A Lead
Jason hopped off the bed, levitating Scoots onto his back a moment later after he had transformed into a blue pegasus stallion with a grey mane, looking at himself for a moment in the mirror before turning around. He walked over to the pile of junk and grabbed the riot shield, strapping it to his side as he put on the riot control helmet and folded the visor over his muzzle. He set Scoots Down for a moment and shifted through Dash's old armor, trying not to cry as her scent wafted up from the unwashed material.
"So what's the plan, Jason?" Scoots asked, her face still a mixture of emotions, although he could feel hope rising above the others.
"Well Dash is dead-" He choked back a sob, and tried to continue. "God dammit." Jason took a deep breath. "But she wasn't always, right?"
"Yeah..." Scoots replied, still teary eyed.
"Well what if she never died, Scoots? What if we changed the past?" He asked, stroking a hoof through her mane.
"You can do that?!?!" She yelled, hugging around a hind leg tightly and wetting the chitin.
"I don't know, that's the problem. I don't know much magic, I'll have to learn." He replied, sighing. "Apparently I have enough power, so long as I have a source of love."
"Ooh, can I do that?"
"What, supply love?"
"Yeah."
Jason chuckled. "You already do that, you have this whole time."
"Does that mean I get to be in the hive mind?" She asked, looking hopeful.
"If we're stuck together for any amount of time then yeah." Jason smiled. "Now try this on and see if it fits." He said, jokingly holding up a thigh plate to her chest, where really didn't conform. "Damn."
"Aww, no armor?"
"Sorry Scoots, it doesn't fit." He tossed back the plate, picking up his and Dash's saddlebag's and tossing them over his back as she did the same with her own. He turned and crouched, touching a hoof to Scoots' forehead.
"Evening, get up, we're doing something important!" The mare hopped up and moved over, jostling any hints of sleep from her body.
"You want my help?" She asked, a look of disbelief on her face.
"Yeah, come on." He leaned against Evening. "You ever been teleported?" He asked Scoots.
"No what's it-" The environment changed, and suddenly they were outside. "Wow, that was awesome!" She looked around for a moment, almost like it was going to revert to the room again. "So where are we going?"
"Canterlot archives. Everything I need should be there."
"But how can we get there, it's so far..."
"Just hop on Scoots, I'm faster than I used to be." She jumped on his back and he paused, before turning around. He couldn't leave town yet. There was something he had to do. He walked back inside the hospital, moving past the staff without too much trouble, as well as the reporters plastered to the nearby walls. Down the halls were a few guards, apparently posted to keep whoever he didn't want out.
"Where are we going, Jason?" Scoots asked, as the reporters' heads snapped to attention and they moved to encompass Jason. He grabbed Evening and the foal and teleported down a hallway, listening to a nurse scream as ponies appeared in front of her.
"Where's the morgue?" He asked, running off as she pointed down the hall. They burst through a pair of floppy doors, whatever those things are called, and Jason's heart felt like it dropped in his chest. A worker seemed to get the idea that they were related and moved away, giving them some space. Dash was laid out on a table, looking exactly the same as she had three hours ago. They must've done something already then, he thought with a sigh as he touched her mane, laying his head on her chest and looking up at her face as several thumps sounded on the door he had reinforced with magic.
"I know you're gone, Dash." He started, sighing and trying to fight through the tears that threatened to surface again. "But I'm going to get you back, if not for me than for everyone else you've known. I'm sorry I wasn't there, and I know I should have been. I'm here now though, and I'm going to right the past. I know you can't hear me, but you're irreplaceable, more unique than you'll ever know, and- I just miss you so much already." He finished, letting his tears flow freely onto the cold, still body of his mare-friend.
Even if all this worked out, he couldn't shake any of his grief, and maybe that was a good thing. If he wasn't powerful enough, if he couldn't do it, at least he wouldn't be too disappointed. But he knew Scoots would, he thought as she fluttered onto the table and nuzzled her head against Dash's cheek, crying softly. He wasn't sure if this idea would only make things worse in the long run, and he hoped it wouldn't only serve to exacerbate their emotions. Maybe he should have seen it as what it may have been: a pipe dream.
"How long?" Scoots asked, her voice cracking.
