The hike through the open desert proved to be less adventurous and exciting than Rainbow Dash had hoped. There was nothing but an endless expanse of dirt and sand that stretched on as far as the eye could see, and the weather was uncomfortably torrid.
Thankfully, she was in good company. She enjoyed having a chance to talk to the ponies she'd helped rescue from the Council during the now-infamous heist during the Blood Moon Celebration. They discussed trivial matters, such as the latest events back in Equestria, as well as some of the darker things that they'd experienced under Mardeen's rule.
Rainbow had a hard time swallowing how nonchalantly they talked about it, but she knew it was their decision to leave such things in the past.
On the second day of their journey, the monotonous waves of sand reached an end. Before them stood a huge, gaping ravine that swept through the desert, continuing toward the horizon until they could no longer track its ridges with their vision alone.
The ponies deliberated on this new obstacle, debating whether it was what they were looking for or simply a new hurdle to cross. As they spoke, something glared brightly in the corner of Dash's vision. She stared at the ravine, her eyes focused on the area above it that seemed to shimmer under the heat of the sun.
Curiously, she flew over to the source of light and peered at the edge of the cliff. A strange, see-through pane of nothing shimmered above the ravine. The wall wavered just on the edge of the cliff, and Dash was mesmerized by its sheen, iridescent quality. It was there one second, then gone the next, and she struggled to deduce whether it was a figment of her imagination or not.
"Guys! Come look at this." She called over to the others, not taking her eyes off of the wall. Tentatively, she raised a hoof up toward it. As she touched it, the surface rippled, and light swelled across the translucent screen. Then, in a flash, everything went dark.
A white-hot burst of pain pulsated through Rainbow's head as she squinted her eyes open, the fluorescent lights above beating down on her with a bright intensity. She let out a groan as she blinked furiously, attempting to orient herself. She'd barely had the chance to sit up when a high-pitched scream pierced her senses, sending her headache into overdrive.
"DASHIE!!!" A sharp pang of discomfort shot through her chest as a massive weight landed on her with a resounding thump! A lump of pink had thrown itself across her, and the familiar scent of cupcakes washed over her.
"Pinkie?" She croaked, before letting out a cough.
"Ooooh!" Another squeal to her right caught her attention. A white unicorn with a perfectly coiffed mane cast her brilliant blue eyes upon her. "She's awake! Pinkie, give her some space, for heaven's sake!"
"Sorry!" The pink blob removed herself from Rainbow, settling beside her with an ecstatic grin.
She sat up then, rubbing her head and glancing around at her surroundings. She was in a hospital room not unlike the one she'd found Mardeen in, but this one was much more familiar. As she regained her senses, her eyes fell on the two ponies standing beside her bed with joyful tears welling in their eyes.
"I'm... in Ponyville?"
"Well, of course you are, silly! Where else would you be?" Pinkie swiped a hoof across her face before jumping back to her cheerful persona. "We've been waiting for you to wake up from your... coma." She whispered the last word like it was cursed.
Her brow furrowed. "What? But—"
"Oh, darling, you had us so worried! Really," Rarity clucked her tongue, "I can't believe you slept in for so long."
Dash tried to press down the endless line of questions surging inside her, settling on one. "How... long?"
"Why..." the unicorn put a contemplative hoof to her chin. "I believe it's been two weeks already."
It didn't make any sense. She hadn't been asleep, she'd been in a whole other world! "I wasn't asleep," she explained, swinging her hindlegs over the side of the bed. "I was somewhere else."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Pinkie cautioned. "Doc says you've got broken ribs and a concussion."
"Psh, yeah right," Dash scoffed. She'd been nothing but active over the past couple of weeks—sneaking around Pontropolis, fighting guards, escaping a collapsing building, for Pete's sake! Still, the pressure she felt in her chest and the throbbing that persisted in her head told her otherwise. She decided to stay perched on the bed. "I'm fine, I don't see what the big deal—"
"Hold that thought, Dashie! I've gotta go tell everypony you're awake!" Pinkie zipped out the door in a flash of pink fur before she could utter a word to stop her. The pegasus simply stared in surprise as she disappeared, her excited shouts of "She's awake!" echoing throughout the halls just beyond the room.
Rarity chuckled. "Don't blame her for being excited. Everypony's been awaiting your recovery, dear."
Rainbow frowned. "I just don't get it. Why am I here? I mean, I know the whole point was to get back to Equestria, but it wouldn't make sense that I've been here this whole time!"
Her friend seemed uncomfortable as she shifted on her hooves, giving her a somewhat confused smile. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, but... you took a nasty spill saving Scootaloo from that cart. That's how you ended up in the hospital, and you've been here ever since."
She considered her words carefully. She recalled saving the filly during one of their scooter races several days ago, and she knew there was some sort of memory gap between when she'd been in the accident and when she'd woken in the desert just outside Pontropolis. Still, it didn't add up. How could she have been in two places at once?
Just as she thought her brain might explode from the assault of questions and confusion battering her aching mind, she noticed the stampeding of hooves from outside the door growing in volume as if they were getting closer and closer until... "RAINBOW DASH!"
Several ponies burst into the room, led by none other than Pinkie Pie. Her friends wore mixtures of relief and happiness on their faces as they rushed to her bedside. They talked over one another as they greeted her, expressing their joy and releasing the tension that had weighed upon them throughout the course of her unconsciousness.
