Dash was watching TV while sitting with Henry on the couch, Charles was on a late solo mission, and Ellie had gone to bed early as she was feeling really tired that night.
Dash was lying down on her stomach as she suddenly felt a sharp headache. She let out a groan and put her hoof to her head.
"Are you ok Dash?" Henry asked.
"I don't know, I just suddenly got this sharp headache," she replied.
"Do you need some water?"
"That could help, Thanks Henry."
Henry got up to the kitchen to prepare a glass of water for Dash. Meanwhile, the headache was getting worse fast. She started tearing up, and Henry came back to give her the glass only to find her crying in pain. It was clear she never had this type of headache before. He put the glass down and ran to dash.
"HENRY....HELP ME!" Dash shouted.
"What's going on?!" Ellie asked at the bottom of the stairs. She was woken up by Dash's cries.
"Dash is in extreme pain from the looks of it, and I don't know how to help her," Henry shouted over Dash's sobbing.
Suddenly, memories started to flash into her mind, of her and Henry being leaders of the toppats, Charles dying in the Toppat's orbital station, Henry stealing the orbital station to turn it into a space resort, Henry and Ellie fighting for power in the Toppats, Henry having a robotic torso and arm and eliminating the Toppats for good, etc. (Dash in all the other endings is experiencing the same thing)
Dash started crying harder as the memories were flooding her mind, which made Henry and Ellie worry more. Henry tried comforting her while Ellie went to call Charles to tell him about what was going on.
"What's going on Dash!?" Henry shouted, trying to get Dash to hear his question, which caught her attention.
"I don't know!" Dash sobbed, "I'm suddenly getting these *hic* false memories, like *sob* they're from alternate timelines at *sob* around the same time we prevented the *hic* Toppats from launching the orbital station!"
"Charles is on his way!" Ellie shouted from the kitchen.
"Try to give us an example dash!" Henry said.
"Well *hic* me and Henry were leading the toppats in multiple timelines."
Henry and Ellie's eyes widened.
"A few others took place after the launch, and in one, *sob* me, Henry, and Charles *sob* managed to make the station explode, but Charles was killed in the process."
I guess the outcomes she's describing aren't always happy endings... Henry thought.
A few minutes went by while Dash was describing the timelines, and she still hadn’t calmed down. Barely audible through her screams, Henry and Ellie could hear the sounds of a helicopter landing, meaning Charles had returned home.
"Guys, I'm here, What's wrong with Dash!?" He said while walking through the garage door.
"Apparently, she's having memories that seem to be from different timelines. Some of them are she and Henry were leading the Toppats. Another timeline was after the toppats launched their rocket, and she, you, and Henry managed to make it explode, but you never made it out alive!" Ellie explained.
Charles froze at the second example but regained his composure and ran over to the couch where Henry was trying to comfort Dash.
Dash had begun to blackout from all the pain and started to quiet down. The stick figure trio started to worry more if she would be okay.
"She's blacking out!" Henry said, "Ellie, get me the glass of water I got for her a few minutes ago. Charles, help try to keep her awake."
Ellie ran to the kitchen again and grabbed the glass of water. She ran back to the couch and handed the glass to Henry. Henry then told Dash to try to take a sip of the water, but Dash didn't understand as her vision was blurry and her hearing was being muffled. Her sobs had turned to whimpers as she was getting closer to going limp.
"Come on Dash, don't do this," Henry thought.
Then, something clicked in his mind. There's a reason why she is going through this. He let go of Dash and got a confused look from Charles and Ellie.
"Why did you stop?" Ellie asked.
"You remember how she's from a different dimension right?" he asked.
"Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?" Charles replied.
“It might be her time to return back. This might be goodbye.”
Charles and Ellie both looked at Rainbow with pained looks. It truly was a sad moment for them, seeing a great friend of theirs go back to her own world. Dash could sense that something was going on, but her vision was too blurry for her to figure out what was happening. She was able to mentally figure things out on why she was going through all that pain.
She was returning home, and there was nothing she or they could do to stop it.
Henry brought Dash close and embraced her in a hug. She was the one Henry knew the longest, and he didn't know how he would've done the adventures they had without her. Dash could see this through her blurry vision and returned the hug to Henry's surprise.
