//------------------------------// // Breakfast // Story: Cherish // by scootalooftw //------------------------------//         The first thing Rainbow Dash noticed when she awoke was that she was alone. She looked around groggily as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, taking note that the sun was just barely above the horizon. 'Hmm, I wonder where Twilight went to?' Rainbow Dash thought, standing up and stretching, spreading her wings to their full span and leaning first forward, then backwards. 'Forget Twilight, what's that smell?' Rainbow turned and jumped off the balcony, soaring around back to the kitchen window. Poking her head in the window, she saw Spike in a 'Kiss the Cook' apron, hard at work cooking. "A dragon cooking? Now I've seen everything." Dash joked. "Really, I'd say the same about a Rainbow Dash up before noon." Spike chuckled, flipping something in his pan. "So tell me," Dash said, leaning in to get a better view of the stove "what smells so good?" "Breakfast." Spike responded, stepping to the side to let Dash see. "I made apple pancakes, Twilight's favorite." “Smells pretty good.” Dash complemented, leaning in to sniff. “Ah, ah. That’s enough. Go wait with Twilight until the foods ready.” Spike scolded. “She’s in the other room.” Spike pointed to a pair of swinging double doors with his spatula. “Go ahead and have a seat at the table and wait. Besides, Twilight needed to talk to you about something. The kitchen door is unlocked so you can just....” “Ok, thanks Spike!” Dash cut him off, rolling through the window. Landing gracefully on her hooves, she dashed through the double doors and into the dining room. “I don’t even know why I try.” Spike sighed aloud to himself. The first thing Rainbow Dash noticed when she entered the dining room was that it wasn’t a separate room. In fact it was actually part of the main room of the library, just sectioned off by a few bookshelves. “Oh, good morning Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called out, seeing Dash coming out of the kitchen. “I was expecting to have to send Spike up to get you once the food was done.” “Yeah,” Dash chuckled “Spike said something along those lines, too” Walking over to the table and taking a seat across from Twilight, Rainbow Dash noticed that, although she didn’t look as bad as she had the night before, Twilight still looked pretty worn out. “Well, you look.... better.” Dash said, realizing that she should have chosen her words more carefully. "Uh, I mean, you, uh....” “Thanks, I think.” Twilight said, blushing slightly. “So, Spike said you needed to talk to me about something?” Dash asked. “Oh, yes.” Twilight answered. “I was thinking, now that you’ve started getting your memory back, maybe we should try to get together with the girls.” “Well...” Dash pondered. “I still don’t really remember much about any of them.” “But that’s just it! I had theory! If you were to see them again, maybe it would trigger some more memories.” “I don’t know Twi...” Dash hesitated. “Dash.... Please?” Twilight begged. “Ok, I guess...” “Breakfast is ready!” Spike called, stepping out of the kitchen balancing three plates in his arms. “Only three plates? What about Scootaloo, isn’t she eating? Dash asked, instantly digging into the plate set in front of her. “Come to think of it, i haven’t seen her all morning.” “She left for class already. She still is in school after all. After that she’s gotta head over to the weather station.” Twilight answered, picking at her food. “Weather station, what for?” Dash asked, giving Twilight a quizzical look. “Well, Scootaloo lives on her own, so she has a part time job after school, as a weather pony.” “What? She lives on her own?” Dash gaped in disbelief, nearly choking on a mouthful of food. “But she’s so young! Why doesn’t she live with her parents?” “Well... Maybe that’s something you should talk to her about.” Twilight answered hesitantly, pushing her food around her plate aimlessly. “If you head up to the weather station around lunchtime you may be able to meet her before her shift starts.” “You know what? That sounds like a great idea, I didn’t really get to thank her for bringing me here.” Rainbow Dash said excitedly, attempting to gather up her empty plate. “I’ll get it Dash!” shouted Spike, jumping to his feet to catch Rainbow Dash’s plate as she dropped it. “I’ll take care of cleaning up.” “Thanks Spike.” Rainbow Dash chuckled sheepishly. “I guess Twi and I have a few letters to write before I go to meet Scoots.” “Actually...” Twilight cut in, reaching into a bag sitting next to her. “Ah’b ahreaby wriffen wem.” “What was that Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked, shooting Twilight a quizzical glance. “Ah fed..” Twi paused to spit the scrolls onto the table. “I said I’ve already written them. I had a bit of time this morning while Spike was making breakfast, so i wrote the letters