Chapter Two
A year and two days ago, Applejack had paced through the halls of a Manehattan hospital, fraught with worry over a girlfriend who had just been in a terrible crash. She could still vividly remember the impotence she felt as she watched Rainbow Dash risk her life to save Spitfire and Fleetfoot from the inferno that spread across the field. The sting of the smoke, the heat of the flames, the heart-crushing weight of the guilt, Applejack could still recall it all with perfect clarity.
It was the cruel whims of fate that Applejack once again found herself trapped within the halls of a hospital, chained to her seat by guilt and anxiety. She had already tired herself out pacing through the halls. The saddlebags she wore may have only carried a few items but they felt like lead bricks when coupled with the weight of her guilt.
The argument, that stupid, petty argument, kept playing over and over in her mind. Why did she have to snap like that? She knew how Rainbow Dash reacted to anything that resembled work and responsibility. The knee-jerk response of aversion was typical of her but that never meant that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have warmed up to the idea eventually. This was the same pegasus that napped in her orchard just so she could be closer to Applejack when help was needed. If she had just been more patient maybe Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have become so defensive.
Maybe Rainbow Dash had been right; maybe she had let the news of Spitfire’s pregnancy influence her thoughts. She could have just slept on the idea and brought it up later. Why did she have to bring it up on her anniversary? Applejack felt an overwhelming urge to put a face-sized hole in the wall next to her but held her temper in check.
The smell of scorched mane and the image of her love, broken, was burnt into her mind. She could see it every time she closed her eyes. She could have stopped Rainbow from leaving. She could have grabbed her by the tail and kept her in the house. She could have just conceded the argument and not be so darn stubborn like she always was. She could have—
“Miss Applejack?”
An unfamiliar voice snapped the farmer pony from her self-inflicted guilt trip. When she glanced up, she saw a unicorn carrying a clipboard and wearing a long white coat. It was about time the doctor showed up.
Applejack shot a sideways glance over to a nearby couch where Soarin’ and Spitfire were. They were still sound asleep as they had been for the past few hours. The two were wrapped in such a warm embrace that Applejack didn’t have the heart to wake them up. It had been a long night for them all so it was best to just let them have their rest. A part of her wished she had taken the opportunity to nap as well, but she’s been too worried and restless.
Hopping out of her own seat, Applejack led the doctor to another part of the hallway so they could talk in private. “How is she, doc?” Applejack asked with understandable worry.
The doctor adjusted his glasses as he gave his clipboard a final read-over. “Physically, Rainbow Dash only suffered some minor injuries from the crash.”
“But what about her head? She can’t remember anything!” Applejack interrupted as her impatience overrode her usual good-natured politeness.
“I was getting to that,” the doctor replied. He flipped a page on the clipboard and trace his hoof along the page. “From what we can tell, she seems to have lost all of her long-term memories along with some short-term memory issues.”
“Ah already knew that!” The combination of impatience and worry was taking its toll on Applejack. She was three steps away from knocking the doctor out and taking the clipboard for herself. Thankfully, she didn’t possess the same volatility as Spitfire and she was able to beat her frustrations back. “Can you fix it, doc? That’s what Ah need to know!”
“I’m afraid in terms of modern medicine, there’s nothing more I can do,” the doctor replied in a sympathetic voice that felt synthetic and hollow to Applejack. “The psyche is the least understood part of a pony. We don’t know how or if she’ll ever regain her memories, nor can we tell how her mind in its current state will react. The best thing for her now is that she’s able to rest someplace where she’s surrounded by close friends and family. The next few days or weeks are going to be very turbulent for, and its important that somebody she can trust is with her.”
“So Ah’ve basically gotta earn the trust of somebody who just sees me as another stranger?” Applejack remarked.
“Well not necessarily,” the doctor continued to explain with a growing hint of reassurance in his voice. “Rainbow Dash should still possess a great deal of her implicit memories.”
“Her what now?” Medical jargon was obviously not something that Applejack knew much about.
“Implicit memory,” the doctor reiterated as though saying the term again would help. “In simple terms, its subconscious memory built from experience. For example, Rainbow might not remember going to flight camp, but she’ll probably still be able to fly just as well as she did before the accident. The longer she’s had experience with something, the more likely she’ll be able to draw on implicit memories, even if she’s not aware of it.”
“So...she might not remember who Ah am, but she might subconsciously remember to trust me?”
The doctor smiled and nodded. “It’s not a guarantee, but it might be her best chance to regain her old memories.”
“Can I see her now?” The prospect from the doctor did not fill Applejack with much hope but her love and sheer stubbornness was not going to allow her to abandon Rainbow Dash in her hour of need. She still wished she had some clue as to how to help her love but she knew nothing of amnesia other than what she’s read in old novel, and those were hardly an accurate portrayal of a serious medical condition.
The doctor nodded and motioned for her to follow. “Just stay calm and take it slowly with her. This is as much of a shock to her as it is to you.”
Applejack felt her heartbeat steadily rising as she was led down the corridor into a hospital room that still smelled of sterility. The two ponies stopped just outside the open door. Applejack felt her heart take another hit from what she saw. Sitting by the open window, where the morning sun was shining through, was Rainbow Dash. She had a newspaper with her and was casually flipping through it with the hopes that something in it would seem familiar to her. Alas, the only things that stood out were the things that she had recently been told of: she was in Ponyville, her name was Rainbow Dash, and she fell through a ceiling after getting hit by lightning.
