Cloudsdale Dash and The Revenge of Dr. Negative

by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch

Chapter 8 - If I were a Belle...

~~~~The Blue Note~~~~

They found Sweetie Belle in her room, sweeping up the last of the broken glass and staring moodily out her busted-up windows. “Well, at least it’s summertime.” She muttered, not noticing the company that filed into the room. Dash glanced over at Twilight and Daring, and then back to Rosetta out in the hallway, who shook her head wordlessly when Dash cocked an brow at her.

“Doctor Daring Doo, I presume,” Sweetie Belle said softly, turning and casually leaning on her broom. There were dark rings under her eyes, but she showed no sign of fear or exhaustion. Just sadness. Her eyes went from Daring to Twilight. “Please tell me you’re going to go find my sister,” she said all too softly.

“Of course we are, Sweetie,” Twilight snapped, sounding a little shocked that she would even have to ask. “We’ll get her safely back, don’t you worry one bit.” Twilight bit her lip and took a deep breath. “So what about you? Are you going to come with us, or should we arrange for someplace to meet up?” Twilight was in taking-charge mode now. Her head was held high and her voice was bright. Dash grinned as a scrap of parchment and a freshly inked quill soared into view, the clear signs of a list all ready to go upon it.

But Sweetie turned away, propping the broom up in a corner and settling on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know what I should do, Twilight,” she said quietly, hugging her her hindlegs to her chest. “I feel… I feel like I oughta jus’ stay here.” There was a heavy pause, and Dash knew what was coming next as sure as she knew anything. “An’ not just till you find Rarity, Twilight.” Sweetie finished, voice barely a whisper.

Twilight’s mouth sagged a bit at that, then snapped shut. She was muttering under her breath as the conversation died on the operating table, and Dash shook her head faintly. She had to step in before Twilight did something stupid. “Do you want us to bring Rarity back before we go home?” Dash tried to inject some reassurance there, tried to play it casual as well. The last thing she wanted to do right now was make Sweetie feel guilty about what she’d said.

Sweetie looked up at her and visibly swallowed. “I don’t…. I don’t know.” She tensed, trembling visibly. “I love her so much, an’ I want her to be safe, but I dunno if I could tell her I can’t go back to Ponyville…” She sniffed faintly, bundling herself up into a tighter ball. “Don’t get me wrong… I miss Scootaloo and Apple Bloom plenty, but…” Her voice drifted off into gentle sobs, her shoulders beginning to heave.

There was dull thunk as a glass bottle hit the ground and bounced, a blue pegasus shoving her way into the room and dashing the gap to the bed. Big, beautifully fluffy wings flew open and wrapped around Sweetie Belle without a single spoken word, and the mare named Bluebelle pushed herself up onto the bed to hold Sweetie. “Shh… It’s okay, Sweets. It’s gonna be okay,” Bluebell cooed softly, Sweetie turning to bury her head in her shoulder.

Twilight scribbled something on her parchment, Daring Doo looking on with what seemed a quiet resolve . Dash shook her head only once, motioning silently to the door. As Twilight nodded and Daring moved to follow, Dash looked to the poor, sobbing filly on the bed, her voice soft. “You be safe, Sweetie Belle.” It was all she could say, and so she made her exit.

The door shut softly, Dash taking a deep breath and exhaling. “Buck me,” she growled in frustration, smacking her hoof into the wall. Everything had gone completely pear-shaped. Rarity was gone, Sweetie Belle had gone native, and Twilight and her were both suffering crippling migraines for no bucking apparent reason. It was enough to make a pony want to scream and punch a cloud.

Twilight spoke first, her voice low. “We’ll go see if Miss Kitty’s found anything, then we’d better find a place to bunk down for the night. I’m exhausted, and right now I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to win a chess game, much less try and figure out the machinations of a madpony.” Daring nodded her agreement, Dash doing the same.

Rosetta huffed in frustration, but shook her head. “You’re probably right. We won’t be able to accomplish much more tonight.” She turned and began trotting down the hall. “Daring, come help me collect Scooter from whatever depravity she’s attached herself to and we’ll get the car started.” She paused, arching a brow at Twilight. “We should probably keep you out of sight for the time being, just in case.We’ll have to put you two up at Manehatten U.”

Daring hesitated, then nodded and moved to follow. “Yeah, and we can have a talk too.” Daring said under her breath. If Rosetta heard it, she gave no sign, already moving down the stairs to leave Twilight and Rainbow Dash alone once again.

Dash reached out her hoof, and Twilight took it. “We’re going to find her.” Dash said, surprised at her own intensity she squeezed Twi’s hoof, perhaps a bit too hard. “We’re going to get home. And nopony else is gonna get hurt because of us being here.” She looked up into those beautiful violet eyes of the only unicorn she knew she could trust right then, and she couldn’t help but ask. “Right?”