"I don't know, it may not even work. This is the only way around it Scoots. But I don't want you to get too excited, if it doesn't work, I don't want you to feel like she's gone all over again."
"I know, but I just can't- I want to do everything we can before we give up." The filly replied. "Every time I start to feel better, I remember something, and- I'm just crying all the time, my tears never dry!"
Jason grabbed Scoots and pulled her into a hug, nuzzling into her mane. "Either way, things will get better, right? You're still better off than you were before all this, right?" He asked.
She went silent for a moment, thinking as Evening shifted on her hooves nervously, looking down at Dash's immobile face. "It is," Scoots replied, "I have you, Rumble, Sweetie and Applebloom, that's way better, I guess. I just wish Dash wasn't such a big piece of all that."
"It's a good thing, Scoots. She told me to tell you that she loves you and not to forget her, and as far as I can tell, that won't be hard." He got off the table and turned to let Scoots hop on his back before transforming into a different pony, yellow fur and red maned, and peering out the door. He thought for a moment before gesturing for Evening to change, as she turned into a foal and he pulled out a ghillie suit to drape over Scoots.
"Now, my name's- Fuck, just call me bro if it comes down to it, both of you." Jason pushed open the door and stared for a moment at the wall of ponies before they hurriedly brushed past him, and the trio walked calmly down the hallway. It sickened him to let all those people close to her body, it just seemed wrong.
"Hey, he still has the cast!" One of the reporters yelled from down the hall as he was pushed out by one of the medical staff, and Jason teleported the three away, down into the lobby at the nurse's window.
"Am I paid for, under Jason?" He yelled in, watching as the nurse rolled her eyes and looked through a little book, tracing the line of names with a pen increasingly slowly.
"Yes, you appear to be. But Princess Luna herself seems to want to meet you." The nurse replied slowly, clearly in no hurry. Jason turned and jumped as he was surrounded by ponies with writing pads, all competing for his attention.
"I don't want to say anything!" He yelled, and the ponies stopped for a moment before resuming their chatter, something that sounded a lot like the hive mind did when it invaded his mind.
"How were you related to Rainbow Dash?" One yelled. "Have you overcome your parasitic roots?"
"What? Fuck you, she just died!"
"Have you declassified the Capital operations? Where is the rest of Team Green Bean?"
"Are you still possessed by the Nightmare?"
Jason had had enough. His forehead flared and he pushed the reporters backwards, watching a few tip over on chairs as they tried to regain their footing. "You fuckers, get some respect. My mare-friend just died not ten hours ago, and you're already all over me."
He kept them constrained as the room fell into silence, and he turned back to the nurse, who went from surprised to neutral again as Jason turned back. "So do I owe you?"
"No, but the Princess-"
"Tell her I've gone to Canterlot, wherever the archives are. I've got to get going."
"But-" She replied, but Jason had already left the doors, freeing the reporters as he went. He pulled the ghillie suit off of Scoots and shoved it away, looking around before he took off, accelerating as he ascended, with Evening by his side. Any time he lost now was time he didn't have later, and if this spell had a time limit, then every second was bound to matter. He could feel the air splitting in front of him as he got to speeds he'd never even imagined before and an ever so slight cone began to form.
Scoots was having a wild time on his back as he continued to accelerate and Evening drafted behind him, riding the low pressure in his wake. Even through all his grief, flying still held a special place in his heart, the one thing that he could do that reminded him directly of Dash, of the daredevil tricks and loops, of the sonic rainboom he'd never seen outside of a dream, without all the grief. He reached his top speed just as slight clouds started to gather, forming the ring of condensation signaling that he was close to the sound barrier. Not that close meant a lot; he was probably still far off. But it reminded him of her, made him feel like there was something tangible that had worn off from her onto him.
Canterlot approached faster than he'd been expecting, especially given how long it had taken them to get between here and Ponyville before. The patience Dash must've had flying that slow was insane, he couldn't imagine going at a leisurely pace like that and not getting bored out of his skull.
