//------------------------------// // 36- A chance to live the dream. // Story: Blazing a Trail to the Past. // by Daylight_Dreamer //------------------------------// I was still sitting in my chair looking over my father's journal. I could only imagine what he had put in the encrypted pages. Whatever it was, I was the only one supposed to know about it. I decided not to tell Twilight about the journals. Not until I read them entirely at least. I considered starting the second journal but was thinking I should let what I learned so far sink in a little. The fact that my father was here in Equestria just before I was born was insane enough without throwing on the fact that I was somehow the mastermind behind it all. Just then Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came flying into the cabin frantically talking over each other. "Calm down girls," I said, "One at a time." "Scootaloo found out about a potion that can fix her wings," Apple Bloom said. "But it needs an ingredient only found high on the cliffs at Ghastly Gorge," Sweetie added. "And?" I was confused, this was great news. Why were they so upset? "She ran off on her own to get it," they screamed in unison. "We better go find her," I jumped up and grabbed my keys. -- We found Scootaloo standing at the end of the gorge. Where Rainbow adopted Tank after the race to be her pet. "What are you doing?" I asked. She looked at me as though she were in trouble, but relaxed when she realized I wasn't mad. "Waiting," she finally said. "For what?" I asked. "That," She pointed with a hoof. Just then Rainbow Dash and Gilda came flying around the bend carrying burlap sacks. They were clearly racing each other with Gilda in the lead. I stood back as they came around the last turn. Rainbow overtook Gilda just before landing. "HA!" Rainbow gloated, "I won." "Yea," Gilda reluctantly admitted, "but the moss was the point, and I got more." She presented her burlap sack showing that it was clearly at least twice as full as the one Rainbow Dash carried. "That's not fair," Rainbow said, "You have claws." "OK," Gilda said, "If it will shut you up." She rolled her eyes as she took a deep breath, "Rainbow Dash is the fastest, smartest, coolest, awesomest, radicalest, awesomest and coolest one around, and we are all 20% cooler just for being her friend." "Thank you, thank you," Rainbow teased, "Good race, you almost had me, and I never could have gathered so much moss so fast. Tell you what, since you were a good sport, I will be too. Come by Wednesday and I'll see about giving you a tour of Wonderbolt's HQ." "You really are the Awesomest. Is this enough?" Gilda held her bag to Scootaloo. She realized just then that I was standing there, "Oh, Jerry, you saw that?" "You would have had her if you weren't weighed down by all that Ghastly Crevice moss," I caught my mistake, "Excuse me, it is more of a gorge these days isn't it?" "What do you mean?" Gilda gave me a weird look, "It's always been Ghastly Gorge." "Actually," Rainbow chimed in, "It was The Ghastly Caverns 1000 years ago. I learned that when we had to track down The Pony of Shadows." "And it was Ghastly Crevice 600 years ago," Scootaloo said a little too excitedly. She knew something. I was willing to bet she had been reading her own journal. I could only jump to one logical conclusion about who wrote it... There were 4 journals and 3 humans. Somepony wrote one of them before it was passed down my family line. "So how would Jerry know that?" Gilda asked, "and why are you talking like you were there?" "Because I was there," I answered kicking myself for not explaining the details to her when I had the chance, "It turns out I'm actually the reincarnation of a potion maker that lived 600 years ago. I used to be a pegasus named Daylight Dreamer." Gilda and Rainbow both laughed. "Now I know you're blowing smoke," Gilda laughed. "Yea," Rainbow agreed, "You're trying to say. Not only are you the reincarnation of Commander Easy Gliders Wing Pony. You also say Daylight made potions. He was a Wonderbolt, not an egghead." "Wait," I said, "I was Easy Gliders wing pony. I didn't even know I made it into the Wonderbolt's, just knew I tried." "You didn't know you have a medal on display at Wonderbolt's H.Q.?" Scootaloo asked incredulously, "And you two should know it's for saving pony lives. It may not say it but he used potions for that." "And how do you know about that?" Gilda asked. "Rainbow Dash has been my hero forever," Scootaloo seemed like she was avoiding the real answer, "So obviously I've been studying the Wonderbolts for that long. I may never be able to join, but I still want to know all about them." "If Zecora can really make this potion," Rainbow said, "I can start your training and you'll have a real shot." "I wasn't actually going to ask Zecora," Scootaloo said. "Then who's gonna make it?" Apple Bloom asked, "and don't look at me, you know what happened last time ah stepped out of my league." "You really gotta be careful with that heart's desire girl," I laughed, "the spell wouldn't have backfired if you had used just a few pedals less." "And just how do