in case you said yes.” “You mean for when you convinced me to say yes.” “Eh heh heh... yeah...” Twilight chuckled, shifting awkwardly in her seat. “But hey, you saved me the trouble of writing them. I hate writing.” Dash joked. “Yeah, that’s true. So do you want to read them over before i send them?” “Me? Read? Are you sure you aren’t the one who lost their memory?” Dash said, blowing Twilight a raspberry. “Point taken.” Twilight said, giving the scrolls a quick look through. “Well, then i guess I’ll just have Spike send these then. Would you please send these for me?” “Sure, no problem Twi.” Spike set the dishes on the table and carefully took the scrolls from Twilight. Holding the scrolls out in front of himself, Spike blew a jet of emerald flames on them, vaporizing the scrolls and leaving green puffs of smoke in their place. All but one of the puffs floated through the kitchen door and out the window. But the last puff floated to the front door and squeezed under the door, followed by a flash of green and a knock at the door. “Huh, I wonder who that could be?” Spike mumbled, turning towards the door. “I’ll get it, why don’t you and Rainbow Dash take the dishes to the kitchen.” “But Twi, are you sure...” Spike started. "I said I'll get it," Twilight said curtly as she shakily rose to her hooves. Her lack of energy was painfully obvious as she visibly had a hard time standing on her four wobbly legs. “If you say so...” Grabbing the dishes off the table, Spike turned and made his way to the kitchen. Dash looked towards Spike as he carried the dishes to the kitchen, then toward Twilight as she slowly hobbled towards the door. “Umm... Twi?” “I can handle answering the door Dash, why don’t you go see if Spike needs any help in the kitchen.” Twilight called back. “I...” Dash was about to argue when she heard a crash from the kitchen. “Guess I’ll go help Spike then.” Rainbow Dash walked into the kitchen to find Spike cleaning up shards of a broken plate, a scroll lying neatly on the kitchen counter. “What happened in here?” “Oh, we got a response already. But I, uh, I dropped a dish when I got the letter.” Spike rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “Would you mind bringing it out to Twi while I get this cleaned up?” “Sure, no problem.” Rainbow Dash picked up the scroll and made her way to the door, but as Dash was about to step through the door she heard Twilight answer the door. “Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?” Came Twilights surprised greeting. ‘Pinkie Pie.... Why does that name seem so familiar?’ Dash wracked her brain, trying to think of how she knew that name. ‘Wait, Pinkie was one of my friends.’ Now that she remembered who Pinkie was, the memories came flooding back. She remembered parties, with balloons and streamers everywhere. There was punch and cake, and she remembered a bright, puffy pink mane, which mirrored the owners bright and puffy personality. Dash had been expecting a bright, cheerful response, but the voice that answered Twilight was the complete opposite. It was a dull, almost monotone response with absolutely no emotion behind it. “I haven’t gone by that name in some time, Twilight. Everypony calls me Pinkamena these days.” Caught off guard by the response, Twilight took a moment to answer. “Okay, Pinkie... err, Pinkamena. How did you get here so fast, I just sent the letters out.” “It’s that dreadful ‘Pinkie Sense’ of mine. It told me you needed to see me, so I took a trip out here.” Pinkamena explained, an eary lack of emotion still present in her voice. “I had just arrived at the door when some green smoke snaked its way under the door and a scroll appeared in front of me.” “Oh, umm, ok...” Twilight stammered, slightly shocked by the new Pinkie Pie before her. “I, err... I’m sorry if I don’t seem excited to see you, you’ve just changed so much, it’s kind of... shocking.” Pinakmena chuckled coldly. “You were expecting the happy go lucky Pinkie Pie that used to work at the bakery? Well, after we all... split up, I moved back in with my parents on their rock farm.” “But what happened to you? You used to be so happy, what happened?” Pinkamena let out a sigh. “I don’t know when exactly I stopped smiling. It might have been after the argument we all had.” Pinkamena turned and walked to the window, gazing longingly out towards Ponyville. “Or it could have been when my parents both became ill and I had to take over the farm. I don’t know when it happened, but I guess I just forgot how to smile.” By this time, Dash had heard enough, she slowly pushed her way through the double doors and approached Pinkamena. “ Umm, Pinkie?” Pinkamena turned to scold the new-comer for calling her Pinkie. But she stopped, mouth agape, when she saw who the offender was. “Da... Dashie?” Pinkamena slowly approached Rainbow Dash, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Heh, long time no see, eh Pinkie?”