Jason dove and let his wings fan out, parachuting as the air whipped into them with a force he'd never felt before. He was glad he'd dived first as Evening shot by a few seconds later, trying to slow down herself. The pair banked around the far side of the city before descending further and landing in the more built up, royal district of Canterlot. Jason let his disguise drop as he touched down, looking around at the progress the city had gone through since his last visit, buildings that had been reduced to rubble now even larger and more intricate, casting shadows across the squares while the working ponies were illuminated in the afternoon light, moving bricks, flying around the roofs of buildings or towing materials as the steady reconstruction effort continued.
The trio moved slowly, in awe of the buildings to such a degree that Jason didn't notice the grins and pointing hooves of the civilians until Scoots pointed them out, getting to her hooves on his back and looking around worriedly.
"Jason, they're all looking at us!"
Jason chuckled. "They do that, Scoots. The people like me here, it's kinda nice."
"Wow, you're like a celebrity!"
"I don't think they like me that much." He replied, before several ponies trotted up excitedly.
"Are you him!?" A mare asked, looking back at her friends expectantly.
"You're going to have to be more specific." He replied, squinting his eyes slightly in an attempt to block out the glare.
"Oh Celestia, it is him!" One of them yelled, before he was hugged all over and the mares ran away giggling. "He's so hot!" One of them said as they trotted away happily.
"The fuck just happened?" He asked, checking to make sure he hadn't been pick pocketed. "And how the hell am I- Whatever."
"I thought you said they didn't like you that much."
He shrugged. "Yeah, I didn't think they-" He stopped, staring up at a hunk of marble in the middle of a square.
"Jason you're in a statue!" Evening said excitedly, trotting over and poking at his hoof, then at Dash's as his mare-friend stood slightly to the side behind him in effigy. Jason could sort-of feel his jaw lowering as he stared, trying to comprehend why they had thought he was as important as this.
"Jason, Equestria to Jason." Scoots said, waving a hoof in front of his eyes as his jaw kept lowering. He jumped slightly and pushed it back up to head level, feeling Scoots lay her head on her arms as she leaned on the top of his head. She was squishing the fin thing, but it wasn't all that uncomfortable, he supposed. It was manageable.
"Yeah, I'm here." He said, moving closer to read the plaque.
For their invaluable service in a time of crisis,
Rainbow Dash and Jason.
-Equestria is in your debt
Jason let out a low whistle. "Wow." Was all he said, staring at the plaque for a few more seconds before he walked away, looking for a building that probably had words on the front of it, maybe. God damn, the planning. There was none.
"Hey guy," He asked a passing stallion, who stared like he'd seen a ghost. "Where're the Canterlot Archives?"
"Uh, they're over that way, just down the street. The corner's still being constricted, but I don't think they lost too much stuff.
"Okay, good. Thanks." He shook the stallion's hoof and walked off, too worried that one of the destroyed records was one he cared about to laugh as the stallion stared after him and looked down at his hoof, before looking back up. Jason was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the mare in front of himself until she ended up sprawled on the sidewalk, her mane full of leaves as a book straddled her muzzle.
"I'm really sorry about that." He said, grabbing her hoof and pulling her back upright as she tried to catch the leaves. "I have a lot on my mind."
"Yeah, me too- Jason!"
"Star?" He asked in surprise, before she lunged into him and wrapped her hooves around his neck.
"Yeah. Nice to see you again." She replied, smiling widely. "You make me feel so small. So where's Dash?"
"Uh..." Jason said, looking at the ground as his face took on a pained expression and tears threatened to rise again. "She's dead, gone."
"Wha- What?" Star asked, looking at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding?!"
"No, she died trying to get the Nightmare out of my body. I'm to blame, honestly, I wasn't strong enough."
Star stammered out a few syllables before she became silent. Eventually, she spoke back up. "So why aren't you in Ponyville?"
"Well, I- I couldn't handle her death, it just tore away at me after most of the rest of my squad ended up MIA." He stroked a hoof down his face, wiping away some moisture. "I have a lead, something to go off of that'll bring her back."
"But you can't do that!" She yelled back, a little too loudly. "Magic can't alter life like that."
"And how would you know, little earth mare?" He asked, the ever so slight hint of a smirk playing across his face.
"Just because I'm not a unicorn doesn't mean I can't know how magic works." She replied. "You're not getting anything by going down this road, besides a lot of disappointment."
"I'm not bringing back a dead body, I'm just going back in time to keep her from dying."