“You’re free to take her home whenever you both are ready,” the doctor explained in a hushed tone. “It’s best she be in a more familiar setting.”
“Thanks, doc,” Applejack replied with a curt nod.
“Please, just call me Tenderhoof,” the doctor replied before he trotted off to attend to his other duties.
Taking a slow, deep breath to calm her nerves, Applejack slowly trotted in and knocked against the doorframe. “Heya,” she greeted in a gentle voice.
Rainbow Dash glanced up from her newspaper to the mare entering the room and smiled. She still couldn’t remember anything about Applejack, but she could tell that the pony cared a lot about her and that had to mean something.
“Hi, um...it’s Applejack, right?” Rainbow replied.
Applejack nodded as she made her way over to where Rainbow sat. She could tell right away there was a marked difference in the pegasus before her. Without the memories of her childhood victories, that boisterous zeal of Rainbow’s was missing and replaced with the caution to be expected from a pony who had awoken to a world that was a complete mystery to her.
“How’re you feeling?”
“Good,” Rainbow answered but in an unconvincing tone. It sounded she was trying to convince herself of this more than Applejack. “My head is still a bit sore but that’s kind of a minor issue.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Applejack wasn’t being very honest herself either but she put on a brave face for Dash’s sake.
Sadly, it didn’t take long for an awkward silence to envelope the room. In a normal situation, Applejack could think of a dozens things to say and that wasn’t taking into account the hundreds of things that Rainbow Dash might say. The air in the room felt cold and alien to the farmer. It felt more like she was looking at an old photo than talking to the love of her life.
“Who are you exactly?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, I know your name but how do you know me? Are we, like, friends or something?”
Applejack knew that question was bound to come up. She was still working out in her head how she was going to explain it. She hadn’t yet decided whether to ease into the subject or just state it flat-out. In the end, Rainbow Dash asking the question made the choice for her.
“You’re my girlfriend,” Applejack answered. To her dismay, Rainbow Dash appeared to be surprised by this fact.
“We’re—I mean, you and I are—”
“Eeyup.”
“Wow,” Rainbow murmured under her breath before running a nervous hoof through her mane. “A-and how long have we been together?”
“A year. It was actually our anniversary yesterday.” Applejack watched the other mare’s reaction closely. There wasn’t even a flicker of a smile on Rainbow’s face. The news only seemed to make Dash look more worrisome.
And why wouldn’t Rainbow Dash be worried? Here was a pony stating that she had been in a relationship with her for the past year, and she felt nothing towards Applejack. She wanted to believe her; there was no reason for the earth pony to lie. What Rainbow Dash saw in the other ponies eyes was affection and concern, but also expectations—expectations that she didn’t think she could fulfill in her current state. It made her feel like a failure without even having crossed the starting line.
And she hated the feeling of failure.
“I take it you were part of the reason I was flying through a thunderstorm that bad?”
It took all of Applejack’s willpower not to grimace at the question. She was the entire reason that Rainbow Dash was flying in through that monster of a storm. It was already bad enough that Applejack was beating herself over it. Adding Rainbow’s animosity to it wouldn’t just hurt Applejack’s feeling but it could also impede the pegasus’ recovery.
“S-something like that,” Applejack answered in her best attempt to omit the vital details of the truth. It wasn’t lying so much as remaining vague on the details. Once Rainbow Dash got her memories back, she’d understand why Applejack didn’t want to bring up their previous fight.
In order to avoid lingering on that subject any longer than necessary, Applejack quickly changed the subject. “How about I take you home, hm? Then Ah can round up all of our friends and we can help you through this.” She sweetened her offer with a warm, welcoming smile. The late hour of the incident had kept her from telling everyone else about the disaster, and she felt like she was withholding something important from them.
Rainbow Dash mulled over the other pony’s offer for a few moments. It was hard for her to shake the uneasiness that came with the loss of self she was experiencing, but on the other hoof, her gut was telling her to trust Applejack. She knew nobody else, after all, so what choice did she have?
“That sounds like a good place to start as any,” Rainbow Dash answered with a hint of her usual confidence beginning to show.
“Oh, and one last thing,” Applejack said as she reached into her saddlebag. The pegasus raised an eyebrow when she saw the pith helmet that was produced and held out to her. The anniversary gift had been left behind at her place, and it seemed only fitting to give it back. “This belongs to you.”
“Really?” Rainbow inquired as she picked up the hat to examine it closer. “What kind of weirdo wears a hat like this?” Despite her initial aversion, Rainbow felt a strange draw towards the accessory. Curious, she sat the helmet upon its rainbow-coloured throne.
It felt right, as if it belonged there.
*******************
In the end, Applejack chose Sweet Apple Acres as a good setting to bring all of their friends together. The familiarity would hopefully keep Rainbow Dash comfortable, and the farm offered far more peace and seclusion compared to other locations like Sugarcube Corner or the library. She also didn’t want to spend too much time in Ponyville given Dash’s current condition. Rainbow Dash was too well-recognized and too many ponies at once might overwhelm the pegasus’ mind. Things needed to be taken slow, which necessitated a controlled environment.
