//------------------------------// // Rewinding // Story: Replay // by Scootaloose //------------------------------// Rewinding "Well? what are you waiting for? You said you were hungry!" Said Rainbow Dash, who was getting a bit impatient. It was baby steps all over again. I had gotten used to standing up stopped falling over for no apparent reason. It was hard to imagine I'd have to learn how to walk again. If I was reborn as a baby I would have been fine; I could learn from scratch. But the fact that I had to learn to walk on a brand new set of legs with a whole new set of muscles and bones made me dumbfounded. I still had the mentality of walking on two legs, but four was just too much. Not to mention the wings... I had no idea of how to even move them, they were just packed against my body, motionless. And I still had to learn how to use them someday. It's like I was climbing a brick wall only to find an even taller one to climb over. "If you haven't noticed, I shoved my face on the ground on my first step. You said it yourself, Dash - I'm like a baby." "And a pretty big one." Rainbow Dash added. We shared a small chuckle. "Can't deny it though. Once i learn to walk, I'll become a big boy! I'm back to being a toddler! Yipee!" I tried to hopping in place to emphasize my words and almost fell over again. Rainbow Dash shook her head only slightly, and I could tell she was "tsk tsk"-ing in her head. Don't push your luck Johnny, baby steps first... literally... I moved my front hoof first, trying not to go too fast. My opposite back leg came after, and so on. It looked so complicated, until I remembered I used to pretend I was a dog back when I was a kid crawling around the house on my knees and hands. Huh. this shouldn't be too hard. "Okay, I just gotta feel the ground below me. No rushing... Baby steps, nice and easy..." I muttered to myself. What surprised me the most was that my hooves were just as sensitive -if not more- than a human foot. I was feeling every piece of the grass being crushed by it, and I could feel the wet soil below. In a few minutes I had mastered walking once more. "Good, looks like you learned how to walk now." Rainbow Dash spoke up, "Let's see you run around a bit. Think of it as walking but um... faster, you know..." Rainbow Dash was having trouble teaching me how to walk. Hell, I don't think anyone around here is able to teach that, not even to a filly or a colt. It was that sort of thing where you can't explain how you do it, you just... do it. I picked up my pace, and soon I was trotting around enthusiastically with a big open smile on my face. Though it wasn’t too long until I lost my balance and went face first into the ground. Rainbow Dash facepalmed (or facehoofed in this case) and shook her head, "Well it's a start. At least we can get to Ponyville before it gets too dark." "By the time we get to town I think I'll get the hang of it. Don't worry." I reassured her after getting up, "Meanwhile, tell me about the town. What kind of stuff should I see when I get there?" "Well, for starters there's Sugarcube Corner, run by the Cake Family." She started to hover next to me and we started heading towards Ponyville. "They sell the biggest variety of sweets in Ponyville. It's where you'll find the biggest party animal you'll ever meet in your life, Pinkie Pie - And I guarantee she will throw a party in less than two days for anypony who is new to town." "A 'Party Hard' kind of pony? Sounds interesting, I was a party rocker myself back in my other life! I think we'll get along pretty well." I said. "Oh yeah? Well I'm sure we'll start seeing some pretty wild parties from now on... but what do you mean by your ‘other life’?" She asked, raising a brow. "Oh right, I never told you how I got here, did I? It was a pretty strange thing, actually. You were in my dream this morning before I died... Strangest thing ever. It was my first da-" "You... dreamed about me?" She interrupted. I wasn't really sure what she found so surprising, but she raised a brow. I caught a glimpse of red on her face. "What's the problem? It was just a drea- OH NO it wasn't like that at all! Oh geez I think I worded that out in a bad way!" I put a sheepish grin on my face, and I my cheeks felt burning hot. "What I meant to say was that I dreamed of that same moment when you found me in the rain, that's all." Holy cow, Johnny, you almost made her think you were flirting with her. What are you thinking!? "Ah. That makes a lot more sense." She said, slightly concerned, "Wait... So you said you died? What’s that supposed to mean?" "Well... It's sort of a shocking story, to be honest." I said. Shocking