Twilight nodded silently, and nuzzled her cheek up against Dash’s. They stood in companionable silence for a few moments, as Dash tried to soak in the comfort of Twilight’s presence. The only way things could be more encouraging is if Applejack was here, and Dash truly wished for the presence of her earth pony rival. Dash might have the speed, and Twi might have the brains, but neither of them were real brawlers… and against a madpony with an army of insane minions, that might get real relevant, real fast.

But there wasn’t time to be standing around. Face it Dash. You’re stalling, You don’t wanna see more of crazy-world Pinkie Pie. “Come on, Dash. Let’s go talk to her.” Twilight was being hesitant too, which was a small comfort to Dash’s ego at least. But their hooves began to move anyway, in spite of her fears.

They traveled through the club’s back halls, now punctuated by lusty sounds and soft conversation. The smell of spicy vegetable stew hung thickly on the air, reminding Dash of just how long ago it was since her last full meal. Her stomach then elected to announced this to the world with an audible grumble that made her cheeks burn, Twilight laughing softly.

Dash soon joined in, glad for the excuse to let out some desperate cheer. “Always liked the sound of other ponies laughing.” A faintly familiar voice cut through their giggles, the pair shutting up mighty quickly as the pink-coated earth pony slowly walked into view. Her smile was the merest ghost of Pinkie’s usual beaming grins, but Dash could see the unmistakable resemblance. “Wish I could hear it more often.” She sighed, then shook her head. “Old Pale Face wouldn’t give me much, but at least she isn’t likely to be a problem for a while.”

The casual way she said it almost seemed to punch Dash in the gut, but some strange part of her felt oddly vindicated at the news. Miss Kitty kept on talking, regardless. “I couldn’t get where her boss’ base is, but I do know she’s not going to be harmed immediately or anytime soon. The mad doctor wanted somepony with a connection to your world safe and sound.” She frowned, darkening for a moment. “Why he wants her, I don’t know. But I do know you’ve got a least a week before things get dicey.” Miss Kitty sighed, and hung her head. “I wish I could give you more.”

“That’s more than we had to start with, Miss.” Twilight piped up, injecting some confidence and assurance into her voice. “We’ll figure things out, don’t you worry.” Twilight was putting on a brave face, but it was about as phony as Flim and Flam had been. She was nervous as buck, and it wasn’t getting any better as the moments went by. Dash needed to get her alone and fast.

Miss Kitty nodded. “I’ve given Rosie the name and number of the detective who’ll be in charge of the investigation. He’s a good kid, smart and tough. If anypony in the Manehatten PD can help you, it’ll be him.” She turned, and then paused before she turned fully away. “One more thing, Miss Twilight.” Kitty turned back, her eyes soft. “It’s… it’s probably not my place to ask, but… but I need to…” For just an instant, Dash could see past the cool resolve and the elegant clothing. There was a desperate, quiet pony behind that mask, and a tremulous smile that was all too familiar. “Are you two going to stay too?”

The words hit Dash in the chest hard, and she winced away from pain. She snapped her lips shut around her knee-jerk response- Of course not, we’ve got a home to get back to! But that wasn’t the answer she could give. To somepony else, maybe. To an alternate haughty Rarity, she might’ve been able to deliver that stinger, but this wasn’t Rarity or Applejack. This was Pinkie Pie, no matter what name she might be hiding behind.

Twilight looked pretty stricken too. Her head was down, eyes shut. There was no good answer here no matter which way they sliced it. “I don’t know, Pinkie.” Twilight said, her voice quiet and small. “But… I promise that if we are going to leave, we’ll come back and have a little party first. Even if it’s just a short one, I wouldn’t leave without that anyway.” Twilight smiled just a little, but her eyes told the tale of her sadness.

Miss Kitty didn’t even blink twice at the name, she just nodded faintly, and rubbed firmly at her eyes. “Okay. I suppose that’s all a pink pony could ask for.” She shook her head and came up with a genuine grin. It was bright, beautiful, and it filled up the room like a wave of warm feelings. “I’ll keep my chin up until then, no matter what happens.” She pivoted in place, and smiled sensually at… herself? “Oh, and I’ll make sure Sweetie stays safe and happy until you can get back. She needs to talk to her sister before she leaves, no matter what she might think. I hope you’ll be back soon, Dashie…”

And then she was gone around the corner in a dead run, leaving a confused Rainbow Dash to stare at her for a moment. Twilight chuckled quietly. “Remember what you’ve always told me, Dash,” she said dryly.

Dash thought for a minute, and gave a gentle laugh. “Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.”