Soarin’ and Spitfire, now awake and brought up to speed on Rainbow’s condition, trailed behind the couple by a few meters. They were both equally worried about their friend, but both felt it was wise that Applejack took the lead in Rainbow’s rehabilitation.
Applejack used the time between the hospital and the farm to refresh Rainbow’s memory about their friends. Whether it was this implicit memory that the doctor mentioned or Applejack was just really good at selling her friends, Rainbow Dash appeared optimistic about meeting them.
“Okay, now which one is Pinkie Pie?” Applejack asked as they continued through town. She figured a little quizzing would help Rainbow remember since, as she had discovered on the walk over, the part about short-term memory problems was proving true.
“The...yellow one?” Rainbow answered sheepishly.
It was the third time that Applejack has had to remind her which one was Pinkie Pie. One would think the name would make it an easy enough task for anyone to remember.
“It’s okay, hun,” Applejack said as she gave the other pony a reassuring pat on the back. “It’ll be easier once you actually see them, and ain’t nopony gonna blame you if you need a reminder every so often.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rainbow murmured under her breath.
When Applejack asked what she had just said, she shrugged it off. While it was true that others might be accepting of Rainbow’s mistakes, but she sure as hay wasn’t enjoying it. It was frustrating to her to see things that she knew in heart she should recognize but her mind drew nothing. It was like a bad dream that she wanted to wake from. Was she going to be stuck like this for the rest of her life? That thought alone was terrifying.
Unfortunately, while it had been Applejack’s hope that they could get out of Ponyville without drawing much attention to themselves, such good fortune was not to befall them. Out of the corner of her eye, Applejack noticed a familiar pony galloping towards them. It was the Mayor.
“Rainbow Dash!” Mayor Mare called out as she slowed to a trot upon closing in on the pair. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. This overcast needs to get cleared up quickly before the marketplace opens up.”
A quick glance skyward did confirm the obvious fact that there were still numerous clouds floating through the sky. They must have been the remnants of last night’s thunderstorm, which would have been Rainbow’s responsibility to take care of first thing in the morning, or at least first thing once Applejack found out about it and told her to do her job.
Applejack hated the idea of having to disappoint the Mayor, but she felt compelled to speak on Rainbow’s behalf. “Miss Mayor, Ah don’t think that’d be a very good idea,” she said as she stepped between the Mayor and Rainbow Dash. “Normally, Ah’d be the first to agree with you, but Rainbow Dash isn’t feeling very well today. She had a bit of a mishap last night and the doctor says she should be taking it easy.”
“Well hold on a second,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “My brain might be a little fried but that doesn’t make me a cripple. If it’s my job to keep the sky clear, then I should do it.”
“Dashie, ain’t nopony is going to expect you to work in your state.” Applejack was surprised that, for a change, she was taking the argument for doing less work. She just didn’t want Rainbow Dash pushing herself so soon after a serious crash.
“If it’s my responsibility then its the right thing to do!” Rainbow Dash’s sudden conviction towards work ethics stunned the other ponies. Glancing skyward once more, Rainbow Dash knew that this was something she had to do. She wondered if it was something deep in her mind trying to force its way back to the surface. It could also just be that she felt selfish ignoring a responsibility that she knew she was physically capable of still performing. “Here, hold this,” she said as she handed her hat over to Applejack.
Ignoring any further objections from the farmer, Rainbow Dash took to the sky. The feel of the wind blowing through her mane felt familiar and comforting to her. She remembered Applejack telling her that she had a fondness for flight so it made sense that a subconscious part of her would still remember the exhilaration. Such emotions wouldn’t feel so bittersweet if she could understand why she felt that way.
“Okay, just gotta knock a few clouds out of the sky. Sounds easy enough,” Rainbow said to herself as she closed in on the closest cloud. “Whole sky shouldn’t take more than a minute or two.”
She slowed to a hover in front of a sizeable dark cloud that loomed over Applejack and the others. For a brief moment, Rainbow felt a sudden wave of deja vu hit. She took it as a good sign—that her mind was beginning to recall things buried deep within. Spurred on by her desire to regain herself, Rainbow Dash gave the cloud a solid kick. The cloud burst into a million pieces, but not before some of its residual electric charge sparked with a loud snap.
Rainbow Dash got her wish: the electrical discharge did spur some memories to come rushing to the surface. Unfortunately, they weren’t the ones that she wanted. Flashes of the prior night rushed through her mind. She remembered fighting against a powerful wind shear, a blinding flash, and then plummeting back to the earth. Her mind flooded with strange feelings of pain and anguish. Were these what she was feeling back during the storm? Her muscles tensed as a paralyzing fear took grip of her body. So tight was its hold that she couldn’t even manage a scream as her wings locked down tighter than Fluttershy’s cottage on Nightmare Night.
Thankfully, Soarin’ was quick to respond. Rainbow Dash didn’t even make it halfway to the earth before she was snatched out of the sky by the speeding Wonderbolt.
“Easy there, girl, I got’cha,” Soarin’ reassured the distressed pegasus. He drifted back to the earth where a still-worried Applejack was waiting for them.