you know that?" Apple Bloom asked, "when ah haven't been able to figure out what ah did wrong?!?" I looked her in the eye and said each word clearly so everyone could hear, "I wrote the recipe you followed. That was my hair you put in, and the whole point was to summon me. Who would know better than the one who taught your teacher's family how to brew potions?" "I guess you got me there," Apple Bloom admitted, "if you really are him." "You of all ponies should believe it," I pointed out, "It does mean you succeeded at mixing a potion and casting a spell meant only for Elite level potion makers that have been studying as long as you have been alive and all you did wrong was add a few too many flower pedals. Now that's amazing. Bravo." "I know how he can prove it. He also wrote this. I bet he can make it," Scootaloo held out a potion book. I had seen it before. On Twilight's table when she was showing me the remnants of the journal she found. The title was Care and Treatment for Returned Prisoners of War, By Daylight Dreamer. "Let me see that," I took the book, keeping it on the page Scootaloo had it opened to. The top of the page read, Fixing hobbled wings after they have healed. "Twilight had this?" I asked. I was glad, but she wasn't supposed to. "Yea," Scootaloo said, "She said she got it from Celestia, and she was only gonna let me use it for this potion. She cast a spell so I can't even open the others." 'That's a good thing,' I thought, 'Hobbled wings were the least of a lot of ponies worries when they were returned from the prisoner of war camps. All the copies of this book were supposed to be destroyed but one, and it's in the bunker... Celestia must have kept her own. I hope she at least has some security around books like this. I wrote this for a much different time.' "So do you think you can make it?" Scootaloo pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked into her big round pleading eyes. She was giving me that look. The one that said I had the key to her dreams. I couldn't help her with her parents. I wasn't gonna let her down again. "Give me a few hours, once we get home," I said, "It's a complex potion, but aside from the moss I should just need a few things from Apple Bloom's garden. That cool?" I looked at Apple Bloom. Scootaloo did too. "If it means Scootaloo gets to fly," Apple Bloom looked her friend in the eye, "take the whole darn garden." Scootaloo tackled her friend, "Thank you, I just know he can do it," she then wrapped around my legs, "can we go home, dad?" I thought I was gonna cry. Not only from Scootaloo's question. I had just promised to make one of the most advanced potions I had ever devised in the 60+ years I studied potions as a pony. Yet in this life, I had only made a headache remedy. - I looked nervously into the mixture. Everything was going as planned. It was almost ready to go into the jars and cool. That was the moment of truth. I was nervous about how well things were going, I felt like I should have had a harder time. Aside from having to grind moss the consistency of steel wool into a fine powder. It was actually pretty easy. My hands weren't practiced but they were skilled, and my mind was buzzing with the knowledge of my old experience. "Now," I said pouring the contents of my kettle into 6 jars, "If this works, the jars will match your mane," I nodded to Rainbow Dash. "What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked. "You'll see," I said. As the jars cooled the first turned red. The second Orange. The third Yellow. "So far so good," I said, "The rest always take longer. I hope I ground the moss fine enough." I was biting my lip nervously. "You're kinda cute when you're nervous," Gilda teased. "And you are positively adorable when you get embarrassed," I said without looking away from the potion jars. "Shut up," Gilda tried to sound annoyed. I looked over to see her covering her face again. "See what I mean," I teased but before she could retort I looked back at the potions, "Look, it's still working." The fifth jar turned blue, and the sixth purple. "Come on," I blew on the fourth jar, "Come on." Slowly but surely the pale white mixture turned green. "Success!" I shouted, "Now, you can drink the red one today the orange tomorrow, then the Yellow, and so on. Just ONE potion a day. You can try flying once you drink the green one, but your wings won't reach their full strength until you drink the purple one. Try to rush it, and your wings will be injured beyond my help." That speech felt rehearsed. This must have been a popular treatment in my old medical practice. "So one potion a day, the order of the rainbow," Scootaloo said, "green means go, but take it slow and finish them." "That's a smart filly," I said, "Go ahead and drink this, That's why I made you eat while you waited." I looked at Rainbow Dash, but continued addressing Scootaloo, "I trust you're big sister knows what take it slow means. I'm trusting her to teach you. Flying isn't all fun and games." Rainbow kind of bit her lip and looked to the side. I had to laugh. I knew she could handle the responsibility. Even if she didn't.