Henry then began to cry softly, and Ellie and Charles knelt down next to him and stroked his back softly. Then they all heard Dash say something softly before finally going limp.
"Don't worry Henry...... I'll find a way back with the help...... of my friends back home....."
After that, Dash blacked out for one final time, and Henry let go of her body after saying:
"I'll wait for that moment. All of us will."
"UGH!!! It's been one month and two weeks! We're lucky no villains popped up in the time Dash has been in this coma! When is she going to wake up?!" Twilight shouted throughout the halls of her castle.
Rainbow Dash was brought to the hospital when she first passed out, and the doctors couldn't understand what exactly happened to her, so they declared her to be in a coma for the time being. Everyone was pretty surprised about this sudden news, but they all took it very differently.
Twilight devoted herself to doing research about how to wake her up.
Fluttershy was devastated and visited Dash every day to bring her flowers.
Rarity and Applejack continued their business as usual and thought of Dash every single day.
Pinkie however had it the worst of the five, as she thought she might have something to do with Dash's condition. After all, this did start during her party, so she thought something in the food she provided caused this.
Now one and a half months later, Twilight was sitting in her library with books scattered everywhere, and absolutely no conclusion as to how to wake Dash up.
"I have to figure this out, otherwise she may never-" she was interrupted with a knock on the door.
"Twilight! Spike and I have some news!" Starlight said through the door.
"Not now Starlight! I'm trying to find a way to wake Dash up!"
"Actually, it's about Rainbow," Spike said.
Twilight stopped in her tracks. She set her books down and walked to the door. She opened it to find Starlight and Spike looking at her worriedly.
"Gee Twilight, I've never seen you this worked up in years!" Spike said.
"Sorry, you know how I can get with this sort of thing," she apologized.
"It's alright," Starlight said before handing Twilight a parchment, "It's from the hospital. The others got this note and are already there."
Twilight took the note in her magic and opened it. She read the note carefully:
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
We're happy to inform you that Rainbow Dash is in stable condition and is said to wake up later today. We would love to see you and your friends there to greet her when she does awake, she would love that very dearly.
Sincerely,
Ponyville Hospital Staff
Twilight's mouth went agape. All this time she should've waited for her to wake up?! Why did she waste her time on this?! She looked toward Starlight and Spike and they looked back with the same expression as before.
"So? What's the verdict?" Spike asked.
"We have to go to the hospital. They say she might wake up later today," she responded.
Their eyes widened, and then they all smiled with joy. Twilight placed the parchment down and teleported the three of them to the hospital. A nurse recognized them and told them where Dash's room was and made their way there. When they entered the room, they were all greeted with the smiles of all their friends. Rarity however looked at Twilight and gasped.
"Twilight are you alright? You look horrible!" she said.
"Spent too much time finding a way to wake Dash up huh?" Applejack guessed and got a frown in response.
"Classic Twilight," Pinkie said and giggled, still slightly depressed.
Twilight rolled her eyes and looked at Pinkie. Her ears drooped at the sight of her. Her hair was flat instead of that trademark poofy hair. She asked her if she was okay, but Fluttershy answered for her.
"She's been very guilty about this. She thinks something was in one of the pastries from the party that caused Rainbow to blackout in the first place."
"It's nothing Fluttershy, really," Pinkie said with a sad smile.
Then, they all heard the monitors from the bed start up. they all looked towards Dash to see her stir slightly before opening her eyes slowly.
Dash didn't want to leave Henry behind, but she didn't have a choice this time. She slowly woke up feeling the comfort of the hospital bed, her splitting headache gone. She could remember all sorts of different timelines with her and Henry, but she couldn't remember which one she came from. She opened her eyes slightly and saw her friends standing next to her bed.
Everyone looked different. Fluttershy and Rarity had tear streaks down their cheeks, Applejack and Twilight's manes were a mess but Twilight's was worse, and Pinkie's mane was flat.
"Seems like they really did miss me huh?" she asked herself.
"DASHIE!!!" Pinkie shouted, embracing Dash, and began crying softly on her shoulder.
That woke her up instantly as it took the wind out of her. She looked around confused for a second while she took in the situation.
