//------------------------------// // Someone Has Dad Issues // Story: Profess To Me Your Foolhardy Dreams // by strawberrypancakes //------------------------------// The one thing neither Dash nor her lover expected to see upon their arrival to the lair early in the morning was her dad standing there ominously in the dimly lit main room. The sight gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach. Something told her this was not going to be the pleasant meeting she had originally hoped it to be. "Oh." The Jokermort muttered, previous smile falling from his face. "Where have you two been?" Harry Wayne asked, a scowl upon his face. Dash didn't know how to feel. She supposed it was silly of her to think that her dad wouldn't come looking for her. He did care for her after all. It's only natural for him to want to find his missing loved one. She had hoped to make up with him, maybe make him trust her more. Instead she made him even more concerned. She may never be able to leave the house after this. All she could do was stare at the floor and wish that this was all some sort of bad dream. "Ah well, you see, we were here." The villainous monkey tried to bluff. "When I arrive at a kidnapping scene I expect to see a victim, the villain, and a vat of boiling acid," her dad retaliated. "But look at this. What is this? This acid isn't even lukewarm. It's room temperature." "Are you sure? I thought I set the vat to a simmer." "You turned it off. You didn't leave so much as a ransom note. And you, young lady," It was then that Rainbow Dash felt her dad's piercing gaze turn to her. How she wished she was still back on that ferris wheel. How was it that things turned so poorly in such a short amount of time? Just a few minutes ago she would have said that today was the best day of her life. But now? Well, this had to be the worst. She hardly even noticed her dad asking her some question about what she was thinking. "Well, I thought, um," she stammered. Everything she wanted to say to him completely left her mind. It was all blank. She couldn't think properly with all of this pressure on her to say something, anything. "Yeah, w-we got, um, I had some wheat beer. That was pretty cool." Seriously? THAT is what she chose to say? She felt tears begin to prick at her eyes. How could things possibly get any worse? Her dad stood there and lectured her for a minute, telling her off for having beer and for the costume she was wearing. It all sounded fuzzy to Dash though. She was too overwhelmed and upset to hear properly. "You are a bad villain. You should be ashamed. You are not allowed to kidnap my daughter again," her dad practically spat. That caught her attention. She finally looked up and met her boyfriend's eyes. He looked just as devastated as she felt. This couldn't be the end, could it? She didn't want to accept that. It wasn't fair. He was a good guy. She was completely fine. Why was he still doing this? It didn't make sense to Dash. The next thing she knew, there was a blinding flash of light. Before she even got to say goodbye, her dad used his magic to transport them back to their house. There they stood in the bleak, gray, pathetic excuse of a living room. Dash knew it would be wise to listen to her dad and not bother fighting. It was unlikely that he would listen to her. Still, she couldn't quite stifle the feelings she was experiencing right now. She had to say something. "Why would you do that?" She cried, glaring at the monkey in front of her. "He's actually a really nice guy!" The look upon her dad's face could only be described as utter shock. He huffed and crossed his arms. It was as though he thought the outcome of all this would be different. What, did he expect her to thank him for isolating her for years and now forbidding her from seeing the guy she loved? "What do you mean he's a nice guy? He's my enemy, Dash. Are you insane?" "No! Maybe, I don't know," she was definitely regaining a lot of her confidence. She was more angry than sad right now. The things she'd been planning on saying to him were returning to her memory. "But we sang a song together and he didn't dissect me or anything! And I don't see what's so wrong about dating the Jokermort. He promised me that he'd be nice." "He's a villain, Dashie!" Her dad exclaimed. "Villains aren't nice. He's lying to you. It's clear that he's using you to get to me. Of course you wouldn't understand that. You have no experience with these sorts of things." "Yeah and whose fault is that?" The rainbow-maned mare retorted. "You're the one who has always refused to let me meet anyone new. Besides, if what you're saying is true then why didn't he leave a ransom note? He took me out, we had a great time, and he didn't ask anything of you. He was very sweet to me. You make him, and everyone else on the planet, out to be a villain. If you had just given him a chance to speak then you would've known that he wanted to recompense for everything he's done." "Well, I still think-" "And why is it exactly that I can never leave the house?" Dash continued angrily, not acknowledging her dad's attempts to talk. "I didn't get dissected all day, but you always told me I'd get dissected!" "Oh my god I cannot believe what I am hearing," he finally snapped back. He looked just as angry as she was, making big gestures with his arms as he spoke. "The only reason you didn't get dissected is because that heathen kept you with him the whole day. Was it not for him being around you would've been taken for sure." That ridiculous claim made her roll her eyes. "Really? That's the excuse you're going with? For one, your argument proves how kind he is. If he was really as evil as you try to make him seem then he would've dissected me himself, thrown me into that acid, kept me tied up all day, or given me up to the researchers. He didn't do any of that though. In fact, the whole day he made sure no one came close to dissecting me. But the thing is: no one even tried! I didn't see anyone from the government or the pony dissection labs. There was nothing to worry about. He didn't need to protect me because there wasn't anything to protect me from." "Maybe you were just lucky yesterday," he suggested with a shrug after a moment, as if she hadn't said anything noteworthy. "They might not have been looking around this area. This doesn't change a thing. He's a bad guy and you're not allowed to see him again. He's not to be trusted and I don't want to risk you getting hurt, Dash." Just like that, her anger dissipated. She was still upset, but she felt more sad than anything. "Why can't you just let me be happy?" The blue mare sighed. "I hate it here. I'm so bored and lonely all the time. I don't have any friends. All you do is hug, feed, and bathe me. Then I go and meet someone else and you freak out. I want to do more with my life. I want to get out of the house. Why can't you let me do that?" "That is quite enough, Rainbow Dash." That statement was said so monotonely, with his face no longer showing any sort of emotion. It made her feel hopeless, like she would never get through to him. Maybe she never would. Maybe she was simply meant to do as she was told and stay put. Mere days ago she enjoyed fighting the power. This was mainly because of the hope she had for a better future. She always hoped to leave the house and meet other people. Certainly when that happened everything would improve. Well, now that it happened it appeared as though nothing would change. She was stuck. She didn't have much hope right now. "I don't want to speak to you ever again." Those were her final words to her dad before storming upstairs. She didn't know what was going to happen. She knew she didn't want to mope around forever, but a little bit of moping probably wouldn't hurt. There was nothing else she could do at this moment in time anyway. She laid on her back on the cold, messy floor and sobbed for what seemed like an eternity. Then again, every moment in this lonesome house seemed like forever. The only thing that snapped her out of her thoughts was the sound of the landline in the room ringing. Dash wiped her eyes and trudged over to answer it. "Hey girl, is everything okay? I figured I should check on you after what happened yesterday." The familiar sound of Lefonda's voice filled her ears and brought a minuscule smile to the pony's face. If anything could brighten up such a gloomy day, it was chatting with her only friend. "Oh wow, you won't believe the day I've had."