“Rainbow! Are you okay? What happened?” Applejack asked as she helped ease the pegasus to the ground. She knew that Rainbow’s condition could lead to some complications but this was completely unexpected. The once fearless and boisterous pony was huddled on the ground, trembling like a terrified filly. At first, she didn’t even respond to Applejack’s calls, as if in some form of catatonic shock. “It’s okay Rainbow,” Applejack whispered as she wrapped her hooves around the timid pegasus and held her close. “Ain’t nothing to be scared of. You’re safe now.”
Once in her embrace, Rainbow Dash clung to the mare as though she were the only thing keeping the pegasus from being dragged away. At first, all she could hear was the subtle ‘ba-dum ba-dum’ of the earth pony’s heartbeat. After about a minute, Applejack’s voice began to seep through the mental barriers, and the gentle reassurances slowly brought the frightened pegasus’ mind back into focus. The fear soon subsided and released its choking grip upon her.
“Wha-what happened?” Rainbow Dash murmured as her mind began to collect itself.
“You tell us,” Applejack replied with a hint of her own confusion. “One second you were flying up to kick a cloud and the next you were plummeting like a fresh apple.”
“I’m not sure,” Rainbow recalled. “I just kicked the cloud and then all of a sudden I just...froze.”
Applejack was willing to be that it had a lot to do with the small bolt of lightning, which made her all the more eager to get Rainbow Dash someplace quieter. “Come on, Dashie,” Applejack encouraged as she helped the pegasus back to her hooves. “Let’s just get you some place where you can rest and be with your friends.”
“That’s starting to sound like a better idea by the second,” Rainbow reluctantly agreed.
“I’m terribly sorry about this,” Mayor Mare said in offering of an apology. “Don’t you worry about the weather. You just focus on getting better.” This still left the Mayor with a heavy overcast to deal with, but a marketplace wasn’t going to get ruined by a lack of sunshine.
“Hey, maybe we can take care of your cloud problem,” Spitfire suggested. While she hadn’t cleared a cloudy sky since her days in the Wonderbolts Academy, she was still the daughter of a former weather manager.
“You would do that for us?” The Mayor was elated, as to be expected, to hear that two Wonderbolts were offering up their services for her town. Not only did it save her the extra work of having to track down a replacement for Rainbow Dash, but it also meant that she could have a clear and sunny sky in time for the opening of the marketplace.
“Well not me specifically, but Soarin’ can. He stuffed his face with pizza last night so he could use the exercise,” Spitfire explained as she shot a none-too-subtle glance over to her partner. “He’ll handle the cloudbusting while I’ll supervise.”
“Hey! You had just as much pizza as I did,” Soarin’ protested. “Why do you get to slack off?”
“Because I ate for two, remember? Plus, I need to conserve the calories.” Spitfire's smug chuckle was enough to win the argument. With quiet grumblings, Soarin’ took to the sky to get started on his new assignment. “Boy, I can get away with almost anything when I’m pregnant,” she mused with a barely-contained snicker. The Wonderbolt Captain then turned her attention to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “You don’t mind if we take care of this, right?”
Spitfire didn’t want to make it seem like she was bailing on the couple, but she honestly felt she could do more good by making sure that Rainbow’s responsibilities around town were taken care of, thus allowing her friend to focus on recovery.
“It’s okay,” Applejack replied. “We’ll be at the farm so you two just catch up when y’all are finished.” In truth, Applejack hoped that some more time alone with Rainbow Dash would help the most in her recovery. She figured that Rainbow Dash could also use some rest and a good meal, neither of which required the Wonderbolt’s presence.
With a terse goodbye, Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued on their way to Sweet Apple Acres.
*******************
Much to Applejack’s relief, they were able to reach Sweet Apple Acres without any further incidents. They were delayed briefly at the main gate by an inquisitive Apple Bloom, who had come out to greet the couple, but little sisters were easy to handle. All it took was a quick remark about Rainbow Dash not feeling well and in need of some rest and the younger sibling was sent on her way without further questioning.
“There aren’t any brothers or sisters I’m forgetting, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as the pair headed inside the homestead. It was bad enough forgetting all of your best friends, but forgetting family would just add further insult to injury.
“If you do, that’d be news to me,” Applejack answered. In all honesty, the topic of Rainbow’s family had never come up that often between them. Perhaps because of how close Applejack was to her own, talk of family was never of much interest to either of them. She made a mental note to find out more about Rainbow’s family when she had the time.
Like every other locale, Rainbow Dash could remember nothing of the homestead other than the fact that this was where she crashed. She didn’t expect any miracles, but she hoped that at some point something or someone familiar would help her recover some of her lost memories. Nonetheless, it was a nice home and Rainbow Dash could see why she was brought back here. It was probably nicer than her own home.
In fact, where was her home? Rainbow Dash assumed she had a home somewhere. Given that she was a pegasus, it was probably up in the sky, which would also explain why they didn’t go there instead. Still, she would have liked to have seen her own home. There might have been something there that could’ve jogged her memory better. Unfortunately, with Applejack there didn’t seem to be much of a chance of that happening anytime soon. The farmer pony seemed intent on assuming the mantle of caretaker.
