//------------------------------// // To where it all started // Story: Cherish // by scootalooftw //------------------------------// Cherish Chapter 2 Rainbow Dash sat staring at the orange Pegasus flying towards her. She couldn’t help but think that this Pegasus looked familiar, and she knew Dash’s name, which wasn’t too big of a shock. She was The Rainbow Dash, famous Wonderbolt. The thought was cut short as the pegasus rocketed into her, pulling Rainbow into a big hug. “Rainbow Dash, I can’t believe it’s you!” Finally releasing her from the hug the Pegasus hovered back a few feet. “After becoming a Wonderbolt I thought you had become too famous to be seen back in Ponyville, but here you are!” Rainbow just gazed back, a look of utter confusion on her face. “What’s the matter Rainbow, don’t tell me you forgot about little old Ponyville already.” “I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of Ponyville before today, much less lived here. You must have me confused with somepony else.” Now it was the orange pegasus who sat with a dumbfounded look on her face. “There’s no way I could confuse you for somepony else, you’re The one and only Rainbow Dash. Ponyville’s star athlete and weather pony.” “I was never a weather pony, and I told you before, I’ve never even heard of Ponyville before.” “But how could you forget? How could you forget your friends, and how could you forget me? You were my hero Rainbow, and then you up and disappeared five years ago after being accepted into the Wonderbolts.” By this point the orange pegasus was fighting back tears, and Rainbow could feel tears running down her own cheeks. Taking a minute to regain her composure, Dash finally replied. "I'm sorry.... the truth is I don't remember anything of my life before the Wonderbolts." "So you really did forget... We should go see Twilight, she will know what to do." With that the orange pegasus turned and was off, Rainbow following close behind. "I don't think I ever got your name." Rainbow shouted to the pegasus once she caught up. "Scootaloo" ============================================================================== After a short flight over the town, Scootaloo angled down and headed towards what looked like a house built into a tree. "Strange place," Dash commented as they landed "and judging by the sign this is the library. So does this Twilight Sparkle work here?" "Well, sort of." Scootaloo turned and opened the door, walking into the candle lit building. Following Scootaloo in, Rainbow was shocked to find that the building looked much larger from the inside than it did from above. Rainbow’s thoughts were cut off by a new voice. "Oh, hi Scoots, what are you doing here?" Rainbow turned to see the voice belonged to a green and purple baby dragon. Upon noticing Dash the dragon gasped. “Scoots, is that…” “Just go get Twilight, we need to talk to her.” “OK, OK. She’s down in the lab, I’ll go get her.” “Thanks Spike.” Scootaloo called after him. Once Spike was out of earshot Dash turned to Scootaloo. “Is keeping a dragon in a library really such a good idea?” “Oh, that’s just Spike,” Scootaloo said with a smile. “He’s pretty good about not burning the books. In fact he hasn’t started any fires since that time you and Pinkie…” Before Scootaloo could finish they were interrupted by the sound of somepony coming up the steps. “Honestly Spike, what’s so important that you had to drag me away from my research?” Dash looked over to a very wide-eyed and familiar lavender unicorn standing in the doorway. “You!” Rainbow shouted as she dashed across the room, tackling Twilight. “You’re the one that made me crash at my last show!” she now had twilight pinned down. But before she could say anything else the teary-eyed unicorn reached up and pulled Rainbow Dash into a tight hug. Shocked by the sudden embrace, Rainbow found herself returning the hug. After a few seconds Rainbow broke the embrace and walked back across the room, then turned to Twilight and asked. “Who are you? I’ve seen you at ever one of our shows for the past 7 months.” Sighing, Twilight turned and looked out the window, “Seeing you here today, I was hoping you had finally remembered. But I guess if you couldn’t remember over 5 years, then a silly little crash wouldn’t knock any sense into you.” “5 years? So… Wait, did you make me crash on purpose?” Rainbow Dash shouted, feeling her anger rising again. “No, of course not Dash. I would never do anything like that to hurt you, but after your accident, I had hoped a bump to the head would help you remember.” “Heh, guess I didn’t hit it hard enough…. Wait, I never told anypony about losing my memory, how did you know?” “Well, before you joined the Wonderbolts, you, me, and the girls were the best of friends. But after you’re little accident, you hit your head pretty hard and ended up with amnesia.” “But I thought you said she made the choice to join the Wonderbolts and had to leave immediately for training?” Scootaloo cut in. “Yes, that’s what we told everypony in town, the girls and I are the only ones who know the truth. We lied about her sneaking off so nopony would think badly of her.” Rainbow sat thinking over everything she had just heard. She knew the name Twilight sounded familiar, she had heard it somewhere before, but she just couldn’t think of…. “Hey Twilight,” Rainbow suddenly blurted, causing the others to jump, “Are you The Twilight Sparkle? Personal student of Princess Celestia herself?” "Once upon a time, yes but..." "Then you must know spells nopony else does!" Dash