The plan to return home safely had worked perfectly. Rainbow Dash had led the pegasi toward Ponyville, and once the lights of the small town were below them, many split off in different directions. Most headed for Cloudsdale, many mentioning seeking a hotel before heading to their true homes further away.
Only a few joined Dash in descending toward the sleepy little town on the edge of the dangerous forest. Storm Gale being the most notable among them. She was even the last to breakaway from Rainbow’s side, and saying, “See you at the Pinkie party tomorrow,” before heading off to her own home.
And now the mare with the rainbow mane was standing on her doorstep, looking at her own front door as if it were some surreal dream. She finally found the will to push the door open, half expecting to find the proof that she was dreaming waiting inside. Instead she found the darkened interior of her house as it should be.
Walking through the shadows of her entry room, she made her way to her living room. Even in the moonlight, she could see the pile of paper on her coffee table. A smile graced her face as she guessed that Fluttershy had been bringing her mail in.
Beside the mail was a lone note set off just far enough away to stand out.
Reaching up to the wall Rainbow Dash flicked the light switch on the wall to on.
Nothing happened.
Still bathing only in moonlight, she chuckled. ‘Leave it to Fluttershy to think to bring my mail in, but forget to keep the cloud charged,’ she thought to herself.
Dash gave the floor a harsh stomp. Lightning crackled softly around the impact site and immediately the lights came on.
Returning her attention to the coffee table she found the note was from Fluttershy and basically said that she was caring for Tank, and a few dozen apologies for letting herself in without permission. Maybe she’d even been adding one every day whenever she brought the mail in.
The rest of the mail was mostly weather schedules from work or bills, or notices of suspended service for not paying the last three notices. In short nothing that needed her attention until morning.
Looking toward the stairway in the entry room, she felt the call of her bed. But she couldn’t bring herself to answer it, not yet anyway. For there were two more things that she felt she needed to do before she even tried to get back to life as usual. And so she walked out of her home and once more took to the moonlit skies.
Her first stop was the town library. Seeing as light was coming from some of the windows it was a safe bet that the unicorn librarian who lived there was still awake. Knocking on the door quickly confirmed as much, as the sound of hooves approaching came from inside. When the door opened, the curious look on the purple unicorn’s face was quickly replaced with a smile.
“Hey, I’m back,” Rainbow Dash said, trying to sound as casual as possible about it.
Reaching a hoof up and pulling her pegasus friend into a loose hug, Twilight Sparkle said, “Rainbow, thank Celestia you’re alright!”
“Yeah… you know me, I can take care of myself.”
Despite her words, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but think that ‘alright’ was just about the opposite of how she felt right now. She needed a shoulder to lean on right now, a friend she could offload the stress of the last month around. But the tales of Twilight and the hydra reminded her that this was the friend who found courage by looking up her. No, she couldn’t let Twilight see her weaker side, she had to put on a strong face for Twilight’s sake.
“So, mind if I ask where you went that my magic couldn’t find you?”
Twilight’s question was accompanied by the glow of her magic summoning a scroll and quill to her side.
Although it only lasted a second, Dash managed a genuine smile before answering, “I’ll tell you tomorrow, at the party.”
“What party?” Twilight asked, blinking as she pandered how her pegasus friend would know anypony’s plans when she’d just gotten back.
“Come on, Twi. Be both know there’s no way Pinkie wouldn’t throw a party now that I’m back!”
“Oh, right. I’ll… just be ready to record everything then.”
“Look, I just wanted to let the gang know I was back, and well… you’re the only one who would still be awake this late. I’ll be making the rounds tomorrow, but feel free to tell any of our friends if you run into them first.”
“Will do. Goodnight, then.”
With that the unicorn returned into the library.
Rainbow Dash, however, did not turn for home. Although the odds were lower, she took flight heading for the second pony she was hoping to catch before they went to bed.
Her second stop was the home of the town’s mayor.
Landing quickly, Dash breathed a sigh of relief when she found two windows still aglow with light. Wasting no time she knocked on the door and the light spread to the front room.
When the door opened the mayor gave a dumbfounded blink as she beheld the cyan pegasus on her doorstep. Reaching out she put her hoof on Rainbow’s muzzle and pushed, as if checking to make sure the pegasus was real.
“Hey. I’m back and… well I was kinda wondering if I still had a job?”
It seemed like a reasonable question to Rainbow Dash, after all she may be the most awesome weather pony the town had ever seen, but she’d still been AWOL for a month. Not exactly the behavior of a loyal city employ.
The earth pony who ran the town just stood there still staring blankly at her.
Dash soon found herself unable to look the mayor in the eyes. Pretending to scratch the back of her head gave her an excuse to look away. Why wasn’t the mayor answering? Did that mean she’d been taken off the weather team after all?
“I know I didn’t mean to leave you hanging and all, but I’ve been gone so long I figured you had to replace me on the roster by now. So… now that I’m back, do I still have a place on the weather team?”
Before she could even react, Rainbow Dash found herself tacked to her haunches and wrapped in a tight hug. Honestly, she didn’t think the mayor was even capable of moving that fast.
“You’re back! You’re really back! Oh thank Celestia! Of course you’re the captain of the weather team again!”
“Oh wow. I didn’t expect you to be happier than Twilight to see me,” Dash managed to say as she tried to loosen the mayor’s bear hug.
Suddenly blushing, the mayor released the pegasus and stepped back.
“Oh yes… sorry about that. It’s just it seems it takes three pegasi to keep the weather running on schedule without you. Sorry I suppose the details of running a town probably don’t mean much to you. So let’s just say it’s rather helpful when a job only takes one pony to do instead of three. I trust you’ll be back on the job tomorrow?”