They spoke for well over an hour, catching her up on what she had missed and better explaining the context of her stay in the hospital. In turn, Dash spoke about what had happened to her while she'd been "unconscious", telling them about her time in Pontropolis and hoping they might have the answers she seeked. Although her recounting of the events certainly caught their attention, it didn't elicit the response she'd desired.
"That sounds like a terrifying dream," Fluttershy said softly, worry evident in her eyes.
"It wasn't a dream!" Dash exclaimed, frazzled. "It really happened. And it was scary, but it was no sweat. I could have saved all those ponies with one wing tied behind my back."
"Sounds to me like you came up with quite the adventure to keep yourself busy while you were snoozin'." Applejack snickered.
"You guys aren't listening to me!" She barked.
Her friends recoiled at her pointed tone, and that same pitying worry filled their faces once again. "Rainbow," Twilight said, placing her hoof over hers comfortingly. "I know this must be a lot for you. We're all glad you're back with us, whether you were sound asleep or off fighting an evil government."
Dash rolled her eyes at her friend's condescending tone. She loved her friends, but their condoling expressions were the last thing she needed at that moment. "Thanks," she said. "I'm sorry. I think I just need some rest."
The five of them paused for a moment, considering the irony of her words, before exchanging concerned glances. "Okay," the alicorn whispered. "We'll leave you be."
With that, they left.
Rainbow Dash curled up in her bed, left with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company. In an effort to take her mind off of the splitting headache permeating her skull, she decided to pour her racing thoughts into a different medium, sifting through the nightstand beside her bed until she found a small notebook and a pen.
If nopony was going to believe her, then fine. But there was no way she was just going to forget everything that had happened.
With that in mind, she began to write.
Life had quickly gone back to normal for Rainbow Dash. Only a few days after she'd woken up from the hospital, she was released with the instructions to stay off her hooves as much as possible and refrain from too much physical activity.
Of course, staying off her hooves meant she could fly, right? Right.
Scootaloo had been ecstatic to see Dash when she woke up, bursting into tears and apologizing for getting her hurt. The two made up and before they knew it they were back to their old shenanigans, performing tricks and racing one another as if no time had passed.
Weeks went by after the incident, then months, and as time passed, the adventures she'd had in a certain faraway city began to fade from her mind. The memories that she'd held onto so strongly right after she'd woken up soon became nothing but a fuzzy image—some sort of foggy, distorted dream that quickly slipped from the forefront of her mind to a small corner in the back of it, waiting until it would be completely forgotten.
It wasn't until a year later, when she got a peculiarly familiar feeling, that the gears in her brain began to shift and turn. While on a trip to Canterlot with her friends, her eyes caught on a face within the crowd of ponies milling about the downtown district. She froze, taking in her features—a pale green coat, fuchsia eyes, and a soft pink mane, along with a horn that matched her fur. She had no clue how she knew the unicorn, let alone why spotting her would evoke such a strong reaction in her. She felt as if there were something she was missing, some puzzle that could only be completed by determining the pony's identity.
Abandoning her friends, she took to the sky and flew over to the mare, skidding to a stop in front of her and catching her off guard. She let out a surprised gasp as Rainbow leaned in with a serious stare. "Do I know you?"
"Goodness! I should hope not." She scoffed, stepping around the pegasus and continuing on her way.
Disheartened and confused, she returned to her friends. It wasn't until later that night, when she was on the precipice between the waking world and the realm of sleep, that it came to her in a flash. She jumped out of her cloud bed, startling her pet turtle, Tank, awake as she flicked on the lights and began rummaging through her dresser drawers.
"I know I put it in here somewhere," she muttered as she searched their contents frantically. "Aha!"
She pulled out a small journal, wiping the dust off of it and cracking it open. Reading the words she'd written in that book was like being reborn, so many distant memories flooding back into her that she didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw it across the room.
She pondered the identity of the pony she'd encountered that day, pinning her as the unicorn that had been the first to snap out of her stupor and recognize Rainbow Dash for who she was. She didn't sleep that night as she mulled over everything that had been wrenched from her mind by the passage of time. Had it all been real?
She'd made up her mind. She needed answers.
As soon as it was late enough in the morning for her to rationalize showing up on Twilight's doorstep, she rushed over to the Princess's castle and barreled into the map room, startling both her and Spike with her frenetic presence.
"Twilight!" she huffed, winded from her mad dash to her home. "I need your help." She pulled the notebook out of her satchel and flopped it onto the table.
"Rainbow, I'm sorry, but I'm extra busy today. Do you think we could do this another time?"
She hardly even looked up from the clipboard she was levitating with her magic, her eyes scanning over its contents while Spike helped gather all the things she'd been listing.
"This is really important!" she banged her hoof on the table impatiently. "If we don't do this now I'm going to forget—"
"Uh huh," Twilight responded, unintentionally cutting her off in an attempt to seem interested.
"Urghh. What's so important, anyway?" Dash frowned, blowing a puff of air up at her mane as she settled onto her chair beside the crystal table. She looked down at the book in her hooves, scrolling through its pages and skimming the entries she'd written.
"I have to prepare for another embassy visit. Princess Celestia said they were from some far-off land that I'd never even heard of before. Can you believe that? Me? Never heard of?" She let out a bout of crazed laughter. "Which means it has to be perfect because—"
"Wait, wait, wait." She cut her off, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Her mouth dried as she slowly lifted her head to look at her. "The... name...?"
"Reptarus," she told her. "The city of Pontropolis, to be exact."