~~~~~Later That Night, Canterlot Castle~~~~~

Lady Celestia carefully withdrew her horn from the doorway as magic sparkled off of it. The ancient doors parted with a breath of stale air that never failed to make Solly twist his nose in vague disgust. The room they were about to enter ought to have been open for anypony to come in and see. It ought to have been the birthright of a nation of ponies, to look into the fabric of space and Harmony and see the awe-inspiring wonder of it all. It ought to have been, but there were good reasons that it was not.

And so they slipped in together in silence. There was no need to light a lantern - the Harmonic Astrolabe gave off its own light. It was a massive piece of artifice, the last great work of Star Swirl the Bearded. Thousands of tiny gems glowing with arcane power swung about on enchanted threads, all circling a meticulously crafted globe that represented their world. There were any number of ways to use this device to divine future events and look into the very nature of Harmony itself, but tonight there were only six gems that Celestia and her companion cared about.

“There.” Solly pointed, and it took a moment to follow his hoof. Swinging perilously close to the giant diamond that represented the moon was a blindingly bright purple amethyst. It was moving at a remarkable speed, zooming about the Astrolabe like a pegasus filly finally given permission to fly alone. There was just one, tiny, insignificant detail that set it apart from the others. It had no thread to hang from. It was moving under its own power, levitating by itself in the middle of a magical artefact without so much as a care in the world. It was a piece of Harmony itself, utterly disconnected from this world and just as utterly out of place.

Celestia brought her hoof up to her mouth and tried not to gasp. Solly muttered a very ungentlecoltly curse, staring as it happily zoomed along. “Mother preserve me, whoever that is, they must be strong. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Solly sounded rather awed, his sleepy eyes fully alert. He cantered around the device, watching the tiny glowing gem from every angle as it zoomed about. Oddly, it seemed to be making some kind of constantly repeating pattern... Solaris squinted and hummed. “Wait a tick…”

“See something else?” Celestia was curious. Solaris had always been better than she was at spotting minute details in the device. She was more inclined to the broad sweep of things, seeing patterns he would miss in looking for the specifics. Like in so many other things, they complimented one anothers’ strengths, and compensated for weaknesses.

“Yeah, I think so… but I’m not sure what to make of it.” He reached carefully with his magic, pulling around a long telescopic device from an attachment on the ceiling and gesturing for her to join him. “Take a closer look at the gem, and tell me if you see something else odd. It’s passing a specific point every twenty seconds, so just give it a moment.”