cut in. "You must know a spell that could give me my memory back!" "Well, I do, but..." "Then do it Twilight! Please!" Dash begged. "I'd love to, really, but i can't..." Twilight started, shrinking back under the gaze of Rainbow Dash. "Can't? Or won't?" Dash said angrily. "I... I..." Twilight was curled up on the floor now, tears steaming from her eyes. "I thought you said you were my friend!" Dash yelled, now standing over the cowering Twilight. "But you won't even help me get my memory back when..." "RAINBOW DASH!" Spike roared, grabbing Dash by the mane and lifting her up from over top of Twilight. Coming back to her senses, Dash looked over at the dragon effortlessly holding her in the air, noticing for the first time that when he wasn't slouching he was a good hoof and a half taller than her. Turning her attention back to Twilight she sighed. "Look, Twilight, I'm sorry. I just got so excited when you said you knew a spell that might give me my memory back. But why can't you help me?" Twilight slowly got to her feet and walked to the window. After staring out into the sky for a while she finally responded. "As much as i want to help you Dash, I can't. I... I can't use magic anymore. Rainbow Dash was shocked. "I... But... How?" Twilight sighed. "It all started when you left..." "Wait, you're saying this is all Rainbow's fault?" Scootaloo cut in. Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash jumped, Completely forgetting she was there. "No Scootaloo, Rainbow leaving wasn't the cause, just the start of it. After she left me and the girls got into an argument about why she left, and if we should go after her. After we couldn't come to an agreement, we eventually went our separate ways. We each blamed the others, when in fact it was all of our faults." She paused and looked at Rainbow Dash before continuing. "A few weeks after we split up, i started losing control of spells. At first it was the more difficult spells, but eventually it got to the point were i couldn't even open the door." "I'm... sorry." Rainbow finally managed to say. "But if you're Celestia's student couldn't she do something to help you get your magic back?" "When it started happening I wrote her a letter begging her to help me. She wrote me back saying that because of our argument and us splitting up like we did, that the Elements had becomes dis-harmonized, and that each of us would slowly lose the defining factors of our element. She said that the only way to do it was to get my friends back, otherwise my magic would fade until it was eventually gone." "Elements?" Dash questioned. "You mean the Elements of Harmony? I thought those were just a myth." Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash in shock before a realization hit her. "You forgot... But its still a shock that you didn't still know about it. The Elements of Harmony aren't a myth Dash, there very real. I represent the Element of Magic, and you, you represent the Element of Loyalty." "Heh, now how do you like that. Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt AND bearer of the Element of Loyalty." Rainbow boasted, puffing her chest out. "Glad to see you're still your normal boastful self, Dash." Twilight chuckled. "But if you haven't changed personality wise when the rest of us did, and you didn't know about your element, then i wonder... Hey Spike!" "What is it, Twi, I'm in the kitchen making some food. Scootaloo and i were getting hungry." "Well, hurry up, I've got an idea." Twilight called back. Rainbow Dash could have sworn she saw a spark ignite in Twilight's eye. ====================================================================================== After what seemed like forever Spike finally emerged from the kitchen, carrying plates of hay fries and daffodil sandwiches for the three ponies, and a plate of gems for himself. As they sat down to eat Spike finally asked, "So Twi, whats this idea you had?" "Oh, well after talking with Rainbow Dash, I realized that she may not remember that she is the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, she also hasn't shown a complete change in attitude like the rest of us did. It's gotten me to thinking, her element may have been locked away inside of herself when she lost her memory, which has prevented it from de-harmonizing, unlike the rest of us." Twilight paused to take a bite of her food, "So I have a theory." "Yeah, and what is it." Dash asked impatiently. "Well Rainbow Dash, I believe that if I can tap into the power of your Element, I may be able to get the energy from you to cast the spell." "So what you're saying is that you may be able to use my energy to cast your spell? Doesn't that sound a bit dangerous?" "I agree with Dash, that sounds to dangerous Twilight. Isn't there somepony else in Ponyville that you can teach the memory spell?" "I already thought of that, Spike. Nopony else is strong enough..." "What about Dinky?" They all stopped eating and looked over at Scootaloo. "I heard that Dinky was supposed to be a strong magician," Scootaloo continued. "In fact I heard that some of her spells could rival yours in strength Twilight." "Hmm," Twilight thought for a minute. "Although it does sound like a very viable solution to our problem, its impossible. Dinky has already left for Celestia's School for Talented Unicorns." "Excuse me," Dash cut in. "But who is Dinky?" "Dinky Doo? She is the daughter of the local mail mare. Very strange that Dinky turned out to be such a strong unicorn, considering her mother is a pegasus, it's the