//------------------------------// // Meanwhile... // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- Off The Record // by The King of Hearts //------------------------------// //// Meanwhile… //// “I’ll be back soon!” Twilight said to Alex and Dash, as she teleported away, leaving them in the Everfree forest, alone. “What did Rarity say, exactly?” Alex asked Dash. “She just told me to come get Twilight… That it was an emergency.” Dash said. “Huh.” Alex said simply. “So… What were you doing out here?” Dash asked, looking around the large field. “Practicing some rather… Strange spells.” Alex laughed. “Ooh!” Dash said with a smile, “Can I see?” Alex thought for a moment, and then decided it couldn’t hurt to showcase his powers a bit. “Alright, Well… You know how everypony is busy preparing for this whole Discord business?” Alex asked. “Yeah…” Dash said. “Well, Twilight’s been teaching me some spells that help counter his chaotic magic.” Alex continued, “So, she brought a bunch of things that were left over after his previous rule over Equestria.” “Like that?” Dash asked, pointing at the floating yellow orb a few feet away. “What is that, by the way?” “It’s some kind of bouncy ball that Discord created.” Alex explained, “Once it starts bounding, it never stops! And there used to be thousands of them!” Dash cautiously approached the ball, and reached out a hoof to touch it. “Wait!” Alex said, stopping her dead. “Don’t touch it! I don’t want to risk it going crazy.” Dash slowly backed away, until she was just behind Alex. “Um… Can you just get rid of it? It’s kind making me nervous now.” Alex laughed, “Sure! Just, stay behind me.” Dash nodded, and stood in place. Pointing his horn toward the floating ball, Alex concentrated, and then shot out the same white energy that he used on the cotton candy cloud. The white magic enveloped the orb, and eventually seeped in. When it was all inside, the ball simply fell to the ground with a quiet ‘thud.’ “Wow!” Dash said with a smile, “Discord doesn’t stand a chance!” Alex panted. That spell took more out of him than she realized. “Oh, are you okay?” Dash asked. “Yeah,” Alex said, sitting down. “It just weakens me a bit… But, that’s why we’re practicing!” Dash sat down next to him and smiled. “What else have you been working on out here?” “Well, I’ve been working on my teleportation spells.” Alex said. “Really?” Dash asked, “Feel like showing me that too?” “Sure,” Alex said, taking a few deep breaths, getting ready to use another spell. “Point to where you want to go!” “Oh!” Dash said, surprised by his arm around her shoulders. “You can actually do that?” “It’s easier than you think…” Alex explained. “The challenge is going somewhere you can’t see, because you have to imagine it. But, if you can see where you want to go, it’s easy.” “Oh…” Dash said, “Well then… How about there?” Alex followed to where her hoof was pointed. And saw that she was looking toward the tip of a mountain, fairly far away. “You sure?” Alex asked. “It might be cold.” “Naw,” Dash said casually, “They’ve scraped all the snow from the mountains in preparation for winter.” “Of course they have,” Alex laughed, still amazed at some of this things that happened in this world. “Alright… Are you ready?” Dash closed her eyes and nodded. She then felt an instant warmth envelope her body. But, as quickly as it came, it had vanished. Leaving her exposed to the cool air once again. “Is this good?” Alex asked, watching Dash open her eyes. “It’s… Beautiful!” Dash said, honestly surprised at the view they had gotten. “I figured that you’d have this kind of view all the time while you were flying,” Alex said. “Unless of course, you were talking about my face… Because I have to agree, it really is quite beautiful.” Dash rolled her eyes as sat down. Sitting down next to her, Alex was surprised at the view of Ponyville they had I was quite nice. After a moment, Dash laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. “When you’re flying, everything looks great…” Dash said. “But, being able to sit down, and relax with… somepony you care about… Makes it so much better…” Alex smiled. Before looking at her hair, noticing something a little odd. "Your hair is a little longer right now, huh?" He asked, as she gave him an embarrassed look. "Yeah, I've been meaning to get it cut, just been busy, you know?" She asked, mindlessly feeling the length of her mane. "You should grow it out-" He said quickly, before stopping himself. However, she was already giving him a quizzical look, so he decided to finish the thought, "I just, think you'd look good with it..." The two quickly looked away from one another, leaving some silence to linger in the air. “You know…” Dash began, breaking the somewhat awkward silence, “This reminds me a lot of the night that we made up.” Noticing the now setting sun, Alex couldn’t help but agree. A few hundred feet closer to the ground, and it would have pretty much been an exact replica of that night. “You know,” Alex said, “That night… Was the night I really started to see you differently.” “Differently?” Dash asked, hoping that he was taking the subject in a more romantic direction. “Yeah,” Alex continued. “That was the night that I really saw you as a friend…” Dash sighed. Never mind. “I mean, you hated me!” Alex laughed, “You wanted me gone!” “Well… I didn’t exactly hate you.” Dash said, “I just, strongly disliked you!” “Yeah?” Alex asked laughing, “And how do you feel now?” Dash took a moment, and thought about how she could answer it. She could play it slow, or she could throw herself at him. “I’m glad we’re friends.” Dash sighed, a bit upset that she hadn’t taken the risk. “What?” Alex asked, noticing her sigh. “Well… I’m not exactly the most romantic pony in the world,” Dash said, “But come on!” Alex cocked an eyebrow. “How blind are you?” Dash said, lifting her head from his shoulder to look at him. “We’re on the top of a mountain, watching the sunset together… I was even leaning on your shoulder! Don't tell me that I have to hold your hoof!” Alex had been well aware of the situation that they were in; however, he hadn’t wanted to make her uncomfortable by bringing it up. Obviously, that had been a dumb idea. “Don’t you know what’s supposed to happen next?” Dash asked him. “Well… Yeah…” Alex said slowly. “Good!” Dash said, closing her eyes and leaning forward. Getting ready for ‘what happens next.’ “Any time would be great!” She said, puckering her lips. “Do you want to go out for dinner with me?” Alex asked. Dash opened one eye. “Uh… What?” “It doesn’t really count if you tell me when to kiss you,” Alex said, smiling, “I think it would be better if I surprised you with that.” “So… This doesn’t work for you?” Dash asked, her lips still pursed, and her wings fighting to pop open. “I mean, it could," He said, scratching his chin, "But if the two of us went for dinner, saw a movie, then maybe came back here, or some play equally romantic, then we could kiss to finish things off." Dash was actually happy to hear that. She always saw herself as a pony who took charge, but she needed him to be the boss sometimes. “Alright,” Dash said happily, “When are we going to have dinner together then?” Alex thought for a moment. “Since we’re setting up winter for the next few days, how about we go out when both of us are finished?” Alex asked. “It’ll give you something to work harder for!” Dash grinned. She did love a good race. “Where are you going to take me?” Dash asked, thinking back to their date. “I’ll surprise you.” Alex said, “I’ll have a whole night planned out.” “It had better be good!” Dash warned, “I’ll expect nothing but the best!” "You'd settle for hay fries and you know it." He laughed. "Well, the best hay fries then!" She giggled. “Alright... It’s settled then.” Alex said, giving her a smile, “It’ll be a night you’ll never forget... whether it's because we fall in love, or because i fall flat on my face.” Dash smiled and laid her head back on his shoulder. Things were finally moving forward. //// Alex walked back to the library. He had just finished dropping Dash off at her house. They had enjoyed the last of the sunset, talked a bit about winter, then decided to call it a night. Unfortunately, just after Alex dropped her off, he started to feel himself be filled with that energy. The energy that he had used to save Dash a few days ago. At first, he had thought it was nothing. So, he had ignored it. But, he it was getting harder and harder to do so. So, now he was faced with a dilemma. Should he expel the energy in a spell, or should he keep trying to ignore it? Alex weighed the options. He knew that there would be negative side effects to Ponyville if he cast a powerful spell. The ground would get that checkerboard pattern, or perhaps something similar. On the other hoof, he could ignore it, and hope that it would eventually leave him alone. Alex already knew what would happen if he DID cast the spell, so he decided to play the odds, and see what happened when he ignored the power. Hopefully, it would dissipate somehow, and he would start to feel like normal again soon. Hopefully. //// The Doctor stood in the TARDIS, and watched Alex walk by on a screen, as he headed toward the library. The time had come. After months of research and brainstorming, he had finally come up with a solution, to rid Equestria of Alex. The Doctor couldn’t help but sigh at that thought. He had never considered himself to be the scheming, or killing kind… He fixed problems, and helped ponies out… But, now he had come up with a plan to remove somepony from existence. Something he was not proud of. It had been quite a brilliant plan, actually. Back in the normal universe, he had dealt with a crack in space and time. Anything that it touched was instantly erased from existence, and the universe would go on as if they had never existed. And since he was back in time, the crack still existed. So he could still use it. He still hated the idea. What would Derpy say if she heard this plan? There’s no way she’d have ever let him go through with it… The Doctor was even aware that Alex wasn’t as bad a guy as he had originally thought. He had even saved Ponyville before. Still. He was doing this for a better future. He saw how this ended. Discord would have everypony turned to statues, and he would once again rule Equestria… The Doctor was surprised when he saw Alex suddenly collapse. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see much. Fiddling with the controls, he was able to brighten the image enough to see Alex unmoving on the ground. However, after a few seconds, The Doctor watched Alex levitate off the ground, and right himself. But, something was different about him. He was walking… differently. The Doctor had been observing Alex for long enough to know his mannerisms. And this was unique… He was carrying himself in more confidently. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. After a moment, he started to realize that Alex had a dark aura surrounding him, which was giving off a dim light. After a few moments, it disappeared, but Alex continued walking the way he had. Eventually, Alex turned a corner and disappeared off the camera. After a moment, The Doctor decided to forget about what he had just seen. Soon, Alex would be dealt with, and everything would be back to normal. //// The front door to the Library opened, and Alex stepped in. All of the lights were out; everypony must have been in bed already. Smiling, Alex looked back and forth around the main room. Twilight had spent so much time organizing these books before they had left today to practice. Casting a levitation spell, Alex individually lifted every book off of the shelves, and placed them on the floor in complete disarray. Holding back his laughter, he walked into his room and closed the door. He couldn’t wait until morning. //// Remember to thumbs up if you haven't! I realize that Spike wasn't mentioned as well. The morning is going to be very surprising. ////