Celestia arched an eyebrow at that bizarrely vague command, but put her eye to the device and waited. The gem was moving at an astonishing speed, but the device to her eye right now was designed to make it so one could see such fast moving gems. Sure enough, the tiny amethyst had one other anomaly to it. There was a second gem - a sapphire - that was orbiting it like a planet and giving off a faint rainbow trail as it traveled.

A sapphire. Giving off a rainbow trail.

Which was utterly, completely, totally impossible.

Except it was happening right before her eyes.

“Cloudsdale Dash.” She whispered, her head coming up as a surge of hope coursed through her body. “She’s alive.” It was good news. No, scratch that, it was tremendous news. So tremendous that Celestia completely forgot herself, and threw a massive hug around Solaris’ neck. “She’s alive, Solly!” she cried out with a burst of laughter, collapsing atop his massive form and sending them to the ground in a heap of giggles.

It took Solaris several long minutes to get back to a place where he could talk without her hugging him, coughing with a grin. “You’re missing the other important piece of information, dear.” He pointed at the Astrolabe. “She’s following that very peculiar gem in a way we ought to be very familiar with.”

Celestia froze in place, falling to her flank as a sense of awe came over her. “The colors?” She asked no one in particular, but Solaris was nodding with a huge grin of his own. “We’ve… we’ve got to hurry then.” Her voice cracked in mid-word, and she ran a hoof through her mane. “Where…” she began, then smacked her forehead. “The intelligence reports. We’ll know in the morning.”

Solaris nodded, and pulled her to her hooves. “We should get some sleep while we wait. We’ll need to be ready to move the instant we know where to go look.” She couldn’t argue with that logic, no matter how much she wanted to right then and there. Instead, she wrapped a hoof around his neck as they walked out. “We’re going to get them back, Celly,” he whispered, unable to keep the excitement from his voice.

“Yes.” It was an exultant feeling to know, at long last, that the endgame was in sight. Luna… It won’t be much longer, my beloved sister… she whispered silently up to the baleful moon, closing her eyes in remembrance. And before she knew what had happened, sleep reclaimed her.

~~~~?????~~~~

Rarity quietly ran the exquisite comb through her mane in a motion that was more habit than art. She’d wrapped herself up in a soft bathrobe following the hot shower, and now she knew she was doing little else but kill time until she could force herself to sleep. Her new companion, the rough but kind pony named Manehatten Silver, was sleeping on one of the lush couches, a short-brimmed hat tucked over his face and his hooves crossed on his chest. He was also a very quiet sleeper, something Rarity was thankful for in this moment.

The story he’d woven for her was a complex one, if you spent your time worrying about the details. Boiled down, it was frighteningly simple. She was in the clutches of some kind of madpony, who thought he needed somepony from their home universe to further his sinister plans. He’d gone after Sweetie Belle, but gotten her instead. In a way, that made her feel a trifle relieved as they were likely not going to waste further resources going back to take Sweetie now that they had her.

Unfortunately, Manehatten had confirmed her worst fears. There were indeed many ways out of this room, but the only way to open the doors was from the outside and every time they opened them, they did so with a platoon of guards at the waiting. Meals at eight, noon, and six on the nose. Pitchers of fresh water on request, so long as they did not harass their jailors. The rest was so much stuff and nonsense in the grand scheme of things, and frankly had little to do with Rarity’s thoughts at this present time.

In fact, the only thought she was able to dwell on was her foolish mistake in not making absolutely certain as to the source of the little… self indulgence she’d purchased. After the incident with the comic book, Rarity had to shamefully admit a fascination with the idea of stepping into somepony elses’ shoes for a while. Especially if said shoes came with a handsome stallion to pass the evening with.

The first few purchases, secured from a reliable source in Canterlot and made specifically for those of a more adult outlook on life, had been excellent in helping her let her mane down, so to speak. But the one she’d most recently acquired… You should have been patient, Rarity. I know it had been a stressful week, but look at the trouble you’ve caused. The thing had been… sketchy. But it hadn’t appeared dangerous, just rather more risque than she normally indulged in.

She’d just invoked the thing when Sweetie Belle had walked into the room, and then…Then you panicked, Rarity. You panicked, and look what’s happened. She winced from the thought, and put the brush down firmly. She needed to sleep. She needed to NOT think about how the rough looking stallion on the couch looked an awful lot like the protagonist in the comic… and how the antagonist had been, well…

She shivered at the thought, and pushed away from the vanity. The lights in the room began to snuff out one by one, and she quickly pulled herself up upon the lush bed. It was as comfortable as her own from home, but she knew it would be difficult to sleep well tonight. She wished one of the girls were there. She could have used a touch of warmth. But instead, all she could do was wrap her forelegs around a large pillow and imagine Sweetie Belle with her instead.

And if she shut her eyes tightly enough, she could almost smell Sweetie’s mane shampoo.