story? Really!? That was horrible! "It was my first tour of the year - I was a dance music producer, you see. I was prepping up the stage, getting the equipment ready, and I saw this broken wire near one of the speakers. I wanted to fix it so I went to close it with some tape. I basically got shocked right out of my body." "So you were careless and lost all your success and friends just like that?" She asked, looking serious and worried. "Pretty much..." I replied, and let out a short sigh. "I can see where you got the 'shocking story' from." “Yeah. What do you think?" "Even Twilight can come up with better puns than that.", she said while keeping her serious face, "Anyways, what happened next?" "I woke up floating in the air, right above myself like I was a ghost or something. Then I got sucked out into the sky and into the storm happening outside. My ‘soul’ got struck by lightning... and next thing I know I woke up here." "But... how did you get struck by lightning? There was nopony to fly around and stomp the clouds to cause the lightning. You said there were no pegasi where you come from." She seemed curious, and her big pink eyes were showing it. "Some clouds just shoot lightning on their own, really. If they meet another cloud with an opposite charge, or the ground below it has an opposite charge, they just let it all out. But enough cloud science - the point is that they don't need a pegasus to kick it out of them. Moving on... I woke up inside a cloud, and you eventually kicked it. I was shot down from the cloud and into this body... my new body, I guess." "Well that explains why that cloud never shot anything..." She rubbed her chin with a hoof, "So I guess I kicked you out of that cloud. Wouldn't that mean I brought you back to life, in some way?", she asked. "I guess I could say you're my... mother?" I said hesitantly and forced a grin, instantly regretting saying another horrible joke. NOPE! The fuck am I doing? All these lame jokes... I'll end up making her mad! And then I'll REALLY get kicked in the head! Rainbow Dash facehoofed once again, "Ugh, Johnny just stop with the jokes. You are horrible at it." "Yup, I'm done here..." I replied, lowering my head a bit, "Ok, besides Pinkie Pie, who else should I know around here? Who is this Twilight?" "She's the town librarian; she lives in a big tree near the market. She's a nice pony to talk to, and very smart too. She loves hearing about how newcomers arrive in Ponyville. I'm just not sure if she'll like it when you tell her about your death. I mean, it WAS pretty silly not to tell somebody who knew how to do something about it. I know some ponies who are reckless, but not THAT much!" "Can we NOT talk about the wire? At least not now. Save the scolding for later, please!" I cut her short. I felt sweat dripping down my forehead. "Sorry, I won't talk about that wire anymore" She bit her lip, "But I can't help but notice that you're pretty heartbroken from all this, am I right?" she asked. I nodded softly, looking down at the ground as we walked. "I could barely make new friendships after I started DJ'ing. All the friends I ever had was my manager Gary, some DJ's I met while on tour the other years, and that was it! I never kept many friendships for too long because I was never able to keep contact with them all the time! I won't even get started on all the fans that will be heartbroken to hear about my accident..." I almost cried, I felt a tear drop dangling just outside my eyes, but at least it felt good to tell her about my suffering. "And I blew it all away... the only friends I had, blew it all away! I just fucking blew it!", I was so angry at myself I stopped walking and started to hit myself repeatedly in the head with my hoof. "Hey, it's okay...", Rainbow Dash put a hoof on my shoulder and stopped me from hitting myself. "You'll get the chance to meet tons of new friends around here, don't worry. Think of this as a second chance to avoid those mistakes.", she assured me. "We all make horrible mistakes, and sometimes, you just gotta...” She paused, as if hesitant to say something, “Turn that frowny upside downy, like Pinkie Pie says... I can't believe I just said that." "You're right, Rainbow. I'm being a crybaby now. I have to get back up and move on..." I rubbed my tears away. "Thank you for that, Rainbow Dash. It's good to vent it out once in awhile." I sniffed. "Ponyville will give you many opportunities to make you happy. Trust me on this one, Johnny.” Said Rainbow Dash, smiling back at me. After a few more minutes walking in silence Rainbow Dash spoke up, "Well, looks like we arrived. Let's go to the market and get you settled in."