"Dashie, you were asleep for six weeks and I kept blaming myself for this. I think one of the pastries you ate had something inside of it that caused you to blackout that I never knew about. I hope you can forgive me!" Pinkie ranted about.
Dash's eyes widened. She never thought Pinkie would blame herself for this. She returned the hug and whispered to Pinkie.
"Don't worry Pinkie, it's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up over this. I don't think it was one of the pastries that caused this."
Pinkie looked at Dash's face with a sad smile, happy that she forgave her. She let go of her and everyone else told her what happened while she was asleep, and what made her chuckle was Twilight's story.
"Of course you would, egghead."
Twilight glared at Dash but giggled herself a few seconds later.
"Thanks for the flowers Flutters, they really fit my style," she said while holding one in her hooves.
Fluttershy smiled as a 'you're welcome' and went back to petting a small hedgehog she brought with her.
"So Dash," Starlight started, "from what I've read, ponies in comas tend to have a long dream about something. I'm curious to see if that's true and what you dreamed about."
She was taken aback. How would she tell everyone about Henry being a criminal to everyone?! And it wasn't just a dream, she was actually there! She thought about it for a few seconds before answering.
"Well, it wasn't really a dream at all. It was more like I was in a different dimension altogether. I woke up in a desert and found a weird building in the distance with a gold sign that said, 'BANK' over the entrance. And to the side, there was this weird person that looked like its entire body was a stick. He was trying to rob the bank, or vault in this case, but my gut was telling me that if I helped this guy, I would be able to get back here."
Everyone was stunned at the explanation. They were surprised she was comfortable about being a criminal. Twilight decided to interrupt and ask Dash a question.
"So you ended up in a different dimension and helped this criminal rob a bank?" she asked and Dash nodded, "that sounds really familiar. Keep going, I want to confirm my suspicions."
Dash was surprised. She thought Twilight would be furious about her being a criminal. She decided to question it later and continue her story.
"He decided to team up and I followed him to a spot farther from the bank. He pulled out a money bag and told me to hide inside. We both climbed inside and the truck drivers stopped to pick us up and we fooled them to take us inside the bank. When we hopped out, however, he tripped one of the alarms, and the guards from outside came running in to take us to this prison."
Twilight stopped her again.
"What was his name?" she asked.
"Henry Stickmin."
Then something clicked inside Twilight, and she said, "I know who you're talking about!"
Everyone looked at her with confusion while Dash looked in shock. How did she know about Henry? If that's the case, then she also knows about Charles, Ellie, and the Toppats.
"In my research to bring you back, I found this weird story about a pony going through different timelines and coming out of different lifestyles, but it all started with robbing a bank full of bits! Though it was a fictional story, I never expected it to actually happen in a different dimension!"
"I guess we have some catching up to do huh Twi?"
"Yep! When you leave, we are going straight to my library to find that book so I can compare your memories with the story!"
Dash rolled her eyes and chuckled.
A few minutes after waking up, Dash was let out of the hospital with everyone else in tow. Pinkie's mane was poofy again, thankfully, and she waved goodbye to go straight to Sugarcube Corner to make something for Dash's return. Everyone went their separate ways while Twilight, Rainbow, Starlight, and Spike made their way to Twilight's castle.
Later in the library, Twilight managed to find the story and read it to Dash. She confirmed that each detail in the story was accurate to her memories, and Twilight reeled with excitement, but Dash on the other hand wasn't feeling the same way. She began to miss Henry dearly, and Twilight noticed.
"What's wrong Rainbow?" she asked.
"Well, going through these memories makes me really miss them. I grew a close bond with Henry and, I promised him that you guys would help me find a way back."
Twilight frowned. She knew that feeling about having friends from another dimension, but they were technically the same friends she had in Equestria besides one other. But with this, it would be a lot more difficult because of the amount of timelines there are, and how Dash couldn't remember what timeline she went through.
"Listen, Dash," she stated, "this is way more complicated than you think. The number of timelines in that dimension makes it much more difficult to find a way back compared to Sunset's world. This might take about a week to find a way back. Do you have a specific timeline you want to revisit?"