~~~~Manehatten University~~~~

Twilight shoved the door open with a weary sigh, glanced around with only half-hearted interest. The place was familiar in its design: Dormitory beds in this universe didn’t seem much different than those in her own, though the mattresses did look a bit fluffier. The blankets were a dull, overwashed blue and smelled strongly of cinnamon and lavender, but there was nothing wrong with that.

Dash was tucked under her foreleg, and in a weird way they were each supporting one another as they stumbled into the dimly-lit room. It seemed as though the many fatigues of the day were hitting them all at once now that there was no danger to face. Dash hoofed the door shut behind them, and between the dull glow of her horn and Dash’s keen vision they managed to get to one of the beds without issue.

Twilight felt herself being lifted and pushed into the softness of the blankets, and she had to admit they felt much nicer than she’d originally anticipated. Maybe they’d just been laundered enough to get out any of the rough qualities of the fabric, or maybe she was just really tired. She began to push down the sheets and covers until she found the bedsheet, and was just about to pull it over her when a second warmth joined her in the bed.

She turned her head to see Rainbow Dash curled up against her side, her hooves tucked up under her wings and her eyes half closed. She wasn’t spooning Twilight, but she was pretty close. Twilight opened her mouth to say something… and couldn’t bring herself to do it. Rainbow Dash, more than any of her friends, had a vulnerable side that she worked very very hard to keep concealed from the rest of the world. She didn’t like other ponies seeing that she was frightened or nervous, and she especially didn’t like ponies calling attention to it.

So she kept her mouth shut, and pulled the soft sheet over both of them, then turned to rest her hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “Good night, Rainbow Dash,” she whispered, pulling the curtains to the room shut with a touch of magic to black out the city’s lights. A few moments later, the warmth of Dash’s body had scooted up against her, and Twilight extended her hoof for Dash to grab. She did so, and held onto it silently like a comforting stuffed animal. It reminded Twilight of how Spike had often been their first few months in Ponyville, and it made her smile.

