were there, though the poster looked strange from this angle. “Good. No magical shock.” That was Rosetta’s voice, but it sounded oddly far away and detached. Twilight struggled to push herself up, but felt firm hooves keeping her down. “Thank you, Bluebell.” Rosetta’s voice drew closer, her head swimming into view as Twilight began to realize she was splayed out flat on somepony’s bed.

Rosetta levitated a tiny pen-like tube into view, and a bright light suddenly emitted from the tip and caused her to squint. “No sign of magical contamination, either. Okay, you can let her up.” The feeling of hooves went away, and Rosetta’s face came into sharper focus. She was staring at Twilight through a pair of pince-nez glasses with a look Twilight could only describe as ‘worried’. “Are you okay, Miss?”

Twilight took a deep breath and slowly pushed herself up, flexing her wings in the process and then freezing in mid motion. Alicorn. Disguise. Right. Except it was a bit too late for that, with Bluebell staring at her in awe. “It’s alright,” Rosetta sighed, leaning back into a stiff backed wooden chair. “I needed an assistant, and Bluebell here knows how to keep a secret.” Rosetta turned to glare at the blue pegasus, who blushed brightly.

Twilight shook her head and wished she had a comb to put through her automatically flowing mane. She didn’t need it, but it would’ve made her feel better. She took a moment to do a little self-examination, and found herself just as large and lanky as she had been when they first appeared in this realm. “What happened to me?” She half-asked herself, and Rosetta by extension.

“Magical Surge.” Rosetta responded so quickly that Twilight felt a bit of surprise. “Technically, any unicorn can surge, but the effect is much more dramatic in Alicorns. I’ve observed it in Lady Celestia before.” Rosetta spoke in a very matter-of-fact tone, adjusting her glasses unconsciously. “You basically lost control of your natural limiters on magical flow through unicorn horns, and…” She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, you pretty effectively took out a small mob of ponies without so much as breaking a sweat.”

Twilight nodded absently, trying to twirl a lock of mane that wasn’t there to twirl. She’d surged before, and was familiar with the concept. But she’d never heard of Alicorns- “Wait, what do you mean ‘took out’?” Twilight snapped out, turning quickly to face Rosetta’s all too calm face.

“As in you killed them. Quite efficiently.” She made a little drawing motion across her neck. “Snapped their spinal columns with a single blast. Very efficient, totally painless. They were dead before they hit the ground.” Twilight felt her stomach hit her hooves in record time. She’d been using stun blasts, not kinetic blasts. Hadn’t she? Rosetta ploughed on, as though she didn’t notice. “Seventeen of the madponies, every last one of them with a bad record. They won’t be the last though, Doctor Negative always seems to find the worst of the worst to do his bidding. You did the world a major favor tonight, Lady Twilight.”

The news that she’d murdered bad ponies wasn’t much of a comfort at all, no matter how Rosetta tried to paint it that way. Seventeen dead ponies, because she’d lost control of her magic. The nightmare scenario, and the only thing that kept Twilight from completely breaking down and losing it was the knowledge that she might very well do it again if she did. Rosetta, though, seemed oblivious. “Bluebell, would you go and get me a bottle of something stiff and soothing from the bar?” Rosetta spoke in a voice quite reminiscent of a school teacher, and Bluebell seemed quite eager to obey. She leapt to her hooves and trotted out of the room, leaving the pair of them alone.

Rosetta began to count. “Five, four, three, two…” And then at one, she shut the door firmly with her magic. “There. We’re alone.” Rosetta turned resolutely to Twilight, and pulled off her spectacles. “Before you say one more word, I want you to listen very carefully to me.” Rosetta pushed herself out of the chair, and Twilight couldn’t help but stare as she marched up to the head of the bed and glared right into her eyes. “You couldn’t have done anything else, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight tried to speak, and got a mouth full of hoof for her troubles. “I said shut up. You couldn’t have done anything else. Those madponies would have murdered your friends and plenty of other innocent ponies in the process without a second thought. Whatever you might’ve been taught about your magic, every single one of those rules goes out the window when other ponies lives are on the line.” Rosetta’s words hit her like hammer blows to the gut, over and over again. And she wasn’t done either. Rosetta’s eyes were all too familiar, and as hard as diamonds “Mourn the necessity. Feel guilty. That’s what separates you from them, in the end. But don’t you dare fucking question that it needed to be done. You understand me?”

For a few long moments, Twilight felt dazed and conflicted… and then the pain slowly receded from her middle. She felt like Princess Celestia had just slapped her around and given her a stern lecture about guilt, before sitting her down and telling her to think about it. “I think so,” she said softly. She could still feel the wrenching pain of the knowledge that she had taken life. But put in the context Rosetta had set for her… “But we still lost Rarity,” she all but whispered, tucking her hooves about her middle.