“How about we get you settled in upstairs,” Applejack said as she guided the pegasus up the stairs. “Can Ah get you anything to eat? Maybe a drink? Ah reckon you gotta be famished after by now.”
“What about you? You look pretty tired,” Rainbow said. She hadn’t made mention of it before since they were walking from the hospital, but now that Applejack was home, Rainbow was a bit worried. She began to think that it wasn’t her that needed the rest. “When was the last time you slept?”
“Yesterday morning but this ain’t about me,” Applejack insisted.
Rainbow disagreed with that assertion. What was the point of trying to care for her if one could not take care of themselves in the process? As Rainbow had suspected, Applejack hadn’t slept the entire time she was at the hospital, which meant the farmer pony likely hadn’t had any sleep in at least twenty-four hours.
“You really ought to get some sleep, Applejack. That just ain’t healthy,” Rainbow countered.
“Ah told you, Ah’m fine.” Applejack’s stubbornness might have carried more weight had it not been interrupted by a small yawn soon afterwards. The mere mention of sleep triggered a wave of fatigue to crash into her. Sleep deprivation seemed to be just as stubborn in harassing her. “Gosh darn it, all this talk of sleep is making me yawn. Ah ain’t,” another yawn interrupted the pony’s words, “tired at all.”
“You sure? You look pretty sleepy to me. Maybe you should just lay your head down for a spell.”
“No, no, no! Ah’ve got look out for you first,” Applejack continued to protest despite an ever increasing barrage of yawns interrupting her tempo. All the talk about sleeping, however, was playing havoc with her subconscious, which was begging for rest now. She knew she had to fight it. It was just a matter of willpower and determination, or sheer stubbornness in her case.
Carefully wrapping a wing around the pony, Rainbow took the lead and began guiding Applejack towards the bedroom. “Let’s get you someplace nice and comfortable to lay down,” she said with an inviting tone.
A warm bed did sound quite tempting. “Ah ain’t sleepy, Ah’m just a bit groggy,” Applejack said in an increasingly sluggish voice. Though she protested the idea, her body began to follow the pegasus’ lead on auto-pilot, carrying her towards the bed. “Ah’ll hit mah second wind at any moment now. Sleep can wait until later.”
“Of course you will.” By this point, Applejack was too groggy to realize that Rainbow Dash was just placating her. In fact, as the waves of sleep-deprived fatigue battered down her defenses, Applejack was soon no longer even able to resist the other mare’s guide.
Entering her bedroom, with its makeshift patch job in the ceiling, Applejack could hear her bed calling out to her. Come, stay and sleep. It was like a siren’s call to the weary pony. It wasn’t long before that voice in Applejack’s head that was telling her to tough it out was now nodding its head in agreement. A little sleep wouldn’t hurt, now would it? A quick nap and Applejack would be able to look after her love through the whole evening and beyond.
“Ah ain’t...Ah ain’t...tired at all...” Applejack murmured in her last attempts at defiance. Her eyelids were beginning to feel quite heavy now, as well as her limbs. With Rainbow Dash’s help, she stumbled across the bedroom and onto the bed while still insisting that she didn’t need any rest. Alas, the bed sheets soon encircled the pony in their comforting grasp, pulling her in and refusing to let go. The pillow, so soft and warm, drew her in like a magnet. “Ah can still...keep...go...ing...”
While defiant to the end, Applejack was soon down for the count and swept away into a blissful slumber. Rainbow Dash paused for a moment as she watched the pony slumber. One could be forgiven for assuming that all was right with the world given how peaceful she looked. Too bad it wasn’t a sentiment that Rainbow shared. Nothing like no past to hold onto to make one feel like they were adrift in the world, but if the world thought that Rainbow Dash was just going lie down and take it then the world clearly did not know Rainbow Dash!
Applejack may have wanted to take things slow but Rainbow had no patience for that. With the farmer asleep, she slipped downstairs to the kitchen and helped herself to some of the contents of the pantry. She figured it was okay since Applejack had already offered to bring her some food. All Rainbow was doing was a bit of self-service. The farmer obviously wouldn’t want Dash to go hungry.
After stuffing her face with several apple fritters and half of a pie, Rainbow Dash checked back on the slumbering farmer. Unsurprising, Applejack was still out cold. Since it would likely be a long time before the farmer regained consciousness, Rainbow Dash decided to take charge of her own recovery process.
“No point sticking around here,” Rainbow Dash concluded. Perhaps she could find some of these friends that Applejack had mentioned earlier. It would help if she could recall their names. She decided that it could be an adventure of its own: a literal journey of self-discovery. Heading out the door, Rainbow Dash set her sights on Ponyville and proceeded with all speed.
*******************
One good thing about being a pegasus was that it was very hard to get lost no matter how little you knew about your surroundings. At any point that Rainbow Dash felt a little confused as to whereabouts in town she was, all the pegasus had to do was fly about fifty feet in the air and look around until she could spot something familiar. Rainbow was able to trace her steps through town easily enough but as she didn’t want to return to the hospital, she took a few extra turns and began to wander into unfamiliar lands.
Things seemed to go well enough at first. A few ponies appeared to recognize her and said hi to her as she passed by. Judging by the fact that none of them stopped suggested that they weren’t much more than just acquaintances. However, after about a dozen hi’s and hello's, Rainbow Dash got the impression that she was quite well-known throughout town. It was relieving to know that she probably wouldn’t have any nasty surprises waiting for her around the next corner.