So she lay down her head, not all that far from the faint smell of fresh rainfall that was Rainbow Dash’s scent, and drifted off to a quiet sleep.

~~~~~~~

Outside in the lab, Daring Doo sat with a glass of whiskey and stared at the wooden table, brooding. “It’s not her, Derry,” Rosie kept trying to tell her, but Daring wasn’t having any of it. That was Cloudsdale Dash in that room, and she knew it. “Derry, please don’t get your hopes up,” Rosie said softly, betraying a touch of desperation. She even reached out to pull her hoof away from the booze… and Daring wasn’t inclined to stop her. She really shouldn’t be drinking right now as it is.

“Rosie, it is her. I know it’s her, and so do you,” Daring snapped at her old friend, trying not to look too close at the hurt and concern in her eyes. “Silver’s probably dead, Rosie. We might as well accept that. But my eyes aren’t lying to me, and neither is my nose. That’s Cloudy in there. She’s just… lost her memories or something.” It was a hard thing to swallow, but Daring would get over it. Whatever had been lost could be found again if she worked hard enough at it. That was kind of her job, after all.

Rosetta just shook her head slowly, then sighed and sat down next to her. Silence took over the conversation for a few minutes, until… “I’m sorry about Silver, Derry.” A gentle foreleg wrapped around her shoulder, Rosetta leaning in to give her a gentle hug. “Is there anything I can do for you right now?” Rosie sounded awful sincere, and Daring knew she meant every word. Even if she hadn’t liked Silver.

Daring looked at the room where Cloudsdale was sleeping, her voice barely audible. “I could use a good cry, if you’ve still got the shoulder for it.” She needed to get all the crap she could out of her system tonight. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a busy day.

Author's Note:

You hear that sound? That's the sound of the engine revving up again. That's the sound of momentum, baby.

Comments

[Arzoo]

Interesting how things are developing. Daring and Rosetta might end up causing problems if they insist on Cloudesdale being the real Dash.

Now that I think about it, everyone seems to want a piece of bluefast. Even the Nazis cannot resist her charms, it seems...

[scytho]

I see the freight train is picking up speed again. Your update speed is as impressive as ever.

Coudsdale is dead and this alternate world is turning Dash into her. I'm almost thinking that this world's Sweetie Belle is also dead, hence why Sweetie is now older. It may be physically impossible to bring her back even if she did get talked into leaving.

I'm kinda curious about Rosetta and Twilight. It seems like Rosetta is Twilight's alternate. At the same time she doesn't have Twilight's name, which all the alternate's seemed to keep.

I'm curious if Rarity's alternate is alive and well in this world. Rarity seems to be getting combat reflexes out of the blue, just like the memories that plague Dash. Will we meet alternate Rarity? That'd be fun.

Daring is also an interesting one. AK Yearling is Daring Do in the prime world. She just formats her own adventures into novels. So, both AK and this world's Daring Do are almost identical. They both go on crazy adventures and fight their world's seedy underbelly in the process. Unlike all of the characters we've seen thus far, there are very few differences between the two world's Daring Do's. I wonder why that is?

Is there a prime world alternate for Manehattan Silver? Rarity didn't recognize him if so.

I have a feeling that before all is said and done we'll end up seeing alternate Nightmare Moon pop out. Well, I guess it will be Nightmare Moon and whoever else is stuck in the moon with her.

[Auburn Arc]

Vroom vroom.

Glad to see you back and steaming ahead, sir.

[Starguy135]

Now Rarity, I know it would have been embaressing but I'm pretty sure that the fact that this is an enchanted adult comic would have been useful for Twilight and Dash to know.
4389827 Spoilering in case I'm right, I'm pretty sure the leader of the pony nazis is this worlds Rarity.

[Murkglow]

4389827
I take it you never read the original version of this? That one had gotten to the point where Rosetta explained why she and Twilight aren't the same. Then again this story isn't necessarily going to go the same way that one did (it's already different in a number of ways) so we'll have to wait and see if Twilight's story is the same.

As for the revelation that this is an "enchanted comic" (ala Power Ponies) rather than an alternate universe they got pulled into by Dr. Negative, I'm honestly not sure what to think of it. it makes the resolution much easier since it doesn't matter if Sweetie doesn't want to go back or what changes she underwent, when the story is over they get spit back out regardless just the same as when she went in (well aside from the part about their minds getting altered by the story or if the author wants to alter how the comics work for this story). The original version had alot more uncertainty in this regard and made Dr. Negative more threatening since he was the one who took the initiative. So far in this story neither of the villain groups (Dr. Negative / the Nazi group) have done much. I'm expecting the Nazi will show up in the next chapter though (I wonder what it will feel like when this story gets to a part past where the old one got to and I won't know what's coming next...).

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

Hmm, this chapter is filled with interesting stuff. But why does Silver know all about the plan? You would think a prisoner wouldn't know much.