Dash put a hoof up to her chin. She had given names to each timeline she remembers, some good, some bad. She thought about it for a bit and chose one with a sad look on her face.
The name she gave for the timeline she chose was Valiant Hero.
"Well, there is this one timeline where Charles sacrificed his life to save Henry's after the Toppat orbital station was already in full swing," she teared up slightly, "me and Henry were grieving for about a week before it was my time to come back, and I think he's getting a little lonely without me or him. I think that timeline might be best."
Twilight was shocked. No wonder Dash skipped this timeline during the session. There were two others that were skipped, but she didn't think they had as much of an impact as this one did. Twilight walked up to her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so sorry Dash. Now I understand why you skipped some timelines," she let go of Dash, "I also understand how hard it is for Henry. Losing two of his dearest friends in only a week's worth of time."
Dash looked down to the ground. She felt bad for him and wanted nothing more than to see his sweet, mischievous smile again, no matter the timeline. She chose this one specifically because she felt Henry might become insecure about things around him and be too lonely to even take care of himself.
"Just focusing on one timeline should be a piece of cake, but focusing on the others is a bit tougher. That's why I asked, but your choice seems the most appropriate for this situation. Glad to see your loyalty goes as far as beyond Equestria."
Dash looked up at Twilight and smiled.
A week had passed since Dash woke up, and she was flying around in the sky, bathing it with her rainbow trail once again after so long. Applejack still didn't appreciate the fact that she would always do it over her farm for the risk of her crashing, but she didn't mind seeing her practice a few tricks here and there.
She was looking for her today to tell her some exciting news, and once she found her, she shouted her name.
"RAINBOW DASH!"
Dash heard and flew down to meet her.
"What's up AJ?"
"Twilight told me she had finished the portal that you guys were talking about last week and to come find you."
Dash smiled widely and did a backflip mid-air. She couldn't wait to see Henry again.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Then she flew off to Twilight's castle.
A few minutes later, she arrives at the library and finds a really fancy portal right in front of her, and to the side of it is Twilight waiting for her.
"Dash! So glad you could make it! Are you ready?" she asked.
"You bet I am!" Dash responded with a determined look.
"Remember what timeline we're going to, this isn't something to be taken lightly."
"Oh yeah..."
Dash had forgotten she chose Valiant Hero. She frowned as she made her way towards the portal.
"I saw the station explode with Charles inside right in front of me along with Henry, so it's still a little hard for me."
"I know, and I'll be coming with you because of it."
"Are you sure? The Government might see you as a threat."
"I'm sure. I'll just say I'm a friend of yours."
"Touche Twi..."
Then they both looked at the portal with determined looks.
"Ready Dash?"
"Ready."
They then both jumped into the portal.
The portal opened up to someplace in the sky close to a cliff. Both ponies landed at the edge and Dash looked around the area. She confirmed they were in Henry's world, but the correct timeline, they weren't sure of yet.
That is until Twilight pointed at something in the distance.
"What's that over there?" she asked.
Dash looked in that direction and saw something far too familiar. She galloped towards it and stopped right in front of it.
"Dash! What was that for?" Twilight called out as she caught up with her.
Twilight looked in front of Dash and only gave a single, "Oh..."
The familiar gravestone was sitting right in front of them. They were in the correct timeline.
Twilight then noticed a photo sitting at the base and picked it up with her magic. She inspected the photo for a little bit before handing it to Dash.
The photo had three figures in the frame. Dash was in the middle, one figure with headphones was holding the camera, and the other was holding Dash close.
"I'm guessing the one with the headphones is Charles huh?" Twilight said, getting a nod in response.
Then out of nowhere, they hear what appears to be a car driving up behind them. They looked towards the sound and Twilight got ready to defend, but Dash told her to calm down and she deactivated her horn.
The car stops as it's clearly here to visit the grave. A figure walks out of the car with its head down, and Dash instantly knows who this is.
"Hey general!" she calls to him.
Galeforce looks up and looks on shocked to see Dash standing right in front of him.
"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here? I thought Henry said you went back to your world."
"I did, but with the help of my friend Twilight here, she was able to make a portal connecting our worlds so I can visit anytime," she explained and Twilight walked up to him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle. I take it you're the leader of your military?"