Though speaking of corners, when Rainbow Dash trotted through what she presumed to be the marketplace, which was still being set up whilst the two Wonderbolt volunteers cleared the sky above, she heard her name being called out yet again. To no surprise, Rainbow couldn’t recognize the voice but it sounded more than just the call of a random passer-by. A flash of movement from the side brought her attention to a purple unicorn trotting up to her, though Rainbow had to contain her surprise when the unicorn turned out to have wings as well.
“Good morning Rainbow Dash,” Twilight greeted.
“Uh-oh. Which one was the purple one again?” Rainbow Dash could remember Applejack mentioning that one of her friends was an alicorn, but for the life of her, she couldn’t put a name to the face. “It was Fluttershy, right? No, wait! Fluttershy was pink. Wait, or was it just a pink mane? This one has got pink in her mane, or is that more of a fuschia?”
“Hey...you.” Rainbow stumbled with her words at first, but if a mistake had been noticed, the other pony didn’t say anything about it.
“I’m surprised to see you out and about so early,” Twilight commented. She chuckled a bit as though there was some insider joke that Rainbow should have caught. “I figured you’d still be hanging out with Applejack.”
“Applejack? She was...um, really tired after last night so she’s still resting,” Rainbow explained with a small omission of truth.
“Oh, I can imagine.” Twilight chuckled again as she glanced up to the pith helmet that still adorned Rainbow’s head. It took Rainbow a few seconds to clue in as to what was so funny. Thankfully, Twilight didn't make any jokes about the flourish of crimson forming upon the pegasus’ cheeks. “But anyways, it’s actually a good thing I bumped into you because there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh? About what?” Rainbow didn’t like where this conversation was going. What did this pony want to talk to her about? She still couldn’t remember her name, let alone what she might want. It might have been easier to just tell Twilight that she had lost all of her memory, but the words kept getting lodged in her throat. Applejack said this pony was her friend so why couldn’t she bring herself to admit the truth?
“Well it’s about yesterday,” Twilight began while tapping at the ground with her hooves in an uneasy fashion, “and I was just thinking that, uh—have I mentioned how good a friend you’ve always been?”
“Um, maybe?” Rainbow suspected that she’d be confused even if she did remember what had happened yesterday. Something about this line of discussion was making the other pony uneasy.
“I know you said ‘no’ yesterday but I was really hoping you’d reconsider.” Great. The other pony was already operating under the assumption that Rainbow Dash knew what this was all about. “Maybe we could work out a deal or a time table, or maybe there’s something I can do for you in exchange.
“I’m sorry, but the answer is still no.” Given that the only thing she knew of this topic was that she said ‘no’ to the request yesterday, it seemed reasonable not to change that stance. To be fair, she did feel bad about having to say no to her friend.
Unfortunately, hearing ‘no’ appeared to cause a sudden change in the other pony’s temperament. Twilight’s eye began to twitch as the answer resonated in her head. An unsettling grin appeared on her face as she saddled up alongside Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, come on Rainbow, we’re all reasonable ponies here,” Twilight persisted as the tension began to show in her voice. “We’re friends, and good friends share everything! You wouldn’t hold out on a good friend, right?” She must have really wanted it bad—whatever it was.
“Th-this really isn’t a good time to be talking about this,” Rainbow replied. The conversation was going in a direction that was making her a bit uncomfortable, and not just because it was hard to say no to something she knew nothing of.
“Don’t hold out on me, Dash!” Twilight snapped as she suddenly hooked both hooves around the pegasus’ neck. “I know I don’t usually impose myself like this but I need it!”
“Need...it?” What was this alicorn going on about? “Is she...trying to come onto me?”
“Yes! Yes, oh by the heavens, yes!” The alicorn was starting to sound a bit unhinged, which only made Rainbow Dash feel more uneasy. If the other pony didn’t have wings, she would have flown off by now. “I know it seemed like I was playing it cool yesterday but I really, really, really need it!”
Now Rainbow was feeling more compelled to leave than ever. Maybe if she could remember who this pony was, she could recall what Applejack said about them. Perhaps this was Pinkie Pie—Applejack did describe her as a bit intense.
“I...I really need to get going,” Rainbow said in an attempt to excuse herself. Pushing away from the alicorn, Rainbow tried to make her escape to the skies. However, escaping from a pony with potent magics proved more difficult than she anticipated.
“You can’t!” Twilight yelped as her magic dragged the pegasus back to earth. “You can’t hold out on me like this, Rainbow! You have to let me have it! I promise I’ll be gentle—I won’t tell a soul!”
“I really think this is a bad idea!” Despite pulling and tugging, Rainbow couldn’t free herself from the alicorn’s magic.
“I won’t need it for long. You can give it up for just a week, right? Or maybe a few days? An hour, even? Just let me have the book! I need to know what happens!”
Rainbow Dash ceased her struggling upon the mentioning of a book. Was this frantic half-begging, half-hostile negotiation all over a book? Not only was Rainbow wondering why the alicorn was so obsessed over a mere book, but also as to why said ‘no’ to this request in the first place.
