Cloudsdale: Metropolis

by Anonymous XXX

Regression (Part 2)

Rainbow Dash heard the creaking of Twilight’s front door just as she finished her sandwich. She leapt to her hooves and galloped out to meet her friend. Dash had a lot of questions for her.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m- Oh, there you are!” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Yeah, I’m here,” replied Dash. “Where have you been?”

“Oh, well, after you fell asleep, I decided to do some more in-depth research on hypno-therapy, so I stayed up all night studying and then Spike fell asleep, so I figured I would go to Sugarcube Corner and buy some cupcakes for after breakfast. Pinkie Pie’s always up and finished a couple dozen by dawn, of course. And did you know Bon Bon works there? Apparently, she only works early hours. I told her you said ‘Hi,’ even though you really didn’t, but I—“

“Hang on, Twilight!” interrupted Rainbow Dash, in part because Twilight’s rambling was beginning to annoy her. “You said you did some research on hypno-therapy?”

“Well, yes, of course, mostly on the effects, but I also learned some thrilling history. Did you know that hypno-therapy was discovered by Starswirl the—“

“Twilight!” yelled Dash. “I don’t care about the history! I have some questions to ask you!”

Twilight looked disappointed that she couldn’t continue to talk about her idol, but she quickly brightened up at the prospect of answering questions. “Oh! I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash! What did you need to know?”

Dash had no idea where she should begin. “Well…” She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Do you know of any cloud cities? Besides Cloudsdale. I already knew that one.”

Twilight raised her eyes to the ceiling as she searched her massive stores of knowledge. “Hmm… Sorry, Dashie, but Cloudsdale’s the only one. What does that have to do with hypno-therapy, though?”

“I’ll get to that,” said Rainbow Dash. “Also, you wouldn’t happen to know a pegasus named Victoria Wing? She’s dark green with a bright red mane.”

Her friend looked confused. “Rainbow Dash, you sure ask a lot of weird questions. But no, I don’t— Wait! Give me one minute!” Twilight ran off towards the bookshelves.

Dash sighed. It was just like Twilight to check a book, of all things, for a pegasus she didn’t know. Why, in the name of Celestia, would some unknown pony be in one of Twilight’s history books? Didn’t a pony have to do something incredibly important to get into those? Were living ponies even allowed into history books?

“Found it!” exclaimed Twilight, slamming a large volume on the floor.

“Really?” asked Dash. It couldn’t possibly be the same Victoria! “What did she do to get into that history book?”

“Oh, this isn’t a history book,” answered Twilight cheerfully. “It’s a book of old police records. I knew I’d seen her name before. You know, when I first started learning under Celestia, I wanted to be a police pony. So I used to study these records for hours and hours, but then I realize that there’s really no crime in Equestria anymore, so it wouldn’t really be a wise—“

“Twilight!” interrupted Rainbow Dash, once again. “What’s it say? Was she flying too fast in a public area? Or did she crash into an expensive building? I hope it wasn’t anything too bad…”

“No, she didn’t commit any crimes,” Twilight informed her friend.

“Oh, thank Celestia!” Dash breathed a sigh of relief.

“She’s dead.”

The happy expression on her face quickly turned to confusion. “What??” yelled Dash. She felt a wave of sadness roll over her. “How could she be dead?”

Twilight flipped through her book. “Dashie, she’s been dead since the year 928.”

“928??” Dash shouted. “That’s… That was seventy-five years ago!”

“Well, that’s what it says, Dashie,” Twilight shrugged. She looked confused. “Why does that matter?”

“In a minute, Twilight,” replied Rainbow Dash. “How did… How did she die?”

“Apparently, she was murdered by somepony named Julian Hoofton,” said Twilight.

Hoofton… Dash knew that name… But from where?

“Dash?” asked Twilight. “Are you okay? And does this have anything to do with your hypno-therapy?”

The cyan pegasus sat down on Twilight’s carpet and related to her friend the whole story. She talked about the tunnel of light, and how it had filled her with ecstasy. How she found herself in a strange place, unable to move of her own accord. Twilight’s look of interest never faded; she leaned in when Dash told her about Victoria and the letter.

“…And then I went back through the tunnel and ended up here,” finished Rainbow Dash. “Twilight, I just know that she wanted me to help her with something. I could feel it. But how can I help her if she’s dead?” Tears began to pool in her rose-colored eyes.

Twilight, in an effort to console her friend, wrapped her hooves around Dash’s neck in an awkward hug. “It’s okay, Dashie,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”

Rainbow Dash buried her face in Twilight’s mane. The pain and fear she had felt as Victoria now filled her again as she recalled the helpless look in those hazel eyes. She didn’t know what to do. Tears leaked from her eyes, dampening Twilight’s lavender coat.

“You really care about her, don’t you?” asked Twilight. “After such a short time?”

Dash only nodded twice into her friend’s neck.

Twilight sighed. “I guess that’s to be expected,” she began. “After all, she is, well… you.”

Rainbow Dash immediately detached herself from the unicorn’s embrace. “Me?” she asked. “What the hay do you mean? She can’t be me. I’m me!”

Twilight Sparkle sat down beside the confused pegasus. “Maybe I should explain exactly what I learned last night.”

Comments

[Anonymous XXX]

sorry if these chapters are taking a long time, or going too slowly. there's just a lot of dialogue, which i hate writing, specially when theres no action or plot-describing going on. i figured i'd post this just so you dont all forget about me should be more interesting stuff soon, the semester's almost out. as always, i love feedback and comments, so have at ye!

[NimbleBolt]

I like it so far, now to read another story till this one updates, can't wait.