first time in recorded history that a pegasus has given birth to a unicorn." "Huh..." Dash was beginning to notice that Twilight was prone to lectures, even for simple questions. "So then i guess that leaves us with one choice then, but how dangerous could it be if it doesn't work?" "Well... Best case scenario, we'll get a few sparks from my horn, and that it. But worst case scenario, it could kill us both." "Well, if we were as good of friends as you say we were, then I trust your decision in this. If you think it will work, then trust you." Rainbow's confidence boost was all she needed to make the decision. "Then it's settled, once we finish eating, we will set up in the middle of the library for the spell." "Wouldn't it be safer in your lab?" Dash asked. "Well, it's a bit cramped down there, there barely room for me and Spike as it is. Plus we want to make sure we have plenty of room, just in case. But of course it won't come to that." Twilight quickly added, seeing the worried looks spread across everyponies faces =================================================================================. The room looked noticeably larger when Spike lead them back into the main room of the library, the furniture had all been scooted against the walls, leaving plenty of room in the middle of the library. They had been in the loft, were Twilight and Spike slept, going over the finer details of there plan. "I've got everything set up just the way you asked Twi." Spike said, leading them to the center of the room, were some pillows and blankets had been laid out for cushioning. "Ok, Rainbow Dash, i need you to position yourself facing me, about 3 hooves away." Rainbow Dash did as she was told, then looked to Twilight expectantly for her next orders. "Good, now, clear your mind and try to relax. With my magic as limited as it is, its going to be tricky finding the element without you being distracted." As if on cue, Spike and Scootaloo ran around the library closing all windows and curtains. Spike opened the door to switch the open sign to closed before returning to the now candle lit room. "Now what?" Dash asked "Now? You wait while i do the hard stuff." Twilight said with a smile. ================================================================================== After standing there for almost an hour, Rainbow Dash was about to give up when Twilight shouted, "I got it!" "Huh, wha...?" Spike muttered, snapped out of his nap by Twilight. "I found the Element of Loyalty, it was tough, and I was about to give up, but I found it. Now the spell is rather simple, it just takes a lot of energy. I need to find the damaged memories and repair them, once thats done your memories should come pouring back, But if the strain of the spell gets to be too much, just let me know Dash." Rainbow Dash nodded and said, "Well, I'm ready whenever you are Twilight. Just let me know what I need to do." "Well, if you remember anything, anything at all, from before the Wonderbolts, it will make my job easier." "Well... There is one, but its more of a dream then a memory." "If you think it will help, then use it Rainbow, you're trusting me to try this risky spell, so I trust your judgement on the memory." With that, Twilight shut her eyes and scrunched her face up in concentration. After a few seconds, Twilight's horn started to glow dimly, before some sparks flew from her horn, then she dropped from the effort. "Twilight!" Dash went to help Twilight up, but before she took more than a step, Twilight was back on her feet. "It's ok Dash, just lost concentration for a second there, lets try this again." "If you're to tired to continue, I understand." Dash said, taking her position again. "No, I'm fine Dash, really." Twilight replied, getting into position and closing her eyes again. After a few minutes Twilight's horn started to glow again, but this time it was noticeably different. Instead of a light glow and a few sparks, Twilight's horn started to glow brighter and brighter. Twilight's horn was just about to bright for Dash to continue to watch, when something finally happened. The light seemed to move to the tip of Twilight's horn, and with one final mighty pulse... released a stream of sparks as Twilight once again collapsed. This time Rainbow Dash was at Twilight's side before she came to. "That's it Twilight, you're going to end up hurting yourself. Let's just find another way." "No!" Twilight cried, tears running down her face. "I can't just give up on my friend, not when its my fault she's in the position she is. Please Dash, let me try one more time, i almost had it. "Fine," Rainbow Dash sighed. "But if it doesn't work this time we're done, my memory isn't worth losing a friend, even if i can't remember them." Back in position, she turned to face Twilight. Twilight once again closed her eyes and scrunched her face up in concentration. Her horn once again started to glow, faintly at first, but slowly getting brighter. It was then that Rainbow Dash remembered what Twilight had told her. Thinking of a memory... She cast one more worried glance at Twilight before closing her eyes and concentrating on the dream that had haunted her for so many months. That seemed to make the difference, as she felt the magic slowly begin to wrap itself around the memory, causing it to become clearer. She then felt the magic begin to drain on her strength, and for a second worried that it would be to much for her. But then Dash felt something in her head click, followed by darkness as her and Twilight collapsed.