//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Things Hooves Can('t) Fix // Story: A Night of Dashing Dreams // by Nyronus //------------------------------// A shatter broke the stillness of the room. The whole building seemed to go dark. Building Beam looked up from the broken vase at his hooves. Towering over him was the shadowy, angular form of a full grown mare. “I didn’t-” The shadow smashed its hoof across Beam’s muzzle before he could finish apologizing. “Why are you so worthless?” She croaked as Beam curled into a ball. Building Beam began shaking. “I asked you a questio—!” “HIIIIYAAA!” There was a crash, and Building Beam snapped up and saw a cyan pegasus, hoof planted firmly in the face of the figure. The shadow was sent careening across the room and straight through the wall. “Hah! Sorry kid, name’s Rainbow—” “Mom!” Beam bolted towards the hole in the wall. Dash blinked. Crumpled in the hole in the wall wasn’t a warped mare of angles and shadow, but a wounded unicorn mare. “What?!” “Mom! Mom! Wake up!” Beam shook her, but she didn’t respond. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up, what the hay is—” “Why did you do that?!” The colt’s voice broke as he screamed at Dash. “She was… she was attacking you…” Beam went back to trying to wake his mother. Dash stared, panting, glacing about. “So this is how you treat your mother.” Dash and Beam looked at the doorway at once. An angular earth pony stallion drained of color stood in the frame. “After everything she’s done for you, this is how you treat her?” “I didn’t—I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!” “I’m tired of your excuses.” The stallion advanced. “Hey! Hold up!” Dash leapt in his way. “I’m the one who decked her - you wanna shout at somepony, take me on for size!” “You want to know why she hits you, kid?” The stallion gave an exhausted glare, ignoring Dash entirely. “It’s because you never own up to anything. Always trying to get away with being lazy. You think you’re gonna get ahead like that?!” Dash reared up and decked the figment clear down the hallway. “Dad!” Dash wheeled on Building Beam. “It’s a dream, dude! It’s a dream, you gotta calm down!” “Just like him.” The mare was suddenly upright. Her eyes were sunken and haggard. “Crying because he thinks his crocodile tears can fool us.” The stallion shook his head in the doorway, unharmed. “All he can do is cry. Can’t even act his age.” “Urrrggghhh!” Dash leapt into the air, snarling. “Buck. This.” Suddenly Building Beam was in her arms. There was a horrible roar of wind, and his house dissolved into a vortex of wood, dust, and stone. Then, he was flying away. He watched as Canterlot vanished beneath him. Then Equestria. Then the day, and the night. It all blurred into a stream of color. He looked up to the pegasus who’d grabbed him. She was crying. Time stretched out, and then suddenly the colors separated and they were landing in a glade beneath the moon. Rainbow Dash set him down. She flapped to a landing next to him, panting. “You… you, okay, kid?” Building Beam shook, and then swallowed. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think I am.” “Cool… awesome.” Rainbow Dash plopped down. “Wild dream, huh, kid?” He rubbed his head and tried to think. “It… it was a dream, wasn’t it?” “Yeah, totally. I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way. Wonderbolt, Teacher… yadda yadda… part time dream guardian.” She took in a deep breath and managed to stop panting. “I’ve seen some doozies tonight, but you take the cake, kid.” “Sorry.” He said. “No, no, don’t apologize, I was just—” She rolled her head on her neck. “It’s fine, really. It’s kind of this thing about helping ponies I have. We’re cool.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and then looked at him. “Mind telling me what that was all about? That was way too hardcore to just be something you read in a book.” Building Beam looked away. “Kid, you dream about your mom beating you, and your dad cheering it on, and I haven’t seen a nightmare keep getting worse like that. Come on.” “They aren’t always like that.” He said, barely audible. Rainbow Dash grimaced and rubbed her face. “Boy, I wish Luna had given me a longer training course.” “The princess?” “Yeah. I’m helping her tonight.” Rainbow Dash sighed and stood up. “Come on, let’s walk. I think better when I move.” Building Beam slowly stood and followed after her. “So… you said ‘aren’t always.’ Has this happened before?” He looked away. “Kid, please. Help me out.” “A few times.” He said, less quiet now. “I don’t mean to be so clumsy, but sometimes I get anxious, and she doesn’t always believe me.” Dash sighed. “That’s not cool, kid.” “She says she doesn’t mean too!” Dash seized up. Then let out a slow breath and turned towards him. “Which is why she keeps doing it, right?” She glared at the ground, and then turned away, walking in a circle now. “That’s not how things work. Parents take care of foals. Help them out. It’s why I wanted to be a Wonderbolt. I wanted to inspire everyone the same way they inspired me.” “I’m sorry.” “I—” Dash rubbed her face again. “Don’t apologize. It’s not you.” She huffed, and then stopped square in-front of him and grabbed his shoulders. “Listen, kid. What you just dreamt up? That’s not normal! Every time you got scared, they kept getting back up and coming after you. You know what dreams are, right? They’re you! A big mess of you! Mostly that makes them really random, but when you have something real bad inside you, it comes out! You’ve had this dream before, haven’t you?” Beam looked away. “And they never stop, do they? They always keep coming, tearing you down like that? I bet this isn’t the first time you’ve had something try to stop them, and it never works, does it? That’s how you see them! Always coming after you, and if they’ve been hitting you and saying stuff like that all the time, I can’t imagine how you wouldn’t dream about them like this!” Beam began crying. “Kid… kid… ah, horsefeathers.” Dash pulled Beam into a hug. “Let it out, kid.” And he did, and Rainbow waited patiently for him. “I don’t know what to do.” Beam said, finally. Rainbow Dash was silent. “What do I do?” He went on. “I… I don’t want things to be bad again.” “I’m thinking.” She gave a pained look. “Gimme a second.” Building Beam went silent. Rainbow Dash’s muzzle suddenly hardened. “I need you to be honest with me, kid. Wait - what’s your name?” “Building Beam.” “Okay, Building Beam. You’ve told them to stop, right?” “I tried.” Rainbow Dash nodded and went on. “Right, and they kept doing this even after you tell them not to, and even after they apologize?” He looked away. “Yes.” “Stay with me, Beam. Do they blame you for the way they treat you?” “I am clumsy.” “That doesn’t matter!” Rainbow Dash snapped, and then she stopped. She closed her eyes and took another breath. “You don’t hit a… you don’t hit a kid for dropping a plate. I’m sorry.” She looked him in the eyes again. “We gotta keep going. They do this when they’re already angry about something else, right?” “Dad’s job is hard and he and Mom fight all the time.” “I get that, but that’s when she hits you, right?” Beam looked away. “That’s a yes. Cool. How long?” “Uh—” “How long have they been hitting you and blaming you?” Beam started to look away. “Come on kid. Time’s weird in dreams. I need all your answers, fast.” He grimaced. “Two years. I think.” Dash winced. “Your mom hits you, and your dad says stuff to you to justify it, right? That’s how it works?” “Yes…” “Alright.” Dash rapidly nodded as if agreeing with someone who wasn’t there. “Alright. I think that’s it.” Suddenly a sound echoed. It was impossibly far away, but somehow larger than the whole universe. Building Beam quailed in fear. Dash shook him and locked eyes with him. “Your address. What’s your address?” “I don’t—” “Street and description then!” “Uh – Prance! Prance Drive! Purple roof and green door!” “Got it!” The sound echoed again. The world began shaking. “Listen to me, kid.” Rainbow didn’t let him look away. “I’m coming, you hear me? I’ll protect you.” “How?” Dash grinned. “Trust me, I’m Rainbow Dash!” Then the sound blasted so impossibly loud as to make the whole world burst apart into darkness. Dash recognized it now. It had been Building Beam’s father, shouting. ------ Luna gave few flaps, clearing the sphere she had exited and out into the aether, a grin wide on her face. “Hmm! Dash’s enthusiasm really is infectious. I need to—...?” There was something very wrong. Luna’s eyes focused. Vastly far away was a rainbow, and it was moving very, very, fast. It started sparking. Luna flinched as the light exploded and washed away the world of dreams. When she came to, Rainbow Dash was gone. She approached the open window. She paused for a moment, and then decided to trust her friend. So she turned and walked back into her room. After all, if Dash needed her help, she already knew to come find her.