"But- but what if you change something important and part of the rest of the future doesn't happen?"
"I'm hardly going back, and she's the element of loyalty, I doubt those are easy to come by. She's too important to lose, not just to me, but to everyone. I would be lying if it wasn't mostly self interest though."
Star stared downward for a few moments, pulling another sprout from her hair as she thought. "You want some help?" She asked. "It's the least I can do."
"It's fin- wait, if you know anything about magic that'd be a lot better than me, so sure. But if you're busy, I know you have the foals and all, then just don't worry about it."
"Okay, I'll see if Sky can watch them. Wait, you don't think you could like, write me a note, do you?"
"A note?" He asked, shifting around nervously. He was wasting time...
"Yeah, I'm employed, I can't just help you and blow it off." She held out a piece of paper and a pencil. "And probably some proof that it's you."
"Ugh, hold on." He stuck the paper on the ground and scribbled some message, utmost importance, blah blah blah. He pulled out the little badge thingy that he'd received a while ago from Shining and stuck it under the paper, pushing the design through as he scribbled over the top. "That good?"
"Yeah, I'll be back in a while."
"Okay, I guess I'll get started then." Jason replied, feeling Scoots return to the top of his head as he ascended the stairs to the Archives. The guards slid their spears across the door in an 'X' and Jason sighed, rolling his eyes.
"I'll need to see some form of security clearance." The guard said. "All archives are under heavy watch at the moment."
Jason grabbed his ID and handed it over, snickering as the guard's eyes widened and he elbowed his buddy. "Sorry for the delay." He said, pushing open the door with a rear hoof. "He's got as high of clearance as Shining Armor!" The guard whispered as they walked inside.
"Jason, what's he talking about?" Scoots asked, whispering as well.
"I'm a pretty high rank." He replied shortly with a slight smirk, letting out a low whistle as the ceiling opened up and the vaulted ceiling reached towards the sky, brushing past a second floor on it's way to the peak.
"Can I help you?" A mare asked, tapping Jason's shoulder.
"Yeah, I have a couple questions actually. Where can I find moderate to advanced magic and the Starswirl wing?"
"Well moderate and advanced is down on the right wing ground floor, Starswirl's wing is on the upper floor at the same end."
"Thanks." Jason replied, nodding to her before walking over to the wing and staring at the vast walls of tomes.
"Jason, this place has a lot of books." Evening said, looking around.
"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to work fast." He grabbed a book on magic and set it on a reading table with a thump, opening the book to it's table of contents and sliding his hoof down the page until he found something useful.
"Hey Jason, what are you looking for?" Evening asked as Scoots jumped off his back.
"Just- I need a book that helps me improve. Control, quality, all that stuff. Any progression I can make, I'll do. I don't think I need anything super basic, Twilight said that one of the spells I tried was pretty advanced and it worked alright."
"I think I have something then. It's on precision and control, specifically." Evening said, floating the book over as Scoots returned with a smaller one on her back.
"Hey, I see you're already started." Star said, hauling a few small books out of her saddlebag, along with another plant, which she put back in an annoyed manner. "I don't have much of a library at home, but we have some magic books from my grandmother.
"So how are the kids?" Jason asked, flipping a page in Evening's book as he floated it past.
"They're good, a little older than I wish they were. Time really flies, you know?"
"I wish it did, time just seems to crawl by for me. It's been less than four months and it feels like it's been a year."
"I guess that makes sense, you've been through a lot."
"Yeah. So how old are they?"
"Oh, twelve and fifteen. How's it going with your little angel?" She asked, pointing to Scoots as the filly peeked up from a book.
"I don't really know, we didn't have much time to catch up." He sighed, shaking his head. "It shouldn't be like this. So how were things, Scoots?"
Scoots shrugged. "We didn't get our cutie marks. But we pulled a nice prank on Cherilee."
"Oh?" Jason grinned. "What did you-"
"Jason!" Evening yelled, pulling a large book off the shelf. "This one has a spell to slow down time, and it has all the prerequisites too! We can just track it backwards until we get to your level." She gasped. "Wait, it's in a series! And only twenty four volumes!"
"Oh god." Jason said, pressing a hoof to his forehead. "We're really going to need a miracle."