“This is for a book?” It wasn’t until a second after Rainbow’s outburst that she realized she may have just outed herself. That sense of dread and apprehension intensified as the other pony’s face contorted under the strain of confusion and bewilderment.
“Of course this is about the book,” Twilight remarked before releasing her magical grip on the pegasus. “Is everything okay, Rainbow Dash?”
“E-everything’s fine!” Rainbow insisted with all the convincing mettle of a filly with their hoof still in the cookie jar. “Why wouldn’t they be? Yup! Everything’s just fine and dandy!”
“Rainbow,” the alicorn said in an accusatory sneer.
It was enough to crack any remaining resolve Rainbow Dash had. “Okay, so maybe everything isn’t fine,” Rainbow said followed by a sigh of resignation. She took a slow breath to calm her nerves and find the right words to explain everything in a clear and concise manner. “I got zapped while flying and now my brain has been scrambled.”
For a second, Twilight just stared at her friend in disbelief. Zapped? Scrambled? “I’m sorry, but what happened exactly?” she asked in order to get some clarification.
“I got hit by some lightning and now I can’t remember anything.”
“Anything? You mean like you don’t remember anything at all?”
That was what Rainbow had just said and if Twilight continued repeating everything in the form of a question, this conversation was going to take twice as long. “Everything. I don’t even remember who I am.”
“So you have no idea who I am.”
“Fluttershy?”
“Oh my, this really is bad,” Twilight said as the severity of the situation began to sink in. “Then where’s Applejack?”
“I wasn’t really lying about that part,” Rainbow explained. “She really was tired after staying up all night at the hospital. She fell asleep so I just sorta left her back at the farmhouse.”
“And you just left her there?” Twilight could only imagine how worried Applejack was for her girlfriend’s well-being. The fact that she was asleep at a time like this was the only thing that convinced Twilight that Applejack had, indeed, stayed up all night. “Maybe we should go back to Sweet Apple Acres then. I’m sure Applejack would be worried sick if she saw you walking around on your own.”
However, as Twilight took a few steps in the general direction of the Apple family homestead, she noticed that Rainbow remained where she was.
“Um, aren’t you coming?”
Rainbow Dash said nothing at first, and instead stared at the idle hoof she was scuffing the ground with. “I’d rather not go back there,” she admitted after some reluctance.
“What do you mean?” Twilight inquired as this behavior ran completely contrary to Rainbow’s normal behavior. “But you and Applejack are so close. You mean the world to her.”
“No, the old me means the world to her,” Rainbow snapped back with a mixture of disappointment and contempt. “I’m not that pony anymore, but she keeps looking at me like I am.” With another sigh, the pegasus’ sank to her knees. “I appreciate everything she’s done for me, and she seems like a nice pony, but I just can’t be who she wants me to be.”
It was always disheartening to see a friend so broken up. Twilight could only venture a guess what was going through Rainbow’s mind as she struggled to understand just who she was. She trotted over to her and gave the pegasus a supportive hug.
“It’s not your fault, Rainbow Dash,” she said. “You had a bad accident. An injury of the mind is no different than one of the body. You need to be patient and give yourself time to recover.”
“Except do you have any idea how frustrating this is? Everyone is looking at me like I’m somebody that I have connection with,” Rainbow explained as said frustration began to flare up in her voice. “Everyone is expecting me to be somebody that I’m not anymore. I feel things that I don’t understand where they’re coming from, and nothing makes sense to me anymore!”
“They just don’t know what’s happened, Rainbow,” Twilight replied with the hopes of calming her friend down. “They’ll understand, and I promise you that nopony will think less of you because of your condition.”
“Except I think less of me because of this!” The attempts to ease her worries seemed to only exacerbate things. “I’m supposed to be this great flier but when I tried to earlier, I completely froze. It’s bad enough knowing everything I was is gone, it's even worse when you don’t know what it is that’s missing.”
Twilight wished she could more than just offer her support as a friend, especially since what her friend wanted put her at odds with another friend. If she took Rainbow Dash back to Sweet Apple Acres or went there alone to wake Applejack up, that would be going against Rainbow Dash’s expressed desires. She was Rainbow’s friend but she had to respect her friend’s wishes even if she didn’t necessarily agree with them. In the end, Twilight reasoned that she couldn’t abandon Rainbow Dash in her current state so it was best if she at the very least kept an eye on the amnesiac pegasus.
“Well, if its any consolation, I vow to try and treat you as who you are now rather than who I remember you to be,” Twilight said in a novel approach in earning the pegasus’ favor.
“Thanks, though I get the feeling that’s not going to help me get my memory back any faster.” Though Rainbow still sounded defeated, at least she wasn’t angry. “So which one of my friends are you again?”
“Twilight Sparkle.”
Rainbow pressed her scrambled memory for what she could recall from Applejack’s lectures. “Twilight, huh?” she mused as she tapped her hoof in thought. “Oh! You’re the one with the magic. Wait a minute, do you think there’s some kind of magic spell that could fix my head?”
While every problem Twilight encountered prompted her to either check the library or try a spell, she was hesitant to fulfill this request. “I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Twilight said with some reluctance. “Magic isn’t used for healing often for a reason. It can upset the delicate balance of vital energies.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that it’s risky business,” Twilight explained in simpler terms. The finer details of the inner workings of magic would have been lost on the pegasus and would’ve made no difference in Rainbow’s decision—or at least the old Rainbow Dash’s decision-making.