“You know me, I’d never leave Ponyville hanging!”
Truth be told, Dash hadn’t exactly expected to welcomed back on the job, let alone be told she had work the very next morning. But it was a welcome surprise. And with that the two said their goodbyes and goodnights.
With no other lights on at the places where ponies she wanted to talk to resided, Rainbow Dash soon found herself at home. After digging through the pile of mail to find and set aside the most recent weather schedule, she found her way to her bedroom.
Yet she found herself standing in the doorway, looking at her bed as if it were some kind of mirage. Her wings twitched. Muscles tense and ready to lash out at whatever demon was casting this illusion on her.
No.
That world was behind her. Her bones weren’t shouting ‘place of evil!’ at her like they did in the presence of the demons or the Summoner’s dark magic. She really was home. There really was nothing to defend herself from here.
Hesitantly she started walking forward. Every step sapped her energy. She jumped onto her bed. Her legs failed her and she collapsed into the embrace of the blankets. As her body crashed down, her mind surrendered to Luna’s realm even before her head hit the pillow.
* * * * * * *
The light of dawn crept into Rainbow Dash’s bedroom. And she growled when she realized she was awake to notice the shadows on her ceiling rather than the floor. Although, the moan was as much at herself as the light on the ceiling, a month of being awoken before sunrise had clearly messed with her body clock, and she didn’t like it one bit. Waking at sunrise was a job for alarm clocks and not something to be done on your own.
Closing her eyes, she rested. How long she lay there or if the she actually dozed back off before she noticed that the shadows had reached the floor, she wasn’t sure. But eventually she got up.
The sun was still low but at least no pony could call it dawn anymore. And before long the thought that Fluttershy was a morning pony and it was time to get Tank back made a smile grace her face.
A quick check of the day’s planed weather revealed it to be partly cloudy, with scattered showers in the afternoon and a special rain request from the flower shop. Storing this knowledge away for later, she headed out to face her first day back.
* * * * * * *
The day had gone well in Rainbow Dash’s book. Friends had been visited, a pet reclaimed, weather work done in ten seconds flat, naps taken, and once school had let out a Scootaloo borrowed and hung out with.
Scoots seemed to take the extended hang out session as an apology for leaving her hanging for about a month. In a way that’s how it started.
Yet in another way Rainbow Dash had realized that the orange filly was the pony she was looking for the night before. It occurred to her right after she’d come down from another round of stunts, to the praise of her fan-club president. Resting on a low laying cloud with Tank on one side and Scootaloo on the other. That was when she truly felt home for the first time since coming back to her own world.
And the best part of it all was that she never had to tell Scootaloo why she needed the filly’s company right now. Scoots just offered it without complaint or question, no matter how long Dash insisted on being sappy by holding her in a soft hug.
* * * * * * *
The afternoon was spent with stunts and a long overdue flight lesson. But eventually the evening came, and so too the appointed hour of the welcome home party for the formerly missing pegasi.
While Tank had been returned to Rainbow Dash’s house, Scootaloo remained by her side and the two honorary sisters entered the party together.
As one might expect from a Pinkie Pie party, the party had music, party games, a dance floor, and a buffet filled with snacks and treats. There were cookies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, juices, sandwiches and grilled vegetables for those who didn’t want a stomach ache in the morning, and judging from the crumbs on Scootaloo’s face there were brownies around somewhere that Dash hadn’t noticed yet.
As the evening went on, Rainbow Dash eventually found herself standing by the punch bowl when Twilight Sparkle approached.
“You know, Rainbow, you still haven’t told me where you were. And so far everypony else that I’ve asked has told me to get the story from you.”
“Indeed, we too should like to hear this tale.”
The voice from above drew many eyes upward. Among the rafters, two invisibility spells faded, revealing the alicorn princesses of night and day lounging on said rafters, not too unlike a pegasus resting on a tree branch.
Princesses Celestia and Luna downplayed their presence and waved off any questions aimed at them as they came down to join the party proper, keeping their focus on the spirit of loyalty instead.
Looking around, Dash confirmed that she still had Scootaloo at her side. She couldn’t help but giggle when she realized that the filly and the librarian both had the same eyes shimmering with excitement. The only difference being that Twi also held a notebook and quill at the ready.
“Yeah, I guess my version of the story would be the most awesome,” Rainbow Dash said. Quickly regaining her composure, she faced the room and added, “Alright everypony! Listen up because I’m only going to tell this story once!”
* * * * * * *
In the moonlight, high on a ledge, two creatures stood, looking down into the valley that Ponyville calls home. In particular they were gazing toward the building where Rainbow Dash was currently telling the tale of her adventure.
“Thank you for returning her safely to me,” said the dark, slightly transparent pegasus with stars at her major joints. “Your ability to end wars with a single champion continue to amaze.”
The armored white tiger gave a single laugh. “Do not sell yourself short, Pegasus. This world has known relative peace for a thousand years. The worlds under my care are lucky if they know peace for two hundred. Perhaps I wouldn’t be so good at ending wars if I could get the eras of peace to last, like you do.”
A moment of silence followed as the two watched over the small valley town. Yet a glimmer of worry found its way into the celestial pegasus’ eyes.
“You’re not done with her, are you?” she asked.
“The next move is not mine to make. And though it would be foolish to attack her here, the forces of darkness aren’t exactly known for their wisdom.” Shaking his head slightly, he added, “If they come here, I will return as well.”