"Indeed. I'm General Galeforce."
"My brother is captain of the royal guard where I'm from, I'm also one of the four princesses."
"Well, nice to know someone who's a great leader like me," Galeforce commented.
"Sorry to interrupt," Dash said, "but we're looking for Henry. Have you seen him anywhere?"
"He's currently at home resting after a mission. After you left, he decided to enlist in the government to honor you and Charlie."
"Glad to know. Thanks, general!"
"Anytime."
"Follow me Twi. I know where Henry lives," she then flew off with Twilight following tow.
Once they got there, They landed at Henry's door and Dash knocked.
"Are you sure about this?" Twilight asked.
"He'll instantly recognize me, I know that for sure," Dash responded.
After a few seconds, the door opens with Henry standing on the other side. He looks around for a little bit, not seeing anything. He was about to close the door when he heard something from below.
"Hey Henry, I missed ya."
He knew that voice too well. There was no way she was back. He looked down to see her smiling warmly at him.
"Dash?" he said, "is it really you?"
"Yep, in the flesh. I told you I'd find a way back."
Henry knelt down to stroke her mane to confirm he wasn't hallucinating, then embraced Dash in a tight hug and teared up slightly. She returned the hug while Twilight smiled.
"Nothing's more heartwarming than two friends reuniting after so long," she thought.
"I missed you so much," Henry said through his tears.
"Me too. I ran into the general at Charles' grave and he told me where you were," Dash confirmed.
They broke the hug.
"What about those other timelines you told me about right before you left?"
"My friend was only able to connect this timeline. She'll figure out the others soon. We decided to do this one because we thought about you and how you would be handling both Charles' death and my return home."
Henry smiled and then looked over to Twilight to thank her. He offered both ponies to step inside and they agreed.
"Dash has told me a lot about you," Twilight said to Henry, "There's even a fictional book about you in our world, but I never thought it was real in a different dimension!"
Henry chuckled, "I guess each dimension has its own connections to others huh?"
"I know! I'm gonna have to research this when we get home!"
"We get it Twilight, you're an egghead," Dash joked, making Henry chuckle again.
Then they all got to know each other and caught up for a few hours. Henry was so happy that Dash could now visit him whenever she wanted, but he also understood that the other timelines needed them as well, even if Henry was the leader of the toppats, still a criminal, or had teamed up with both Charles and Ellie.
When it got late at night, Twilight suggested it was time to return home, and the only way to do so was to go back to the place they arrived at. Henry asked where that was and Dash said it was at Charles' grave, so he drove them to the site and added it would also be a good opportunity to visit it for a few minutes. After walking up to it, Twilight stood back to let him and Dash talk to the grave for a little bit.
What they weren't expecting though, was for Twilight to use a spell she learned years ago to call upon the dead. They didn't notice at first until Henry felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Henry, I can tell you and Dash miss me."
They looked up with shocked expressions, and Dash turned towards Twilight and got a wink in response.
"Yeah, Charles, we really do miss you. How are you here?"
"I think Rainbow's friend has something to do with it," Charles said, looking over at Twilight.
"We miss you so much Charles," Dash said, "and now you're here, I just want to say, what you did in the orbital station was something I would've done. A true act of loyalty."
"You know quite a bit about loyalty huh? I'm proud. It was one of the greatest plans I ever had, even if it cost my life."
"It sure was," Henry added.
Then a rift appeared behind Twilight and that was their cue to leave. They all said their goodbyes and shed a few tears in the meantime before Charles disappeared. Henry also said goodbye to Dash and Twilight and said that he hoped they'd come to visit soon. They both agreed then hopped into the portal, leaving Henry alone with the gravestone.
Over the next few weeks, Twilight managed to connect the portal to all the other timelines so they could visit each of them. Dash and Twilight each got their top hats for when they visited a timeline involving the Toppats, and Twilight liked hers enough to want to keep it. Each timeline they visited was exactly how Dash remembered them ending off of when she left, though they had a little trouble with Toppat Civil Warfare because of what was happening there, but they made it work.
Dash was overjoyed to see Henry in each timeline again, and now she has a true friend who's not from Equestria all because of one simple blackout, and she was perfectly fine with that.
The End