Rosetta nodded. “Taken by Doctor Negative. I fear what he plans for her, but I promise you Lady Twilight. We’ll get her back.” She reached up and squeezed Twilight’s shoulder, and put on a weak smile. “We’ve beaten his sorry flank before, and we can do it again. But before we do that, I need to know something very important: Are you from our world, or not?”

Twilight’s head felt like she was going to get whiplash with all of these shocking turns of event, and she sighed the instant she did it again. “We’re not. Not me, not Dash, not Rarity. Not Sweetie Belle either. Our Equestria is much different from this one.” She shivered a little, glancing about the room. It would have been an ordinary room, if it weren’t for the countless little mechanical marvels that were carelessly scattered about. “Much different.”

Rosetta nodded once. “I have a theory about what’s been happening to you, then. You are from a different Equestria, but your bodies are from here.” She tapped the bed slowly, as if trying to make a point. “Or rather, the forms you’ve taken are the ones you ought to have here if you were from here.” She bit at her lip, as though uncertain. “Hence why your Dash looks, smells, and thinks a lot like the Cloudsdale Dash me and Daring are familiar with.”

Twilight took a deep breath and nodded slowly. “It would explain why we’re seeing memories and having thoughts that are otherwise alien to us.” She paused, and shook her head. “It’s a textbook example of Starswirl’s-”

“Third Law of Universal Constants.”

They spoke in absolute unison, and Twilight felt a little bit of shock at that. She knew all of six other ponies back home who were even aware that Star Swirl the Bearded had done work on trans-dimensional travel. Rosetta was staring at her too, and for a few moments silence reigned. Then… Twilight decided to see just how far this rabbit hole went. “But that would mean that we’re subject to the…”

“Sixth Energy corollary, right.” Rosetta finished, rubbing at her chin. “That being true, that would explain the memory transfers. But if that’s the case then we’ve got a big problem.” Twilight could feel the dread settling into her chest. Oh yes, they had a big problem alright.

“Law of Conservation of Magical Energy.” They both said in unison again, both voices heavy with resignation. Twilight facehoofed and shook her head. “Magic Abhors a Paradox. Summoning one-oh-one. The universe has to compensate for us being here, and so it’s transmuting our personal magic. Which means…”

“You’re on a time limit.” Rosetta said flatly, and Twilight could feel the tension bunch up right behind her skull and kick off a nice stress headache. And there’s no telling how long we have without figures that we’ve got no hope of getting access to without the Canterlot Library. Twilight’s thoughts began to run in circles, slowly but surely building up to a freakout that she simply couldn’t afford.

“Fortunately, I’ve already sent a letter to Lady Celestia.” Rosetta’s voice was much warmer, much more happy than it had been mere moments before. And Twilight couldn’t disagree with the mood change, since a flood of relief went straight through her veins. It didn’t matter that this was an alternate world. It didn’t matter that time, magical physics and madponies were against them. Celestia could help. She always had.

Then the door opened, and Rainbow Dash walked in with a faint smile of her own. “Hey there, Princess.” Dash said in a teasing, softly cheerful voice. “Get your flank out of bed. We might be down, but we’re far from out.”

Twilight nodded. Dash was right. It wasn’t time for the final exam yet. She had plenty of time to study, but she had to get moving. “Right. Let’s go talk to Sweetie Belle.”

~~~~~Elsewhere…~~~~~

Rarity was trapped in darkness and pain. Well, not much pain, but enough to make her wince with every jostling movement she was subjected to. Her body passed through many changes in temperature from hot to cold to quite nice, really. Hooves slammed into stone and metal, and she tried to writhe in her bonds. The thick, heavy iron of the magical limiter around her horn itched something fierce, and felt even more outrageous than the rough hewn ropes around her limbs. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she was shoved quite unceremoniously onto a soft mattress, and the sounds of other ponies drifted away slowly.

Rarity was trapped in her bonds, with only her heavy breathing and some dark thick fabric obscuring her vision for company. So she began to twist and turn, knowing it was going to do a number on her nice dress, and tried to work her way free of the bonds to no avail. But then. “Lady, do me a favor an’ don’t get violent wit’ me… I’m just gonna untie ya.” A rough, roguishly charming voice spoke quietly from some distance. It sounded cautious, but intrigued, and Rarity considered her options.

It was either her captor, or a fellow cellmate. And given his rough speech, she was certain it was the latter. “Very well, but be quick about it.” She muttered softly, and worked herself into a more respectable position. It would be impossible to hide her red cheeks or the unladylike positions she’d contorted into, but she could rally from this. Careful hooves worked on her ropes, and a few moments and a tug of teeth later she was freed. She threw off the blindfold and…

And found herself face to face with a surprisingly handsome stallion. He was an earth pony with a light tan coat and a dark brown mane desperately in need of a trim. He also looked like he could badly use a shave, but he had a chiseled look that suited the roughness.

The room she was in was surprisingly posh in its design and layout. A large four-poster bed, elegant red silk hangings and tapestries, soft rugs, elegant dressers and vanities… it looked like a well-off noblepony’s bedroom. Of course, there was also only one bed, and that could present a problem. It was then she noticed her new companion was giving her the once over, then nodded. “Ya look mostly unhurt. That’s good. What’s your name, filly?”

She would’ve taken offense to that from anypony else, but right now was not the time to stand on formalities. “Rarity. And yourself?” She kept it short, glancing around the room to find a doorway… but not seeing one. The walls seemed to be rock solid in every direction, with only a few large metal vents set high up on the sheer walls to allow circulation. The room itself was lit with a collection of candles and lanterns, though Rarity could not tell how one could get high enough to light those lanterns.

The stallion made a tip-o-the-hat gesture and half smiled. “Th’ name’s Manehatten Silver. Welcome to the personal prison…” He waved his hoof around airily. “Of the madpony Doctor Negative.”

Rarity’s heart sank. Her blood ran cold, and she felt herself falling back onto the soft bed she’d been laying on mere moments before. “Oh, dear.” She whispered, the memories of the events that had lead up to all of this nonsense now becoming painfully clear. Oh, goddess. Twilight is going to kill me, she thought with a wince of pain, then opened her eyes to regard the laconic Manehatten Silver. An odd name, but right now... “I think you’d best tell me everything you can about our situation, Mister Silver.”

He nodded. “Welp, it all started about a year ago…” he began, and Rarity settled in. Knowledge was power, and she was going to need every ounce she could get if she was to reverse her mistakes and get all of her friends out of this pickle safely.