“And you think being stuck like this is any less risky? I might never get my memory back the regular way,” Rainbow argued. At least the pegasus’ lack of patience had still been preserved.
While her friend presented a valid argument, Twilight still had her reservations about this plan. “I don’t even know if that spell would work in this situation,” she reasoned.
Unfortunately for Twilight, Rainbow was astute enough to pick up on the her wording. “But you do know a spell.”
“Well, yes.” Twilight was backed into the proverbial corner now. She could tell that Rainbow was desperate for a solution, and to withhold even a small hope seemed cruel. “There is the memory spell that I used back when you and the others were under Discord’s influence, but I don’t think this spell is meant to treat memory loss of this nature.”
“Just give it a shot!” Rainbow Dash insisted. Her impatience was climbing faster than Pinkie waiting for a cake to finish. “What have we got to lose?”
Another salient point presented by the pegasus and to which Twilight had no counter-argument. It was a simple memory, after all, but there could be risks neither of them were aware of. As far as Twilight knew, nopony had attempted to use that particular memory spell on a pony with traumatic amnesia. It could wind up confusing Rainbow Dash even further, but that seemed like a risk worth taking.
“Okay, we’ll give it a shot,” Twilight said. She gestured for Rainbow Dash to have a seat, as some dizziness was common with the spell. “Just close your eyes and relax,” she cautioned.
Rainbow heeded the alicorn’s instructions as a vibrant purple glow began to emanate from the other mare’s horn. There was a sudden surge of heat and a blinding flash.
But nothing else happened: no memories, no flashbacks, no mental pictures, not even a sense of deja vu.
“What the hay?” Rainbow exclaimed. “Nothing happened, Twilight!”
While the pegasus might have been confused, Twilight was disappointed but unsurprised by the results. “I warned you that this spell wasn’t designed to work with this kind of memory loss,” she explained. “The spell was meant to work against magical influences blocking your memories; it’s not as effective against physical ones.”
“Well, can’t you try harder?” Rainbow demanded. “Applejack says you’re the super-magical pony around here.”
“I could try enhancing the spell’s focus,” Twilight postulated. Her lips pursed in pensive recollection as she delved into the depths of her arcane knowledge. “Maybe if I use a cherished possession, the emotional bond could be used to better focus the spell’s effects.”
“Come again?” the befuddled pegasus asked.
“I just need something that means a lot to you,” Twilight deadpanned.
Easier said than done, Rainbow Dash thought. Without any memories, she didn’t even know what did have an ‘emotional bond’ with her. As she scratched her head puzzlement, she realized that sitting atop of her head was one such item.
“Could this work?” Rainbow asked as she took off her hat.
“That’s perfect!” Twilight exclaimed as she eagerly took the item. “You’ve had this hat for years ever since I introduced you to Daring Do.”
Both ponies closed their eyes in preparation for the second attempt with Rainbow’s pith helmet levitating about half-way between them. Digging her hooves into the ground, Twilight began to focus her magic to an even greater extent than before. The aura around her horn grew several times in intensity until it was almost shining like a beacon, which caught the attention of more than just one passerby. Then, like a laser, she shot a blast of magic into the pith helmet. The accessory was soon enveloped in its own shimmering aura for a few seconds before an even more focused beam of energy shot from the helmet into Rainbow Dash. The pegasus’ body seized as the magic hit her, which soon overpowered all her senses and caused her to black out.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” a winded Twilight said as she hurried over to her friend’s side. A cursory glance suggested that the pegasus was little more than just disorientated, which would be expected if her spell did as it was intended to do. “Did it work? Do you remember who I am?”
Slowly, the pegasus’ eyes fluttered open. She stared up at the alicorn with tired and confused eyes. “Did what work? What happened?”
A little confusion was to be expected, though it was a bit worrying to Twilight. “The memory spell. Did it work? Do you remember who you are?”
“Of course I remember who I am, why would I forget?” Rainbow quipped much to her friend’s delight. “I’m Daring Do.”
“What?” Twilight’s jaw almost hit the ground.
“You mean you haven’t heard of me?” Rainbow replied with an equally surprised look. “Professor of Archaeology at the Royal Canterlot University. World famous explorer and treasure hunter. Does that not ring any bells?”
“I couldn’t have cast the spell wrong.” This made no sense to the alicorn. This wasn’t what the spell was supposed to do at all! Failing to restore one’s memory was one thing, but replacing them with something else altogether? This was impossible! Mentally backtracing all of her steps, Twilight’s mind went into a frantic search to figure out where she might have erred.
The only other variable she could think of was the hat, but that made even less sense. Twilight could recall the day that Rainbow Dash bought the hat from that costume shop in Canterlot. Rainbow Dash has been the only pony in possession of it.
But then Twilight Sparkle took a look at the aforementioned hat and noticed for the first time that it looked older and more worn out than it should’ve been. She picked up the hat and flipped it over. There, scrawled in black permanent marker, were the words ‘property of Dr. D. Do’.
“Hey purple pony, can I have my hat back now?”