~~~~~Also…~~~~~

“Jahwohl.” The stormpony saluted, and quickly trotted onto the awaiting air-cruiser that would take them to the ground. Iron Resolve turned and eyeballed the rest of those who would be accompanying them. A bare dozen guards, not nearly the force he would have preferred to bring. Yet the Kommandant had been adamant that they only bring enough to ensure safety against the rabble. And so a tiny honor guard it would be, with the Kommandant only wearing his suit coat and not his full uniform.

Their other companion, however…

She looked striking in the black sable of the Intelligence division. Her eyes were clear and her mane bright, and she waited with an almost unnatural stillness. “Something troubling you, Lady?” The Kommandant asked in a quiet voice as they began to board the airship. His demeanor was protective and kind, as it always was around the Lady.

“You are certain her mane was a Rainbow?” The Lady asked quietl\y, the ramp slowly raising up behind them as hooves clattered on the metal and their guard secured themselves into their seats. The Kommandant would sit when he was ready to, and so Iron Resolve remained standing as well. The Kommandant nodded once, and the Lady turned her head away. She remained silent for a full minute before speaking. “I shall be fine. But I must insist upon the opportunity to speak with her first, before we attempt any other persuasion.”

“It will be as you request, Lady Butterfly.” The Kommandant doffed his soft cap with a faint smile. “Was she an acquaintance of yours, once upon a time?”

The question was uttered into a strange sort of silence, one that lingered awkwardly in the air. The Lady’s calm demeanour was legendary amongst the troops. She never allowed herself to stray even a hair out of her calm and serene shell. Yet here, for the first time in his life, Iron Resolve saw that shell crack for just a moment. The Lady’s voice was sad, barely concealing the sob in her breath. “Yes. She saved my life once, and in turn sacrificed the life she’d always dreamed of having.” Lady Butterfly drew herself up, as tall and strong as any mare could ever dare to be. “And now it seems, she has recaptured that dream. And so at long last, I will be able to face her again… and finally thank her for all she did for me.”

Tears ran unheeded down Lady Butterfly’s cheeks, and her lips spread into a glorious smile. Her voice was the barest whisper, but Iron Resolve could hear it clearly. “I had always believed you would return, my beloved Rainbow Dash.”

Author's Note:

This chapter is probably a bit rough, but I was so excited to have pumped out a full chapter in a single night again that I couldn't resist posting immediately. Please forgive any minor errors you might find.

Comments

[Mister Morden]

Interesting... If being in this world for an extended period means you can't go home... Doesn't that mean it is already too late for Sweetie?

[scytho]

Wonderful chapter. I didn't really find it rough at all. We're almost to the point the original story left off at. Can't wait for that.

After seeing that amazing season finale, I have to wonder if you can squeeze Tirek into this somehow.

[Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch]

4385153 Sorry, but no Pony Satan here. =P I might do something with him in a future story, though. He's a great show villain, but I'm not entirely sure how to play him in something more... slow and nuanced.

[scytho]

4385757
I figured as much. I would love to see what you could do with him in a future story.

On another note I like your use of Starswirl's universal magical laws. Especially since the comics show that Starswirl basically created transdimensional gateways.

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

Well, it seems that Fluttershy in this world was saved by Rainbow Dash from her own world. This is interesting indeed.